Turning the gears of fate, they jumped out of the trough and restarted their careers

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Suggested reading time|11 minutes

They were cast idle and scattered, and they were abandoned by the snow, and they did not "lie flat" on the spot.

or make a comeback, or improve and transform, they restart their lives after the transfer.

It may only take a few months to go from being a top scorer to almost disappearing from public opinion.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored 13 goals in Barcelona in the second half of the 2021-22 season, fell into the chaos of Boehly's new era of personnel changes, manager rotations, and results diving after a transfer of 12 million euros last season, scoring three goals in only 21 appearances, and was even kicked out of the Champions League list in the middle of the season, falling to the lowest point since Saint-Etienne became famous. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was abandoned by the Blues last summer and moved to Marseille for a fee, and at the age of 34, the Gabonese striker is showing signs of a dead veteran.

However, it may only take a few months to go from sinking to returning to the first-line striker sequence.

Aubameyang's rematch in Ligue 1 was supposed to be regarded as a retirement journey, but he became the target of being "gnawed at the old" by Marseille. This season, the southern French giants are in turmoil, and the official coach has changed Marcelino, Gattuso, and Gatset, and since Gattuso entered the state, Aubameyang has maintained a stable output regardless of the change in coach, tactics and personal positions (433 center forwards, left wingers or one of the 352 double strikers), and the Europa League has scored against Ajax. After scoring nine goals in eight games, he became the all-time leading scorer in the Europa League and its predecessor, the UEFA Cup, with 33 goals, and had a chance to continue to break the record. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also scored in double figures in the league, and his function is not limited to scoring goals, with occasional magical assists. By the time April arrives, Aubameyang's tally for the season has 23 goals and nine assists in 40 games, which can be described as a reversal, and the goal may be to return to the ranks of 30-goal goalscorers, and the last time he did so was in 2018-19, and Marseille's last player to score 30+ goals in a single season was back in 2003-04 with Didier Drogba (32 goals).

Like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is at a low point in his career, has jumped up through transfers and ushered in a restart in his life, there are many people this season...... Football, which is full of uncertainty, always inadvertently turns the gears of the fate of players.

Another spring in the old tree

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's success didn't come out of nowhere, with several Chelsea managers using him at a, Marseille always holding him up as the top name, and several coaches have tried to get the team to run in with him, helping him quickly break down the defence in the fast break, helping him to shoot in the penalty area, and he also seized the opportunity, gradually recovered his skills, and used the pass to drive his teammates, and entertained fans with flowers - the iconic somersault after the goal was a moment that ignited the enthusiasm of the fans.

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Dutch defender Daley Blind was also in a bleak situation last season, leaving his parent club Ajax in the middle of his contract with early termination, signing for Bayern Munich in half a year but only making five appearances (only one start), and when he moved to Girona on a free transfer last summer, the market only thought it was a "visit here" before the veteran retired. Who would have thought that Blind Jr. would be able to rejuvenate in La Liga. The Dutchman has become the team's number one central defender, playing with his passing organiser, participating in Girona's active attack and participating in the dark horse of the La Liga title race, and Blind even scored three goals in the first four games of the new year to provide additional help to the team. Until April, Girona was still in the top three of La Liga, and Blind had a unique contribution of his own.

The 34-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Blind have proved that it's not too late to move at an older age, while England centre-back Eric Dier also took a crucial step by signing Bayern Munich on loan on the eve of his 30th birthday. In the first half of the season, Dier was not liked by the new coach Postecoglou because of his style, and he was instantly reduced from Tottenham's nine-year main player to a water cooler caretaker, and Bo Shuai would rather use four full-backs to form a back line when the main two central defenders were injured, rather than use him to start. Recognizing the situation, Dier switched to Bayern, seized the opportunity of Kim Min-jae's Asian Cup, Parmecano and De Ligt's instability, and even jumped to the team's number one central defender, which also made him quickly receive a one-year contract extension with Bayern, which turned the trajectory of his career.

