Six players who rose to stardom after leaving the Premier League
- Seb Sternik
- 13 September 2021
During this past transfer window, the Premier League said goodbye to a number of players who have decided to continue their careers elsewhere.
The world's richest league returns to action this weekend but it will be without the likes of Hector Bellerin, Tammy Abraham and Eric Garcia who left during the summer transfer window.
Every player has their own distinct motives however, a departure from the Premier League is usually caused by a lack of playing time or a struggle to compete in arguably the world's toughest domestic competition.
But just because a player leaves, it doesn't mean they can't become world-beaters. In fact, those who have recently left can take inspiration from others who endured a tough start in England before going on to achieve big things later down the road.
Planet Sport takes a look at six names who flopped in the Prem before rising to stardom.
Gerard Pique
Believe it or not but Barcelona only paid £4.2million to attain the services of Gerard Pique from Manchester United back in 2008.
Looking at it now, it seems like one of the greatest bargains in world soccer. But back then, the situation was a lot more complicated.
The Spaniard made just 12 Premier League appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson. Many would argue that one of those appearances - a 1-0 loss to Bolton - sealed his fate.
His first season saw him make 45 appearances across all competitions as Barcelona claimed a historic treble - winning the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey.
That trophy-winning mentality has remained with him during his stay at Camp Nou. In total, the Spaniard has gone on to win eight league titles, seven Copa del Rey's, six Supercopa de Espana's, three Champions League's, three UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
The player also enjoyed success on the international stage, claiming the 2014 World Cup and two European Championships.
Mo Salah
When Chelsea signed Mohamed Salah for £11million back in 2014, the player arrived at Stamford Bridge with a lot of potential.
Despite his promise, Salah didn't immediately set the Premier League stage alight. The player joined halfway through the 2013/14 season and went on to make 11 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals in the process.
In 26 games for the Serie A club, Salah broke his goalless run, ending his spell there with nine efforts across all competitions.
Those numbers certainly picked up once he moved to fellow Serie A side, AS Roma.
His sudden rise to stardom caught the eye of Liverpool who forked out over £36million on the forward in 2017.
Considering his earlier spell in the Premier League, Salah had his fair share of doubters over in England. However, it's fair to say that over the last four and a half years, he's certainly proved them all wrong.
Jerome Boateng
Manchester City - fresh from the takeover of Sheikh Mansour in 2008 - were looking to build a Premier League title-winning team under Roberto Mancini. Boateng, who was one of many new players to join the Cityzens, was certainly part of that plan.
A tendon injury picked up on international duty, forced the centre-back out of action in the first few games of the season.
Nevertheless, the player recovered and went on to make 24 appearances in all competitions. Those proved to be his last games for the Cityzens as he duly left to Bayern Munich in the following summer.
The defender never took the Premier League by storm and it wasn't until his move back to the Bundesliga when he ultimately became one of Europe's leading defenders.
Having claimed nine Bundesliga titles, five DFB Pokals, two DFB Supercups, two Champions League's, two UEFA Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups, it's fair to say that his spell with the Bavarians was a successful one - something that wouldn't have transpired if not for his move away from the Premier League.
Memphis Depay
Towards the end of his time in the Eredivisie, Memphis Depay was a big fish swimming in a small pond.
His move to Manchester United in 2015 was an opportunity to show the world exactly why he was regarded as one of soccer's most promising prospects.
However, his £25million transfer from PSV proved problematic right from the start. First, manager Louis van Gaal admitted that he was forced to sign the player early due to interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
Then, Depay requested to wear the iconic number seven shirt - following in the footsteps of George Best, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Later, the Dutch international was subbed off 68 minutes into his Premier League debut, with van Gaal later revealing that Depay played in a 'too eager manner'.
The Dutchman struggled to make an impact with then assistant manager, Ryan Giggs, blaming the player's flashy lifestyle for his poor performances.
Over the course of five seasons, the Dutchman restored his reputation after scoring 76 goals in his 178 appearances.
Following high-profile departures from the Barca, Depay is now one of the key players at one of Europe's biggest clubs. Not bad going for a man who only got to play 20 minutes throughout the entire 2016/17 Premier League season.
Diego Forlan
Ferguson persisted with the striker in the following season as he made a total of 45 appearances. But again, with only nine goals to his name, serious questions were being asked about Forlan's true potential.
One year later, the player posted similar numbers having only bagged eight goals from 32 appearances. Something was wrong and a change of scenery was needed.
A move to Villarreal followed and to the disappointment of Manchester United fans, the goals came flooding in.
The player spent the next four years at Atletico Madrid - arguably the greatest spell of his career. In 196 games, Forlan bagged 96 goals as he helped his side to the Europa League title and a UEFA Super Cup win.
It was during this time when the player also took the 2010 World Cup by storm. Uruguay may have finished fourth but Forlan swept up all the individual honours, taking the Golden Ball, Golden Boot, Goal of the Tournament and also featured in the tournament's Dream Team.
During those few years, Manchester United fans got to see exactly what Forlan's potential really was. The question is, would he ever reach those heights at Old Trafford or was the move away from the Premier League a pivotal moment for his career?
Paulinho
Paulinho became Tottenham Hotspur's record signing back in 2013 following his £17million move from Brazilian side, Corinthians.
That record was short-lived as Spurs went on to buy Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela for bigger amounts in that same transfer window. However, that shouldn't deter from the fact that Paulinho was a man in demand.
Nevertheless, his playing time became considerably smaller in the following campaign, with Paulinho competing in just 15 league games. His second season was incredibly underwhelming.
