For today's gallery, we focus on 10 players who threw away their talent. While some still have time to change their fortunes around, others certainly don't. Check out who they are!
Click through our gallery to see 10 players who wasted their talent
Of course, a few of these stars have achieved some success in their careers, but perhaps not as much as they should have.
First up: Ricardo Quaresma. The Portuguese winger had every skill in the book, and all the technical ability, but never quite maximised his potential. Having joined Barcelona in 2003, he was supposed to be Europe's next best thing, but broken spells at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Porto did not lead to anything, and the 32-year-old now plays for Besiktas in Turkey.
Remember Javier Saviola? The young Argentine had a similar playing style to Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero, and with Real Madrid and Barcelona on his CV, it seems rather strange that he never hit the heights he really should have.
Of course, there was Freddy Adu, who was touted as the "next Pele" after arriving on the scene. The attacking midfielder moved to Benfica in 2007, but struggled to break into the team. Adu, just 26 years old now, plays for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the US.
There are few others players who had all the potential in the world but failed to stamp their mark on the game, such as Adrian Mutu, Carlos Alberto and Antonio Cassano.
Mario Balotelli also features in our gallery, but there is still hope for the Italian striker as he has age on his side.
Read: Gallery: 10 Brazilian Flops
Another forward who perhaps wasted their talent is Asamoah Gyan, with many feeling that he focused on monetary rewards rather than becoming the best player he could be – at one stage he was looking like one of the Premier League's better centre forwards.
What do you think of all these players who wasted their considerable football talent? Let us know in the comments section below.