Laid-off re-employment

It is a more difficult challenge to regroup from a situation where there was no ball to kick in than to regain from being shot and scattered. Isco left Real Madrid in the summer of 2022 and switched to Sevilla, but after a bad fall with sporting director Monchi (who was even choked by Monchi) and coach Julen Lopetegui stepped down, he fell into a desperate situation in the team and terminated his contract early in more than four months. In the following winter window, the former "golden boy" planned to join the Bundesliga dark horse Berlin Union freely, and even passed the medical examination, but the transfer fell through at the last minute, and the two sides insisted that the other party had revised the negotiated agreement.

The transfer failed and Isco was furloughed for half a year, only to join Betis on a free transfer after turning down offers from a number of Middle Eastern teams in July last year, leaving the 31-year-old former Champions League winner with an estimated value of €5 million. Compared with the previous transfers to Sevilla and Union Berlin, Isco joined Betis this time to devote himself to his mentor Pellegrini, and the choice was more sensible - the two-year cooperation between master and apprentice in Malaga opened the road to fame for Isco. Now that the two are in the twilight of their respective careers, they still trust each other and still have the shadow of the past, "Engineer" insisted on letting Isco serve as the 4231 forward midfielder, giving him the freedom to open the situation with dribbling and driving the front court with passing, Isco really recovered his skills in the most familiar attacking core role, and the statistics of creating chances once ranked first in the five major leagues, and quickly returned to the ranks of the first-class midfielders in La Liga, and repeatedly won the best award of the game. Seven goals and five assists in all competitions are even better than most of the previous seasons of his career. After making a lot of mistakes, Isco finally made up for the lost time with one right choice.

Similar to Isco's re-employment, Mason Greenwood has also said goodbye to his stay in La Liga this season, even though he has been affiliated with Manchester United. Greenwood, who had been out of action for a year and a half because of the domestic violence case and was not tolerated in English football and public opinion, left for Getafe to return to the pitch in a more relaxed atmosphere, and even a week after the transfer was completed, before making his debut for Getafe, he had sold more printed jerseys than any other player in Getafe's history. Getafe coach Bodalas allowed Greenwood to attack freely in the left-right midfield role of the 442 formation, showing his ability to play with both left and right feet, allowing him to play a combination with the special call-in center forward Mayoral with eight goals and five assists, making him dream back to before the controversy broke out. This even led to the consideration of Manchester United: should they recall him to the team in the future?

The Red Devils have also added a "problem employee" this season. After playing the first three rounds of the season, he turned against Ten Hag because of "disciplinary problems" and was sent to the youth team, causing many jokes such as "canteen with food", Sancho, who was semi-unemployed for more than 4 months, lost the future of playing for Ten Hag, and also made the 85 million euro transfer fee paid by Manchester United in 2021 have the possibility of being wasted. That's why, in the January transfer window, efforts were made to bring Jadon Sancho back to Dortmund on loan, with Sancho having a full meal in the cafeteria after his second arrival, providing assists in his first two appearances, and scoring in two consecutive games in March (he was also named Man of the Match in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against PSV Eindhoven) – his last back-to-back goal was in November 2021 – and his form is back in full swing, but he will need time to regain the level he had with the Nerazzurri in his first time.

Mesozoic cheer up

There are still a number of cases of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fleeing Chelsea and then resurrecting. Pulisic, who switched to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund for 64 million euros, has never been able to go to the next level at Stamford Bridge, and is more of a front-court player who plays a revolutionary brick, and his playing time plummeted last season, scoring one goal in 30 games to set the lowest record in history. That's why when AC Milan bought him last summer, they only spent a low price of 20 million.

In his first Serie A debut, Christian Pulisic scored in the first two rounds of the league to lock in the Rossoneri's main right winger position, although he could not provide a fixed impact and coordination routine on the right side like the Leon-Theo connection on the left, but under Pioli's account, the American's awareness of interspersing ribs and participating in the attack was released, and he formed a tacit understanding with his old Chelsea team-mate Giroud. After scoring in four consecutive games in 10 days on March, Christian Pulisic has now handed in 12 goals and eight assists, becoming the team's second-leading scorer and setting a new personal record for goals scored in a single season.

