10 Pro Evolution Soccer Legends Who Flopped In Real Life
4. Ryan Babel
Great things were expected of Ryan Babel when he first emerged on the scene at Ajax.
The Amsterdam giants had a proven track record when it came to unearthing young Dutch talent and brains over at Konami evidently thought Babel would be the next big thing in world football.
Babel was the player to sign on Pro Evolution Soccer 6’s edition of Master League, with the Dutchman famed for boasting an impressive “development curve” on the game that saw him quickly become one of the best and most valuable forwards out there.
Only Fernando Torres could match him in that respect, with both players starting the game with great stats and enjoying exponential rises in development during the course of a standard Master League campaign.
Perhaps someone at Liverpool was a big PES fan because soon after Pro Evo 6 came out, both Torres and Babel ended up signing for the Reds.
That was where the similarities ended though. While Torres hit the ground running and scored goals aplenty for the Merseysiders, Babel proved somewhat more inconsistent.
Though Liverpool persevered with the wide forward, after three years they cut their losses by selling him to Hoffenheim on the cheap.
Spells in Turkey, Spain and the UAE have followed with Babel also popping up at Fulham briefly and twice more at Ajax. Though he’s impressed at times during the past few years, it’s fair to say Babel hasn’t quite lived up to his Master League billing.