THE mantra 'talent is not indicative of success' is perhaps most applicable when discussing Golden Boy awards of years past.
For every Lionel Messi that delivered on the promise placed on them as a youngster, there was an Anderson who never really made the grade.
3The Golden bayern munich away jersey 21/22 Boy award, run by Italian publication Tuttosport, recognises the best players Under-21 in Europe – and was just won by Barcelona wonderkid Gavi.
Twelve years ago, in 2009, there was an unusually talented-looking group of stars nominated – butEngland National Team Jerseys not all have lived up to the hype.
Alexandre Pato beat 39 other nominees to scoop the coveted gong that year, with injuries ensuring he failed to live up to his 'next big thing' tag.
However, the Italian outlet were right to put their faith in the likes of promising youngsters Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale, and Aaron Ramsey.
And SunSport have compiled our best XI of the players nominated back then to see if there were any other picks that didn't age quite as well.
GK – Mario Balot bayern munich football jersey elli
Tuttosport didn't believe any goalkeeper under the age of 21 to be worthy of a spot in its top 40 in 2009, so madcap Mario Balotelli will have to suffice.
The maverick Italian can consider himself unlucky notVenezuela National Team Jerseys to be chosen in his natural position but poor discipline and off-field antics meant his career never quite hit the heights expected of him.
After bursting onto the scene at Inter Milan, he became a Premier League winner with Manchester City, before enduring a miserable spell at Liverpool.
Super Mario signed for Serie B side Monza after leaving Brescia last year summer.
Balotelli then joined newly-promoted Turkish Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor and scored 19 goals in his first season.
He now plays for Swiss Super League club Sion, where he's scored three goals in give games.
3RB – Rafael
Rafael earns his way into the side by default as the only right-back nominated.
The Manchester United prospect became a three-time Premier LeaguNeymar Brazil Jerseyse winner during ten years at Old Trafford, but fell out-of-favour after Sir Alex Ferguson's shock retirement in 2013, and was sold to Lyon two years later.
He is currently at Botafogo, following a spell with Istanbul Basaksehir.
CB – Simon Kjaer
Sevilla defender Kjaer was named 2009 Danish Talent of the Year ahead of Spurs star Christian Eriksen, a year after he debuted for Palermo.
The centre-back currently captains the Denmark national team, but has never seemed to settle at one club, enduring spells at Wolfsburg, Roma, and Lille.
He has been at Serie A giants AC Milan since 2020.
CB – Holger Badstuber
Once described by Louis van Gaal as the best left-footed defender in Germany, Bastuber saw a career full of promise derailed by injuries.
The 33-year-old, who was on the books at Bayern Munich for almost 15 years, finally joined Stuttgart on a free-transfer in 2017.
Despite his stop-start progress, Badstuber still won six Bundesliga titles, and the 2013 Champions League during his time in Munich.
As of tCroatia National Team Jerseysoday, Badstuber is currently playing for Stuttgart's second XI, who play in FOURTH tier of German football.
LB – Davide Santon
Santon, perhaps best remembered by English fans for the indifferent four years he spent at Newcastle, w fc bayern home jersey as once touted as one of Italy's hottest young talents.
The 31-year-old is still a two-time Serie A and Champions League winner after his time under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.
Yet he returned to the Nerazzurri as a shell of the player he once was, having lost his place at Newcastle to Paul Dummett after falling out with Alan Pardew.
He was at Roma from 2018, but announced his retirement from the game last month.
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