Goal.com Weekend Special: Flop To Hit - Part II

The players are in no particular order. You can check the first part here.

11. Franco Baresi

There are many who believe Franco Baresi to be the best Italian defender of the 20th century and there are many who believe him to be the best defender of all time. But when Baresi was young he was thought to be of no good by Inter Milan.

Could Have Become An Inter Legend

Franco and his brother Giuseppe went for trials at Inter but couldn't make it through; his brother, though, did. Franco was said to be too thin and too small but the young man didn't lose heart and went for trials at Inter's city rivals AC Milan. He was drafted into their set-up and remained faithful to the Rossoneri for his entire playing career, winning the scudetto six times and the European Cup thrice.

12. Edgar Davids

Another hit-turned-flop-turned-hit footballer. Edgar Davids had established himself as a complete midfielder in his time with Dutch powerhouse Ajax and earned a move to Italian giants AC Milan in 1996. But Davids was horribly off his game in the 1996-1997 season and was offloaded to Juventus at the start of the 1997-1998 season.

Davids - Milan Lost But Juventus Gained

Davids’s Juventus days were probably the best in his career as Davids helped the Old Lady reach the final of the Champions League twice in six years and won the Serie A title four times with the club.

13. Luca Toni

Luca Toni is something of a late bloomer and although he is now considered to be past his prime, no one can deny that he did play a role in Italy's World Cup triumph in Germany in 2006. But when he was starting his footballing career, not many thought that he could make it: he was rejected by some of the country's youth academies.

Modest Start, Rich End

Toni had to start his career in the lower divisions of Italy and played outside the top flight for quite a while. It was only in 1999 that the Italian tasted his first Serie A football and it was at Palermo a few years later that he started to grow famous. Now of course, Toni is at former European champions Bayern Munich.

14. Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos wasn't exactly a disaster in his one and only season at Italian giants Inter Milan but played out of position, he was certainly under par and there were doubts whether he is/was as good as he was thought to be. Inter Milan, though, felt that they have had enough of the Brazilian and decided to ship him off to Spain and draft in striker Ivan Zamorano instead.

How Could Inter Let Him Go!?

Roberto Carlos became the joint best left-back in the world at Real Madrid and a Brazilian and La Liga legend. He also became synonymous with 500 miles/hr (accurate) free-kicks.

15. Ray Kennedy

When Ray Kennedy was 16 years of age, Port Vale manager Sir Stanley Matthews dismissed him and said that he would never become a professional footballer. Perhaps Kennedy believed Sir Matthews and returned to his native north-east to play as an amateur for New Hartley Juniors; he also worked at a sweet factory during that time.

Before long a scout from Arsenal noticed his potential. Kennedy went onto play for Arsenal and won the Fairs Cup with them; he also played for Liverpool later on, winning the league five times and the European Cup thrice.

16. Kenny Daglish

The name needs no explanation as everyone knows who he is and what he did during his playing career. But before Kenny Daglish had signed up with Scottish giants Celtic, he had gone for trials in England. He had two trials at West Ham United but failed to impress the coaches there. Daglish eventually returned to Celtic and the rest, as they say, is history.

17. Dennis Bergkamp

Inter Milan made Dennis Bergkamp the second most expensive footballer in 1993 when they signed him from Dutch powerhouse Ajax but the Dutch master failed to do much in the Serie A. His two seasons in Italy yielded only 11 goals in 50 appearances and Bergkamp was more than just glad to leave Inter for Arsenal in 1995.

Bergkamp Needs No Introduction

It was at Arsenal that Bergkamp gained fame and honour as he performed to the best of his abilities at the Premier League side. The Non-flying Dutchman won the Premier League title three times with the London club and the FA Cup four times, and also weaved several historic moments of magic.

18. Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson was the first signing of the Roman Abramovich era and was expected to become a brilliant player. Three seasons later Johnson (apparently) turned out to be a flop and a liability, and was shipped off to Portsmouth on a season-long loan deal.

Once A Flop, Now A Hit

Johnson signed for Pompey on a permanent deal in 2007 and after two heavily impressive seasons for them was signed by Premier League giants Liverpool in the summer of 2009. Johnson has also established himself in the England national team.

19. Lassana Diarra

Those blokes at Madrid are calling him the ‘New Makelele’ but in England he was just another 'flop'. Lassana Diarra was signed by Chelsea in 2005 but failed to make much headway and left the club for London rivals Arsenal in 2007. The Frenchman failed to groove himself into the Arsenal first team and was soon offloaded to modest Premier League side Portsmouth.

They Call Him The 'New Makelele'

It was at Portsmouth that Diarra was played to his strength and was fully used - at both Arsenal and Chelsea he was under-used. In January 2009 Spanish giants Real Madrid came calling.

The 24-year-old was the best player for Madrid in the second half of the Liga season in 2008-2009 as for the first time since the departure of Claude Makelele Madrid found someone capable of playing for them in the defensive midfielder's role.

20. Paul Gascoigne

England legend Paul Gascoigne started his footballing career with local club Newcastle United and went onto become a world famous footballer, but back in his young days before he had joined Newcastle Gascoigne had to face rejections from a number of clubs.

Gazza Was Indeed A Rare Talent

First, he went to Ipswich Town for trials but failed to get through - the coaches were impressed with his skills but thought he was too fat to play professionally. Young Gascoigne then went for trials at Middlesbrough and Southampton but again the door was slammed on his face.

Eventually Newcastle took Gascoigne in and to know what happened next check your history books.

Do you think we have missed a major flop-to-hit story? Which flop-turned-hit footballer would you have wanted us to feature? Goal.com wants to know your view.

Subhankar Mondal