QPR's Adel Taarabt and the five wasted talents of the Premier League

Large chips or small Adel?

In the wake of Harry Redknapp's scathing rebuke of Adel Taarabt as being "about three stone overweight" Stephen Tudor picks out five other mercurial talents from the Premier League era who failed to deliver on their astonishing gifts...

Stan Collymore

Some 99 career goals is a decent tally for any marksman but falls woefully short of acceptable when compared to Collymore's sublime early promise. At Southend and Forest he was an uncommonly gifted forward capable of making the extraordinary appear ordinary. His 8.5m move to Anfield was supposed to be a coronation of his talents. Instead controversies and inconsistency became the norm as his life switched from the back pages to front.

Adrian Mutu

Back in 2003 Chelsea went on a spending spree the likes of which we've never seen before or since amassing a litany of superstars from all corners of the continent. Amongst the Crespos and Verons the 15.8m swoop for Palma's Adrian Mutu made a relatively small splash yet here was a false nine blessed with guile and imagination in abundance. Sadly a promising start ended in ignominy as Mutu failed a drugs test, was found to be in breach of contract by his club, and was fined a staggering 22m in damages. Predictably this made a larger splash.

Shinja Kagawa

It could be argued that the Japanese schemer's surprising career-stall at Manchester United is not a talent wasted but more a mismatch between player and club. It happens unfortunately from time to time. That is until you think back to the astonishing manner in which he blitzed through the Bundesliga collecting assist stats to make your eyes bleed. Then his ineffective displays at Old Trafford - no matter what the system or regardless of manager - utterly confound. 

Michael Johnson

From an early age Michael Johnson was known within Manchester City as 'FEC', short for 'Future England Captain'. He was a teen packed with poise, drive and a touch of elegance far beyond his years, qualities that brought comparisons to City royalty in Colin Bell. A recurring abdominal problem shelved the scripted destiny by several months which then mysteriously stretched out to years. Two drink-driving convictions, regular spells in the Priory, and a penchant for fast-food now became the Michael Johnson story instead of the greatness that once seemed his right.

Kieron Dyer

When the ex-Newcastle flyer retired at the age of 34 last summer the cruel joke doing the rounds on social media was widespread surprise that this hadn't already occurred some years earlier. The midfielder's career was certainly blighted by a cursed succession of injuries so some leeway is due but equally true is that Dyer became a poster boy for Premier League excess. He was a lad with all the talent in the world who was lavished with all the money in the world and recklessly squandered both. 

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What do you think - have we missed any wasted talents out? Is Redknapp right to call out Taarabt? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting @Betfair