Throwback Thursday: The 2009/10 U21 team of the season - Where are they now?

It’s fair to say that some players never really live up to their early promise and that a strong start to a footballing career doesn’t always guarantee a successful one overall.

With that in mind we wanted to check in on whether our unique statistical ratings were a good indicator of future performance by looking back to the U21 team of the season across Europe’s top five leagues in 2009/10. The results are as follows…

Goalkeeper: Sergio Asenjo (6.98) - Then: Atletico Madrid / Now: Villarreal

When Atleti signed Asenjo in 2009 at the age of 20 he had already been a regular feature in La Liga for two seasons with Real Valladolid. He started the season as first choice at the Vicente Calderon but despite making the second most saves per game in the division (3.9) eventually lost his place in the side to one David de Gea.

When the Manchester United shot-stopper made to move to Old Trafford in 2011, Atleti then signed Thibaut Courtois as a replacement, so Asenjo was eventually forced to seek regular football elsewhere. He moved to Villarreal in 2013 and remains the club’s first choice and without his 3.7 saves per game and 73.9 per cent save success rate - ranking third and fourth respectively in the league - it’s fair to say the Yellow Submarine would be in even more trouble than they are now.

Right-back: Felipe Mattioni (7.13) - Then: Mallorca / Now: Coritiba

An example of one of those players that doesn’t have the chance to live up to early expectations, Mattioni impressed during a loan spell at Mallorca, with his performances earning a permanent move to Espanyol the following summer. A month later he ruptured his cruciate ligament before suffering the same injury the following year, delaying his debut for the club until 2013.

The Brazilian never truly recovered, however, and was released at the end of his contract before being picked up on a free by Everton - for whom he never played. A brief spell on loan at Doncaster wasn’t enough to impress the Toffees, who didn’t renew the right-back’s contract before he returned to his homeland and has since joined Coritiba ahead of the new season in the second division.

Centre-back: Mats Hummels (7.35) - Then: Borussia Dortmund / Now: Bayern Munich

By the time the 2009/10 campaign came around Hummels had already made an impression on the first team at Dortmund but it was the first season he cemented his place as a regular starter under suitably impressed coach Jurgen Klopp. The 21-year old started 27 of 30 Bundesliga appearances and earned the second highest rating of all centre-backs in the division.

Hummels scored five times and averaged a whopping 3.7 tackles per 90 before establishing himself as a mainstay in the German national side. Having helped Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 Hummels later returned to Bayern, who allowed him to leave their youth academy in 2008, and has won a further two league trophies. Despite only turning 30 in December the defender has been told he is no longer of use at international level by Joachim Low.

Centre-back: Neven Subotic (7.12) - Then: Borussia Dortmund / Now: Saint-Etienne

Signed by Dortmund in 2008 by Jurgen Klopp, who brought the Serbian with him from Mainz, Subotic - unlike Hummels - was an immediate first choice. He started all but one game of his first league season at the club before playing every minute of the 2009/10 campaign. Somewhat overshadowed by his aforementioned centre-back partner thereafter, Subotic was still a key player to BVB’s successive titles and was a regular in the side up until 2015.

In January 2017 he moved to Koln on loan for the second half of the season and was eventually sold to current club Saint-Etienne a year later, where he has been a regular ever since. With Sainte currently occupying fourth spot in Ligue 1, Subotic may yet see action in European competition and, like his former defensive partner, only turned 30 in December.

Left-back: Jordi Alba (7.29) - Then: Valencia / Now: Barcelona

Having been a first team regular on loan at Segunda Division side Gimnastic the season previous, Alba made his Valencia debut from the bench in the second game of the 2009/10 campaign. It wasn’t, however, until the first game of the New Year that the full-back would make his first start, doing so on the left wing in a 1-0 win over Espanyol, and not until over two months later that he would become a regular feature.

Alba started 11 of Los Che’s last 13 league matches and each of the last nine, scoring his first goal for the club in a 3-2 defeat at Mattioni’s Mallorca. The Spaniard averaged 3.6 tackles per 90 while ranking fourth in interceptions per 90, with a whopping 4.6 to cement his status for the season’s ahead as the club’s first choice left-back. A return to Barcelona - where he spent his youth career - followed in 2012 having been a starter in Spain’s 2012 European Championship win. Alba has since won four league titles, four Copa del Rey’s and the UEFA Champions League in 2015.

Central midfield: Javi Martinez (7.71) - Then: Athletic Club / Now: Bayern Munich

The U21 player of the season in 2009/10, Martinez’s campaign was arguably his best not only for Athletic Club but in his career. A fixture for his first club from the age of 17, the midfielder scored six times and ranked among the top 10 players in the league for tackles (108) while leading the way by a distance in interceptions (144).

He earned a first Spain call-up as a consequence in 2010 but has seen his international career stifled by the intense competition for places in midfield ever since. In both squads as La Roja won the World Cup in 2010 and Euros two years later, Martinez was signed by Bayern Munich in 2012 for a fee believed to be in the region of £36m, which a record signing in the Bundesliga at the time. The midfielder starred in the Champions League final victory in his first season for the Bundesliga giants and has won six league titles without ever really nailing down a spot of his own in the side since.

