Barely a week goes by without a new footballing wonderkid being anointed by the fans and press. Be it the latest teenager on the block in the Premier League, or a slight, tricky flair player impressing at a far-flung youth tournament, it seems that players are becoming household names before they've even taken their first steps in the professional game. But for every Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who make it to the top, there are many more predicted for stardom who fall well short. The reasons for this are myriad; attitude problems, bad advisers, injury troubles or just plan bad luck, and it means that predicting who will succeed and who will fail is pretty much impossible - and yet, we all still do it. Every fan of every club can name a young prospect who should have made it but, for whatever reason, never fulfilled their potential. These are the men who should have been the greatest of their era but who wound up as also rans. If you're reading, Marcus Rashford, take heed...
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
