Football clubs and managers don’t always get it right when it comes to talent spotting.
Every so often comes along a true gem of a player who leaves fans wondering how their club failed to see the potential and let them go. We can only imagine the regret is amplified tenfold when that player then becomes world class or scores against you.
Whether it was due to issues with the manager or an already-stacked line-up blocking their breakthrough, Daily Star Sport brings you seven rejected talents who came back to haunt their former clubs.
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Marcus Edwards vs Tottenham
There is no greater sensation than a ‘reject’ netting against his former club – Marcus Edwards did exactly that for Sporting Lisbon in their 1-1 Champions League draw with Tottenham.
The 5ft6in north Londoner returned to his home town to shock his boyhood club of 14 years by firing the ball into the bottom corner from distance.
(Image: BT Sport)
With five goals and five assists already for Sporting this season, Spurs will surely be ruing the fact they let the inverted winger join Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2019.
Danny Welbeck vs Man Utd
Danny Welbeck was a solid squad player for his boyhood club Manchester United. But having failed to kick on and claim a regular starting role up front, United let him join Arsenal on deadline day in the summer of 2014 for £16million.
(Image: GETTY)
Welbeck spent the following months plotting his revenge and must have been licking his lips when Arsenal drew United in the FA Cup quarter-finals in March 2015. Welbz, otherwise known as ‘Dat Guy’, scored the winning goal in front of the Old Trafford faithful to send Arsenal on their way to claiming another FA Cup trophy.
To rub salt in the wounds, Welbeck celebrated emphatically as if he had been a Gunner all along.
Romelu Lukaku vs Chelsea
(Image: Everton FC via Getty Images)
A rampant Romelu Lukaku came back to haunt Chelsea in 2016, two years after joining Everton on a permanent deal. The Belgian powerhouse fired Everton into the FA Cup semi-finals by scoring twice against the club that failed to give him a chance.
Lukaku, who was deemed surplus to requirements by Jose Mourinho, picked up the ball on the left and dribbled past four Blues defenders before scoring. He netted his second shortly after with a clinical strike from close range.
Cesc Fabregas vs Barcelona
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
A fresh-faced Cesc Fabregas swapped the comfort of La Masia for rainy north London in 2003 in search of first team opportunities. Before long, he was captaining the side and carving elite defences open with penetrative passes.
At a time where Barcelona seemed to play the Gunners in the Champions League every season, Fabregas managed to show the Catalans exactly what they were missing. He stepped up and scored a penalty while suffering from a broken leg to clinch a 2-2 draw at the Emirates in 2010.
Fabregas eventually grew tired of losing to Barcelona and decided to join them a year later.
Kevin De Bruyne vs Chelsea
Do you think Kevin De Bruyne is the ‘biggest what-if’ sale on the list? Let us know in the comments section.
(Image: Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
Another player shunned by Mourinho at Chelsea who went on to achieve great things was Kevin De Bruyne. After a loan spell at Werder Bremen, the playmaker couldn’t get a sniff in the 2013/14 season and was sold to Wolfsburg for £18m, two years after signing for the Blues.
Unlike Lukaku, however, De Bruyne has gone on to become one of the Premier League’s all-time greats at Manchester City. He has played against Chelsea 16 times, scoring five and assisting one.
To rub it in even more, De Bruyne has four Premier League titles to his name and holds the all-time record for the most number of assists registered in a single season (20).
Mohamed Salah vs Chelsea
(Image: Getty Images)
As if losing one future Premier League Player of the Season wasn’t bad enough, Mo Salah also escaped the clutches of Chelsea under Mourinho. He made just 13 league appearances for the Blues in two seasons prior to his loan spells at Fiorentina and Roma, before being sold to the latter.
On his way to becoming a Premier League winner and Liverpool legend, the Egyptian King has scored seven against Chelsea. The latest came in the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last January.
Harry Kane vs Arsenal
(Image: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
At this point Harry Kane has not only exacted his revenge on Arsenal. He has brutalised them game after game on his way to becoming the North London Derby’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
The striker netted his 14th against Arsenal in October during the 3-1 defeat. Hilariously, former Gunners academy chief Liam Brady admitted in 2018 that Kane was let go from the Arsenal academy for being “a bit chubby, not very athletic” as a kid.
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