There are countless more. Sonny Pike, who now plays as Luke Pike in local leagues, is the classic example. Adu is still young enough to get somewhere in football, playing for Benfica after all is no mean feat.

There’s plenty of examples of players who took the next step as well. Had one great season and thought they’d made it, only to fall from grace and follow up with a dreadful second season. There are a number of players guilty of thinking they’re better than they are.

David Bentley was woeful last season. Micah Richards was shockingly bad after an impressive first season. Hopefully they can turn it round?

Can anyone think of examples across Europe? How did Eden Hazard do last season at Lille? He was touted as the next big thing last year.

Freddy Adu was another one as well, he’s middle of the road at the moment and not living up to his potential – would he have been better coming across to the UK earlier?

There also seems to be a new one each week in South America – I wish I knew which ones were actually genuine and which one’s were just pure hype. I suppose it’s that hype by the clubs and the agents that generate the interest and in turn recieve more money.

I also wonder if ‘staged’ matches have a lot to do with how good these kids look – very immoral but has been know to earn agents and clubs lots of money down the years.