5. Robinho
Robinho turned pro in 2002 at the age of eighteen, signing with São Paulo based side Santos. He went on to enjoy a three year spell with the Brazil Serié A side, appearing on 101 occasions and scoring 25 times in the league. In the process, he won two Serié A titles, a Campeonato Paulista title and the Copa do Brasil. His consistent form and talented nature caught the eye of many in Europe, starting first in the summer of 2004. Santos rejected all offers they received in this summer, but his value sored after scoring 9 in 12 in the league. Santos decided to cash in on this and accepted a massive offer from Spanish giants Real Madrid. Robinho was given the number 10 shirt at Real, previously worn by Luis Figo, but in his first season, he struggled to find consistency despite making 37 appearances and scoring 8 times. This failed to impress new boss Fabio Capello who was brought into the club at the end of Robinho's first season, and this led to the young Brazilian being benched frequently in the start of the 2006-07 season. Capello's style of play conflicted with Robinho's skillset which contained flashy moves and selfish runs. After the winter break, Robinho began to start on frequent occasion and proved to be a vital part of their league title campaign. Despite Capello winning the league as Real boss, his style of play led to President Calderon sending the Italian packing. The next season saw German Bernd Schuster appointed as head coach. In this campaign, Robinho showed immense form, which led to him being amongst the top ten of the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award nominations and his future went from strength to strength. Robinho once again secured a league title for the Spanish club and the transfer fee paid for him was proving to be justified. Despite his consistency and great form, ending the side's third highest goalscorer, the club's President decided that it was best for the club's future to secure the signature of Cristiano Ronaldo and as a result used Robinho as bait to lure Sir Alex into accepting an offer. This angered Robinho, who asked to leave the club in the summer transfer window, 2008. After a failed move for Ronaldo, Madrid opted to try and negotiate a new contract with Robinho which he ultimately declined, leading to many of Europe's biggest clubs including Arsenal and Chelsea showing increasing interest. The Brazilian ultimately signed for Manchester City on transfer deadline day of the 2008 summer window, the same day that City were taken over by Abu Dhabi United Group. After pipping Chelsea to the signature of Robinho, Manchester City gave Robinho the number 32 jersey and it was clear that the youngster would be the driving force for their season. Robinho's time at Man City was one full of ups and downs. He showed phenomenal form in his first season and showed why the Arabian-owned club splashed out to sign him from Real. After scoring 14 league goals, he became City's leading scorer and the third top goalscorer of the league season, an impressive feat for a natural winger. His next season was far less impressive, however, and, after missing the first three months of the season, he played just 10 league games without scoring a single goal. He fell down the pecking order as a result and joined first club Santos on loan for the rest of the season. During his six-month loan with Santos, Robinho enjoyed a prolific spell of 6 goals in 9 games. He pleaded for a permanent move to the side but Santos lacked the funds to meet City's needs and he imminently returned to England. Robinho remained unsettled and City decided to cash-in on him; after receiving interest from Turkish sides Fenerbahce and Besiktas, he decided against a move to either side as he preferred a move to Italy or Spain. He got his wish and joined Italian based AC Milan in August 2010 for less than half of City's transfer fee. Robinho's form for Milan in his first season was impressive, scoring 14 in 34 and helping the side to win the Serie A and Supercoppa. He finished the season with the brace and showed signs of genius that led to many calling him "the next Pelé". Despite this, the next season was less hopeful and AC finished in a disappointing second place with Robinho scoring just 6 times. The season following this - which ended just a week ago - was even less impressive for the Brazilian, appearing 23 times (many as a substitute) and scoring on just 2 occasions. Robinho looks set to move in the summer after expressing his desire to leave in the January transfer window. With the Brazilian looking to move back to Brazil, it is shown that the early expectations were not met. Though he has won several titles including the Serie A and two Liga BBVA trophies, Robinho's decline in recent years and decision to join Manchester City from Real Madrid proved to be the reason why he did not become a world great. The Brazilian is good, maybe even great, but the hopes that he would become one of the world's greatest were simply not met. If he decided to renegotiate with Real and went on to perform at a level he did in the 2007-08 season, who knows what he could have achieved.
Current Status: Rotation player for Italian first division side AC Milan and Brazil.
What He Could Have Been: Key player for Real Madrid and Brazil - one of the greatest in the world.