Even within the Milan squad, there is a player who has played the same trick of surprise around the corner: Loftus-Cheek, who joined Christian Pulisic from Chelsea. The "blue bloods" slipped in the team last season, and even failed to score all season, and after moving to Milan, he was quickly established as a main midfielder, after which Pioli gradually pushed him from one of the two midfielders to the forward position, and even allowed him to form a "twin towers" with Giroud like a central striker at some moments, and the new routine was exchanged for the Englishman's firepower, and Loftus-Cheek scored nine goals in 2024, becoming an important firepower point in the team.

The 28-year-old is still unleashing his potential, while Lucas Hernandez is just looking to stay fit and get back to his former form. Lucas left Bayern Munich last summer after an injury-ridden season with only 11 appearances, and was even defined as "Bayern's worst signing in history", after all, his original transfer fee of 80 million euros was only exchanged for 107 appearances in four seasons, and the period was full of injuries and mistakes. Paris Saint-Germain spent 45 million to bring him to Ligue 1 to allow him to recover in a more relaxed environment, which is indeed a good choice for both sides. By March, Lucas had made 36 appearances and even became the most played defender in the team!

"Post-00s" Tengyue

Veterans and Mesozoic players have at least generally experienced storms, and for the youngster, how to deal with the trough difficulties at the beginning of his career may determine his trend. Ascension and setbacks may be on the line.

Girona's 19-year-old winger Savio is a new representative of the metamorphosis. He joined Troyes from Atletico Mineiro last season, made his European debut and was immediately loaned to PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, but injuries and integration hampered saw him make just eight appearances under Ruud van Nistelrooy this season, more often in the second team. When he returned to Troyes last summer and the team was relegated to Ligue 2, Savio faced a dilemma, at this time it was Girona, who belonged to the same "City Football Group" as Troyes, extended an olive branch to let him on the La Liga stage, and then the Brazilian youngster was savagely growing, with outstanding explosive acceleration, changing rhythm, left-footed passing to kill opponents, he made 33 appearances in all competitions and tied for the first place in the team throughout the season, 10 goals and 7 assists are first-class among La Liga wingers, and the passing efficiency is even more smiling La Liga, coach Michel even praised, "( Outside of Vinicius, I haven't seen a player better than Savio one-on-one. ”

It only took more than half a season for Savio to complete his transformation, and he made his Brazilian national team debut in March, which also made him a big name in the transfer market, and Manchester City are likely to get ahead of the curve - the three teams under the same City Football Group are expected to complete a chain deal this summer, with Manchester City buying Savio from Troyes and continuing his loan at Girona. Of course, based on the Premier League's tendency to strictly investigate "related party transactions" and require transactions to have a "reasonable market price", Manchester City will also pay about 30 million euros.

Savio is waiting for the test of the giants, and De Ketelaere failed to pass the first "torture": last season's 35 million to join AC Milan became the focus of Maldini's operation, but the best rookie in the league failed to realize his potential at all, rarely showed decisiveness, repeatedly missed the opportunity, 40 appearances in the season 0 goals and only contributed 1 assist, as a forward midfielder physical and psychological are far from meeting the requirements of the giants, which also led to the Rossoneri quickly cut off with him. However, on loan to Atalanta, who are known for their attacking skills, De Ketelaere was often pushed to a higher position, almost becoming an attacking free man, he found the rhythm to break through, used his left-footed skills, and played more confidently, and in February he handed over 10 goals and 7 assists, which is undoubtedly a demonstration of his true strength...... This also proves once again that compared to blindly joining the giants, it is important to continue to train in the right environment, but it has always been a technical problem to choose the next transfer.

There is no doubt that Savio and De Ketelaere, who have only just started their careers, will encounter moments when they fall to the bottom in the future, but the rise of this season will provide them with experience and confidence: any time is a good time to restart their lives.

The author of this article is Han Saiwen

This article originally appeared in the 887th issue of Football Weekly

Issue date: 2024.3.25

The picture comes from the Internet

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