Players who failed to impress at the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham have gone on to star for Champions League finalists.
Several players have failed to acclimatise to the Premier League, but this lot suddenly becoming crucial to some of Europe’s best teams caused eyebrows to raise skywards.
We’ve picked out seven players who were rubbish in the Premier League, but surprisingly thrived for these Champions League finalists.
Jadon Sancho
------------
Cheeky, we know.
But Sancho fits this piece perfectly, having failed to shine at both Manchester United and Chelsea despite his big reputation.
The erstwhile England international returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan in 2024 after falling out with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
And Sancho was instrumental in their run to the final, with his performance in the home leg of the semi-final against PSG causing a thousand reappraisals of his ability.
Sadly, the winger was ineffective against Real Madrid in the final. We could see him returning to the final as part of a Serie A squad in the future.
Joselu
------
Like a handful of forwards, Joselu has become more prolific with age.
After failing to impress at Stoke and Newcastle, the striker’s prolific form for Espanyol earned him a season-long loan move to Real Madrid in 2023-24, where he won La Liga, Champions League and Supercopa de Espana.
His two match-winning goals against Bayern Munich in the semis of the Champions League alone earned Joselu a place in the hearts of Madristas everywhere and he followed that with an appearance in the victory over Borussia Dortmund in the final.
Jon Dahl Tomasson
-----------------
Tomasson isn’t the name most people bring up when talking about dud buys from the Eredivisie, but he was one of the first to fit the bill.
The Dane had scored 24 times for Heerenveen, prompting Newcastle to stump up the cash to sign him.
Perhaps things would have gone better if he wasn’t forced to deputise for the long-term injured Alan Shearer, but probably not.
He went on to shine at Feyenoord and appeared for AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final. Perhaps Newcastle could’ve persisted with him for longer…
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
------------------------
We demand to know Choupo-Moting’s secret; having failed at Stoke, being part of a squad that succumbed to relegation after 10 years in the Premier League, the Cameroon international found the sweetest of gigs at PSG.
After two seasons in France, which included one of the worst misses of all time and an appearance in the 2020 Champions League final, he failed upwards once more with a transfer to Bayern Munich.
We hope Choupo-Moting was paying his agent very, very well.
**READ NEXT: [7 world-class players we can’t believe never played in a Champions League final](https://www.planetfootball.com/champions-league/world-class-players-cant-believe-never-played-final)
**
**TRY A QUIZ: [Can you name every team to compete in a Champions League final?](https://www.planetfootball.com/quizzes/can-name-every-team-compete-champions-league-final)
**
Stefan Savic
------------
Savic joined City in 2011, aged 20, shortly after his father, who was president of the municipal assembly in Mojkovac (in their native Montenegro) died by suicide.
Savic might still be the only Partizan player that Red Star Belgrade ultras have held banners of support for.
He spent one year at Manchester City before they swapped him for Fiorentina’s Matija Nastasic.
Three years in beautiful Florence got Savic’s career back on track and, in 2015, he embarked upon a nine-year spell at the heart of Atletico Madrid’s defence under the command of Diego Simeone.
Savic played 120 minutes in the 2016 Champions League final as Atletico lost on penalties to arch-rivals Real Madrid at the San Siro.
Fernando Llorente
-----------------
Tottenham fans will always be thankful to Llorente as he scored the goal against Manchester City which ultimately secured their spot in the 2019 Champions League semi-final.
But the big Spaniard hardly shone in north London, scoring just two Premier League goals across two seasons for Spurs.
Llorente played in the 2019 Champions League final defeat to Liverpool, but had already played in the showpiece four years previously for Juventus.
Marco Materazzi
---------------
A World Cup winner. A treble-winner. One of Jose Mourinho’s favourite sons and one of the all-time great sh\*thouses.
Few could have predicted the career Materazzi would go on to have after his low-key, forgettable 1998-99 season spent with Everton.
But the centre-back’s achievements, including a brief appearance in the 2010 Champions League final, rendered his time at Goodison Park an eyebrow-raising footnote.