We live in an age now where almost every professional footballer has their own highlights package on YouTube. We don't quite know who these people are that sit there and stitch together clips of a promising young attacking midfielder in the Belgian second division, and throw in some terrible techno music, but they are out there, and they ensure that when your club is linked to that kid in a tabloid newspaper, you can instantly become an expert on his career.
But what about when it doesn't quite work out? The first response when someone posts a highlight video of a potential star is "Yeah but could he do it on a rainy Wednesday night at Stoke?" The answer to that question for the following players, turned out to be no.
Here are seven "YouTube players" who looked like they could set the world alight with their skills, but never really fulfilled their potential.
Kerlon
"The Seal Boy" rose to fame after he obnoxiously took the piss out of his opponents at an underage tournament for Brazil by dribbling the ball on his head like a seal. Dubbed the next Ronaldinho, Kerlon now plies his trade in the third tier of Japanese football.
Paddy McCourt
Upon watching one of Paddy McCourt's YouTube highlight videos, you could be forgiven for mistaking "The Derry Pele" for George Best, such are the calibre of goals he has scored in his career. When he fancies it, he can be unplayable, he just tends to fancy it for one moment a season.
Freddy Adu
The original Football Manager wonderkid, Adu burst on to the soccer scene in the US at the age of 14 when he made his debut for DC United. Some of the goals he scored at under-age level were absolutely incredible, and the highlight videos were out in force. Freddy never could quite crack Europe, and has had to settle for a fairly mediocre MLS career.
Ricardo Quaresma
A one man footballing circus, Quaresma has all the tricks in his locker, and huge things were expected of the Portuguese during his time at Porto, but he never really kicked on despite stints at Inter and Chelsea. Still, his highlights are a joy to behold.
Yoann Gourcuff
Dubbed the next Zinedine Zidane during his rise to fame at Bordeaux, Gourcuff was the subject of countless YouTube videos as he was expected to be the future of French football. While still a talented player, Gourcuff was never able to make an impact outside of Ligue 1.
Lee Trundle
Swansea City legend Lee Trundle was the poster boy for Soccer AM's "showboat" back in the day, and was much loved for his dazzling skills at League One grounds up and down the UK when Swansea were crap. Neck stalls, roulettes, nutmegs, Trundle did it all, but never played at a higher level than Championship football.
We still love him though.
Anthony Le Tallec
Liverpool's answer to Cristiano Ronaldo was a French playmaker who was sure to be the next big thing in World football. YouTube clips will show a quick-footed winger with an eye for a pass and skills to beat the band, instead, Le Tallec did nothing. Nothing.
