10 star footballers whose careers were ruined by their manager

Some of the best footballers to ever grace the pitch have been unstoppable one minute and then fell out of favour the next because their new manager has new ideas and philosophies that don't match their strengths. In these cases, it has led to the downfall of their careers. The list is according to GOAL 90 on YouTube.

Pep Guardiola coached Yaya Toure at FC Barcelona and Manchester City. At both clubs, he was dropped despite his form. Guardiola brought in Sergio Busquets from the youth team at Barcelona and sold Toure to City.

At City, Toure excelled, winning the Africa Player of the Year four times in a row and playing a leading role in City winning two Premier League titles. Pep joined City in 2016, and Toure's appearances went from 32 in 2015/16 to 10 in 2017/18. He retired in China a year later.

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Joe Hart was England and Manchester City's number one before Guardiola arrived in 2016, winning a record-equalling four Golden Gloves and two Premier League titles.

When Guardiola arrived, Hart was instantly relegated to the bench and sent on loan spells to Torino and West Ham before being sold to Burnley. He spent three years at Celtic before retiring.

Under Arsène Wenger, Mesut Özil was an Arsenal creative genius. In 2016, he was the Premier League's top assists provider, secured the Arsenal Player of the Year award, and helped them win three FA Cups.

When Mikel Arteta came in 2019, he dropped Özil from the Premier League and Europe League squads in 2020 and decided to play him in the U23s. The German played in Turkey for two years before retiring at 34.

Diego Costa was in his prime when he first joined Chelsea. He won two Premier League titles and was included in the PFA Team of the Year in 2015. He scored 20 league goals in both seasons they won the league.

However, after their second title season in 2017, manager Antonio Conte texted Costa, saying he was no longer needed. Costa left in September 2017 for Atlético Madrid, but his career has fizzled out in Brazil.

Donny van de Beek played a pivotal role in the Ajax team that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019, attracting the interest of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's Manchester United team.

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Solksjaer started Van de Beek in four Premier League games in his first two seasons before loaning him out to Everton. Injuries and a lack of game-time have derailed his career, and he's trying to find his feet again at Girona in Spain.

Diego Maradona said Louis van Gaal was "closer to the devil than anything" for his treatment of Radamel Falcao at Manchester United after giving him minimal game time and dropping him to the U23s.

Before joining United, Falcao was an elite goalscorer, scoring 72 in 87 for Porto and 70 in 91 for Atlético Madrid. After his spell at United, he bounced around different clubs and returned to South America.

Carlo Ancelotti signed James Rodríguez at Real Madrid after his mesmerizing performances at the 2014 World Cup. However, when Zidane took over in 2016, he was relegated to the bench.

He spent his next years playing with Ancelotti on loan at Bayern Munich before joining Everton. When Ancelotti left Everton to return to Madrid, Rodríguez was lost and spent time in the Middle East and Greece.

Isco was Carlo Ancelotti's first signing at Real Madrid during his first stint, but when he returned in 2021, Isco fell out of favour with Ancelotti, going from 25 La Liga appearances in 2020/21 to 14 in 2021/22.

He had his contract terminated by Sevilla in 2023 before rediscovering some of his old form at Real Betis.

Gareth Bale was exceptional for Real Madrid, from scoring outrageous goals in finals to being one of their most decorated players, securing three La Liga titles and five Champions Leagues. However, in Zidane's second stint as Madrid boss, the Frenchman cut Bale out of the team, playing him five times in the 2021/22 season.

When Madrid won the league that season, he refused to be a part of the team and waved a flag with the words 'Wales, Golf, Madrid' written on it when away with Wales. He later joined LAFC of the MLS and retired just months after playing in America.

Deli Alli was England's Golden boy under Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, producing magical seasons like the one in 2016/17, where he scored 18 goals and made seven assists.

His production quickly dropped when José Mourinho took over, and Alli was dropped to the bench and fell out of favor. After ten appearances in 2021/22, Alli had two terrible loan spells at Everton and Besiktas, where both teams tried to cancel his loan. He has recently joined Como FC of Serie A.

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