Five famous footballers who started their careers late

2024.05.20

It is commonly believed that in order to achieve in sports, you must begin playing at a young age.

In most circumstances, this is true, but not for everyone.

From Didier Drogba to Ramires, Jamie Vardy to Miroslav Klose, these are some of history’s best footballers who began playing late.

In this photo gallery, we will see the names of some of history’s best football players who began playing late and rose to the highest levels of the game.

5 well-known footballers who started their careers late

It is commonly believed that in order to achieve in sports, you must begin playing at a young age. In most circumstances, this is true, but not for everyone. From Didier Drogba to Ramires, Jamie Vardy to Miroslav Klose, these are some of history’s best footballers who began playing late. So, in this photo gallery, we will see the names of some of history’s best players who began playing late and rose to the pinnacle of the game.

Didier Drogba

Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian football manager, former striker, and the president and owner of Phoenix Rising. Drogba began playing football with Levallois FC at the age of 12, when he relocated to France with his parents. The striker signed his first deal with Le Mans, a Ligue 2 team, before being hired by Guingamp, where he left an indelible imprint. That season, the Ivorian striker was 23 years old and scored 17 goals, which drew the attention of Olympique de Marseille, who paid $3.4 million to sign him. He was not at Olympique de Marseille for long since the world recognized his talent: Chelsea secured his performances by purchasing him for $ 32 million in 2004.His successful career became legendary to the point of being considered one of the best African footballers of all time.

Jamie Vardy

Jamie Richard Vardy is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Leicester City. His professional career began at the age of 23, when he signed his first contract with Halifax Town and played until the age of 25. When he played in the amateur series, he worked a variety of occupations, including metalworking in different Sheffield companies. Later, he established himself at Leicester City, winning the historic English Premier League title in 2015 under Italian coach Claudio Ranieri. Among his accomplishments are the EPL Best Player award, the title of top scorer in the 2019/2020 EPL season, and the convocation, which resulted in a debut for the British national team.

Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose is a German football coach and former striker with Polish citizenship. He was coached by Altach. Klose is the son of a former professional soccer and handball player. Despite this, Klose’s parents preferred that their son pursue a career rather than focusing solely on sports. However, the young Klose had a tremendous interest for football and occasionally attended the football academy. At the age of 21, Klose joined the second squad of “Kaiserslautern” and competed in Germany’s fifth championship. His talent propelled him to national and world titles while playing for Bayern Monaco and Lazio.

Ramires

Ramires is a retired Brazilian footballer who played in the midfield. He played for Joinville EC, a third-division team, until the age of 20 while also working on a construction site. The next season, he joined Cruzeiro and quickly established himself as one of the team’s best players, scoring the final goal in Cruzeiro’s 4-2 victory against rival Atlético Mineiro in his first derby. He subsequently joined Benfica, where he had a successful first season before being signed by Chelsea. Ramires also played for the Brazilian national team, and he won the Confederations Cup 2009.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy is a Dutch football manager and former striker who currently coaches PSV. He began his career with FC Den Bosch, a Dutch second-division club. He was signed by PSV Eindhoven at the age of 22, but it didn’t take long for him to make an impact: he became the team’s leading scorer, helping them win the Dutch Super Cup against Ajax. He eventually moved to Manchester United and then Real Madrid, where he won multiple team and individual honors. He finished his career with Malaga FC, having scored 384 goals in total.

@charith