2. Denilson – Sao Paolo to Real Betis, 1998
Via goal.com
One good tournament is sometimes all it takes for a player to make a life-changing career move. That was definitely the case for Denilson, the Brazilian left-winger who left his local team for Spainsh club Betis for a then-world-record 21.5 million pound transfer fee. He was a star for Brazil in the 1997 Confederations Cup and 1998 World Cup, a grand total of about 12 games that shot his market value through the roof.
As a left-winger, Denilson benefitted from playing a shallow position, and many teams yearned for a left-footed player who could set up goals, dribble, beat defenders, and take free kicks. Denilson had all those talents, but when he arrived in Spain, as sometimes happens with Brazilian players, he quickly looked out of place.
In his first full season, 1998-99, he played in 35 games, but managed only 2 goals and was hardly the offensive creator the team had imagined. Betis finished in 11th place in the league, far below what was expected from the team that broke a world record for transfer spending.
Denilson was loaned back to Brazilian club Flamengo for a year, and when he returned, was a shell of his former self. From then on, he wandered around France, Saudi Arabia, USA, Brazil, Vietnam, and Greece, never sticking for more than a few months.
A glance at the players who were worth world-record transfer fees shows names like Ronaldo, Zidane, and Figo. Denilson will long remain the most unlikely, and unsuccessful, player on that list.
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