Central midfield: Toni Kroos (7.59) - Then: Bayer Leverkusen / Now: Real Madrid

Just a teenager when Bayern loaned Toni Kroos to Leverkusen in January of 2009, by the time Kroos returned 18 months later the midfielder was not only a Bundesliga regular but a superstar in the making. In his one full season with B04, the youngster started 26 of 33 league appearances and recorded truly sensational figures. Tallies of nine goals and nine assists from the middle of the park were indicative of a player very different to the one that has mastered the art of dictating play since.

On his return to Bayern Kroos’ modest 82.2 per cent pass accuracy understandably increased but it wasn’t until working with Pep Guardiola that the German international became the metronomic player we know today. He helped the Bavarians to the title in 2013 and 2014, as well as Champions League glory in the former before making the move to Real Madrid, where he has added a further three Champions League winners’ medal and the 2017 La Liga crown. Oh, and he was a star of the tournament as Germany won the World Cup in 2014.

Attacking midfield: Mesut Ozil (7.62) - Then: Werder Bremen / Now: Arsenal

Another youngster lighting up the Bundesliga in 2009/10, Ozil had made 70 league appearances before really announcing himself as one of the world’s hottest prospects that season. It was the campaign that encouraged Real Madrid to sign the playmaker the following summer having ended it as the top creator in the division, with 13 assists and a further nine goals. Only one player averaged more key passes per 90 (3.2), while also averaging figures of 2.4 dribbles and 2.3 shots.

Ozil would become an instant sensation at the Bernabeu, registering 17 assists in each of his first two seasons in La Liga, before being allowed to leave to Arsenal in 2013 to the disbelief of many. He won his only league title in 2012 but did help Germany to World Cup glory two years later and has won the FA Cup on three occasions since moving to England.

Right wing: Alexis Sanchez (7.53) - Then: Udinese / Now: Manchester United

Joining Ozil at the Emirates a year after the German's arrival, much like his future teammate it was the 2009/10 season that shot Sanchez to stardom. His overall figures were certainly more modest, with five goals and three assists, but standing out immediately due to his energy and work rate, averaging 2.7 for both key passes and dribbles as well as 2.6 tackles per 90. The Chilean wasn't picked up by one of the giants of the game from Udinese until the year after, however, having built on his impressive form with an exceptional 2010/11 campaign in Serie A.

It was Pep Guardiola and Barcelona who took the plunge on the winger and while he didn't make quite the same impression in Spain as Ozil, Sanchez scored 39 La Liga goals in three seasons before leaving for Arsenal. He won the 2013 league title with Barca and added two FA Cups to his trophy cabinet with the Gunners, in which time he inspired Chile to successive Copa America crowns, moving to United in January of last year. His record at Old Trafford would suggest that early career burnout is already underway.

Left wing: Gareth Bale (7.64) - Then: Tottenham / Now: Real Madrid

After an injury stricken start to his career at White Hart Lane, 2009/10 was the first that Bale saw regular action and he didn't look back thereafter. Still seen as a left-back for much of the season, rotating in and out of the side at times, the Welshman's threat going forwards quickly saw him moved further forwards, starting 18 of 23 league appearances and having a direct hand in eight goals. Bale averaged 2.4 dribbles and an impressive 3.2 interceptions per 90 as it became clear that he was beginning to fulfil his excellent promise from his teenage years at Southampton.

It wasn't until two seasons later that the winger emerged as a genuine world class talent and in 2013 he made a world record move to Real Madrid. His early years in Madrid were again somewhat stunted by injury but Bale's figures were somewhat under appreciated in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo and, while still a top player, his star has fallen since. Nevertheless, the former Spurs man has a La Liga title to his name and an exceptional four Champions League winners’ medals, capped by goals in two finals including arguably the greatest ever strike in the competition's showpiece last season against Liverpool.

Striker: Alexandre Pato (7.52) - Then: AC Milan / Now: Sao Paulo

The fact that Pato makes the side despite 2009/10 being a season of regression as far as appearances and goals are concerned highlights what a special talent the Brazilian was at a young age. He made the move to Milan for an eye-catching fee in excess of £20m as a teenager in 2007 and made an instant impression, scoring 15 league goals the following season and 12 in the campaign assessed here. That tally came from a modest 23 Serie A appearances following injury, many of which would curse what should have been a glittering career.

Pato has now returned to his homeland once more having initially done so with Corinthians before a two-year loan spell with Sao Paulo, who he has now rejoined. That's not before playing in another three countries, however, following a disasterous loan spell at Chelsea with a stint at Villarreal that didn't go much better before rediscovering his shooting boots in China. The forward scored 15 goals in each of his two seasons at Tianjin Tianhai and, having only turned 29 in September, will still be aiming to take the new Brazilian league campaign by storm.