Every now and then, a young player comes around that draws hype from across the footballing world as potentially the next big thing.
Martin Odegaard is the latest wonderkid to be unearthed and, following a glut of speculation that saw the world's biggest clubs linked with him, Real Madrid confirmed the signature of the 16-year-old Norwegian on Wednesday night.
Many players tipped for stardom have gone on to fulfil their potential, and Odegaard need look no further than the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar at Barcelona for two prime examples.
However, often the expectations can get to players and affect them, leaving them far short of what they were predicted to achieve.
Here, Sports Mole looks at five players who suffered the fate that Odegaard will be desperate to avoid.
1. Freddy Adu
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The go-to wonderkid who never made it. The hype surrounding Freddy Adu in America was akin to that afforded to LeBron James in basketball. Aged just 14, Adu was drafted by DC United and became the youngest athlete to ever sign professional forms in the United States. He soon became the youngest player to appear in the MLS, and just two weeks later opened his account for the club to become the youngest scorer as well.
Such apparent prodigious talent led to some labelling Adu "the next Pele", more often than not a kiss of death for a budding young footballer. Sure enough, despite trials with Manchester United, Adu's career failed to come to fruition. He became a journeyman, shipped out on loan by Benfica to the likes of Belenenses, Aris and Caykur Rizespor.
He last featured for Serbian club FK Jagodina, making one substitute appearance in the cup before being released in December. Still aged just 25, he is currently without a team.
2. Bojan Krkic
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Bojan Krkic's decline hasn't quite been as dramatic as Adu's, but he has certainly fallen far short of expectations. The Spaniard came through the ranks at Barcelona's famed youth academy La Masia, and the buzz around the place was that he would go on to become the next Lionel Messi. Such high expectations were warranted as he broke a number of Messi's records on his way to reportedly scoring more than 900 goals during his youth career.
He again toppled a Messi landmark when he made his debut for Barcelona aged just 17 years and 19 days, and a little over a month later he became the youngest scorer for the club too. His first season yielded a record haul for number of goals in a debut campaign, but despite posting a respectable record of 41 goals in 162 games for the Spanish giants, he was shipped out to Roma.
A loan spell at AC Milan followed before he returned to Barcelona, where he was sent out on a temporary basis to Ajax. The attacker helped the Dutch club to the league title, but they opted against signing him permanently and eventually he joined Stoke City, where he has enjoyed some decent form so far this season.
3. Nii Lamptey
As mentioned earlier, the tag of "the next Pele" can do a player more harm than good, but when the man himself hails you as his successor, it is time to sit up and take notice. Following Nii Lamptey's performances in the 1989 World Youth Championships, Pele gave perhaps the highest praise a footballer can receive: "Lamptey is my natural successor as the greatest player of all time."
The gifted Ghanaian seemed to have all the talent required to become a household name, but his troubled childhood left him unable to read or write. He joined Anderlecht aged 15 and looked like he was on course to fulfil his potential during a successful two-year stint with PSV Eindhoven. However, he trusted his career to agents who had their own interests very much above those of the player.
A shock move to Aston Villa and later Coventry City was the start of Lamptey's downward spiral, which included spells across Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. He ended his career with South African side Jomo Cosmos and is now the assistant manager of Sekondi Wise Fighters.
4. Cherno Samba
Players of the Championship Manager series will be well aware of Cherno Samba, despite his rather inauspicious career. The youngster was tipped to be the next big thing in English football having scored 132 goals in 32 games for his youth team. Millwall soon came knocking for the teenager, while he made his way through every England side from the Under-16s to the Under-20s.
Such was his potential that the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool came knocking, but Millwall were so desperate to keep hold of the striker that they reportedly turned down a £2m bid from the latter. The disappointment of missing out on a move to a big club hit Samba hard and, having played for the Under-17s while still only 14, he was still representing the same side three years later.
He never did make a league appearance for the Lions, and only went on to make a handful throughout his career with the likes of Cadiz, Malaga B, Plymouth Argyle, Wrexham, Haka, Panetolikos and FK Tonsberg. He is now 29 and currently unattached.
5. Kerlon
Being the adopted home of football, it is no surprise that many wonderkids come out of Brazil. The latest off the production line in 2008 seemed to be Kerlon, who caught the eye with an audacious piece of skill dubbed the 'seal dribble', in which he ran with the ball while balancing it on his head.
In truth, the move had little more use than to frustrate defenders and potentially win a free kick, but it helped to bring the attacking midfielder to global attention. Italian giants Inter Milan took the risk on the Brazilian, but in four seasons at San Siro he did not make a single appearance for the club and made just five overall during his four separate loan spells.
The 26-year-old then spent two years with Japanese third division side Fujieda MYFC before making the move to Barbados to play for Weymouth Wales.
Barney Corkhill
