1. Elvir Baljic – Fenerbahce to Real Madrid, 1999
Via goal.com
Perhaps one of the saddest stories of unfulfilled potential in recent memory, Elvir Baljic was a standout Bosnian playing for Fenerbahce of the Turkish League in 1998-99. In 30 appearances for the club at the age of 24, he scored 18 goals, and attracted interest from some of world’s biggest clubs.
Real Madrid, then managed by Welshman John Toshack, a fan of Baljic’s from his time in Turkey, made a huge splash by signing the Bosnian for 26 million Euros, a massive fee at the time. He joined the Spanish giants at the start of the 1999-2000 season, but ruptured a knee ligament in pre-season training and missed a large part of the season.
Toshack was fired in the same season, and the new coach was not as interested in playing Baljic as Toshack had been. As such, he managed to see the field only 11 times that season, starting only three times and scoring just one goal.
Next year, Baljic was loaned back to Fenerbahce, but failed to regain the form he had shown only two seasons prior. In a final attempt to reclaim his place with Real Madrid, Baljic was loaned to nearby Rayo Vallecano, a team which featured two fellow Bosnians on the starting lineup. That was still not enough, as more injuries and off-field issues interrupted what could have been a long and successful career.
Baljic continued playing in the Turkish League until 2008, but never managed to score more than 3 goals per season, as his concentration and commitment were never the same as that magical 1998-99 season.
On a positive note, Baljic is currently the assistant manager of the Bosnia-Herzegovina national team, which qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and is undefeated in the 2015 calendar year.
Sources: bleacherreport.com, bbc.co.uk, theguardian.com, dailymail.co.uk, espnfc.com,fifa.com, soccernews.com, goal.com
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