A footballer’s career can often take an odd turn after reaching the elite level of the sport, and there are some examples at Wolves.
Part of Wolves Championship title-winning campaign in 2017/18, Ben Marshall is now playing for AFC Darwen in the 10th tier of English football.
Marshall flopped at Molineux and then slowly watched his career fade into the abyss, while others have flourished after leaving Wolverhampton.
Patrick Cutrone is a Wolves flop, although the Italian has found a new lease of life in the Serie A with Como, becoming a solid striker under Cesc Fabregas.
Marshall’s and Cutrone’s careers post-Wolves have gone in opposite directions, while one former player is now competing in a different professional sport after retiring.
Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
Former Wolves player Jelle Van Damme is now a professional cyclist
In the summer of 2010, Mick McCarthy snapped up Belgian defender Jelle Van Damme from Anderlecht for £2.5 million.
The ex-Southampton centre-back promised to be a shrewd addition to McCarthy’s squad, although the hope of him becoming a good signing soon faded.
As Wolves suffered relegation to the Championship in 2011, Van Damme only featured six times, netting one goal against Fulham as a wing-back.
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Just five months after making the switch from Anderlecht, the Belgian titan returned to his home country in November 2010, with Wolves receiving £2.5 million from Standard Liege.
Capped 31 times by his country, Van Damme’s career took him to all corners of the globe, including LA Galaxy, Werder Bremen and Ajax, but now he’s competing in another professional sport after retiring in 2020.
At the age of 41, Van Damme has since transformed his amateur interest in cycling up to professional levels while training alongside Greg van Avermaet.
He plans to compete in a series of events, including Unbound – the World Cup of gravel cycling – in the US later this year.
What Mick McCarthy said after signing Van Damme
Since becoming a professional cyclist, Van Damme admits he would have chosen cycling over football if it was an option at the start of his career.
However, upon signing for Wolves in 2010, McCarthy was excited about the attributes and experience he’d bring to his squad.
“Jelle is a player we’ve been watching for a long time and I’m delighted we’ve managed to sign him,” said McCarthy via the Guardian.
“He is a versatile defender who can play in several different positions and also boasts Champions League experience with Anderlecht and 22 international caps with Belgium.
“Playing in the Premier League is going to be a new challenge but from talking to him it’s one he is clearly looking forward to and relishing. There were other clubs who were keen to sign him but we were able to get in early and register our interest and get the deal done.
The above assessment ended up giving McCarthy a red face as he completely flopped at Molineux before departing only five months later.