Every so often a player comes around who is just different. A player who is liked by fans of every team. A cult hero not just for the team they played for, but for the league itself. These players possessed the talent to dominate any fixture against any team but, sadly, they either never fulfilled their superstar potential due to inconsistency, injury struggles or off-pitch issues or were just criminally underrated. They were on the pitch to entertain and they certainly succeeded. Players like these often fall into the category of ‘the streets won’t forget’ and it made me wonder, where are our cult heroes now? I created a starting 11 of Premier League players who fall into this category, in my opinion, and decided to investigate what they are doing now and find out if they are still entertaining football fans with their one-season wonders or world-class performances that rarely occur.
Goalkeeper: Ali Al-Habsi
The goalkeeper described in 2011 as a “balletically gymnastic, unexpectedly imposing figure”, Al-Habsi is a goalkeeper who will live long in the memory of Wigan Athletic fans. The goalkeeper from Omani was a significant part of Wigan’s spell as a Premier League side. He started the FA Cup semi-final against Millwall in 2013 but was left on the bench for the historic final win against Manchester City. Following his spell at Wigan, Al-Habsi enjoyed a successful spell in the Championship with Reading, winning their player of the season award, before moving to Al-Hilal. After two years in Saudi Arabia, the former Wigan keeper returned to England to West Brom before announcing his retirement in 2020. Al-Habsi is now an ambassador for Hyundai’s Century initiative in which the car manufacturer aims to be carbon neutral by 2045.
Right Back: Emmanuel Eboue
Eboue was a defender who had made his name playing for Arsenal between 2004 and 2011. The Ivorian defender would sign for Sunderland in 2016, following a spell at Galatasaray, but would not make a single appearance for the Black Cats and was released in the same year. It was during his time at Sunderland that Eboue began serving a one-year ban from all football-related activity due to failure to pay a former agent. Eboue would later be discovered to be bankrupt following a divorce with his wife who had taken all of their assets. He now owns and runs his own football academy back in the Ivory Coast following his retirement in 2020 and has been described as being “happy and well“.
Centre-back: Daniel Agger
Famous for his thunderbolt of a first Premier League goal for Liverpool against West Ham, Agger was a centre-half adored by the red side of Liverpool. The Dane joined the Reds following their Champions League success in 2005 and would go on to make 175 appearances for the club. Agger departed in 2014 and would return to his childhood club Brondby back in Denmark and announced his retirement on the 9th of June 2016 upon the expiration of his contract. Following his retirement, Agger would go on to create a sewage company named “KloAgger” and is also working as a tattoo artist. He has also managed in Denmark, taking charge of first division side HB Koge from 2021-2023.
Centre-back: Ricardo Carvalho
Part of arguably the greatest defensive partnership the Premier League has ever seen, Ricardo Carvalho was John Terry’s partner in a formidable Chelsea defence. The Portuguese defender joined Chelsea in 2004 from Porto and would go on to make 210 appearances for the Blues, winning three Premier League titles as well as three FA Cups and two League Cups. Carvalho’s impact at Chelsea can be seen through his 2007/08 season at the club where the club said “The departure of William Gallas and injuries to Terry and goalkeeper Petr Cech brought even more responsibility on the Portuguese international’s shoulders during the next two campaigns, but he responded admirably and took the 2007/08 Players’ Player of the Year award before injuries hampered his involvement towards the end of his time at the club.” He would leave for Real Madrid in 2010. Often overlooked in discussions of the greatest ever Premier League defenders, Carvalho would go on to play for AS Monaco and Shanghai after his spell in Madrid, it was during his time in Shanghai that he was given a seven-month suspended prison sentence for tax fraud in 2017. He would retire from playing in the same year.
Carvalho is now involved in the coaching side of the game and was assistant to Andre Villas-Boas at Marseille in 2017 and would leave the club in 2021. He returned to coaching in 2023 and would join the Portuguese national team as one of Roberto Martinez’s assistants.
Left Back: John Arne Riise
A fellow Scandinavian hero on the red half of Merseyside, John Arne Riise would join Liverpool in 2001 and would play for the Reds until 2008. Famous for having a foot like a traction engine, Riise was adored by Liverpool fans for his offensive abilities and famously scored a screamer of a free kick against bitter rivals Manchester United. Following his departure he had stints at AS Roma and Fulham and continued playing until retiring in 2017. He did come out of retirement briefly to make an appearance for Avaldsnes in the Norwegian fifth tier in 2023. Since retiring, he has been a sporting director at Birkirkara FC and was a manager at Flint Tonsberg. He was most recently managing the women’s team Avaldsnes in Norway’s top division.
Right Midfielder: Hatem Ben Arfa
A name that Geordies will remember fondly, Hatem Ben Arfa consistently lit up Newcastle United fixtures with his unbelievably skilful dribbling ability often making the jaws of Premier League spectators drop. Often seen as a player whose attitude problems let him down, Ben Arfa would have spells at Hull City, Nice and Paris Saint Germain, as well as several other clubs. Ben Arfa has stepped away from football following his spell with Lille in 2022, which ended after being sacked by the club following a row with manager Jocelyn Gourvennec. Astonishingly, the Newcastle fan favourite has taken up a new sport and is now a professional padel tennis player. As of November 2023, Ben Arfa was ranked 1,342nd in the world having won 70 competitions. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-newcastle-united-cult-hero-28201810
Centre midfielder: Jay-Jay Okocha
The man so good they named him twice. Okocha arrived in Bolton rather surprisingly in 2002 following a spell at PSG playing alongside fellow magician Ronaldinho. However, when the Nigerian swapped the bright lights of Paris for Sam Allardyce’s Bolton side, he would make an everlasting mark on the English game. Not only was the ball often superglued to his feet, Okocha would often make defenders look silly with mesmerising step-overs and even the occasional rainbow flick.
Okocha departed Lancashire in 2006 and after a season in Qatar and an injury-riddled season at Hull City, resulting in his release, Okocha would retire in 2008. He did come out of retirement briefly to sign for Bengal Premier League side Durgapur Vox Champions but would not make a single appearance and would go back into retirement. Following his playing days, Okocha is now the CEO of the Jay-Jay Okocha Group West Africa. He has also had some troubles with the law and has astonishingly been charged with two separate cases of money laundering by Scottish police however these charges were later dropped in 2020. The former Bolton man has now worked as a television pundit since 2019 for African sports broadcaster Supersport. https://www.pulsesports.ng/football/story/jay-jay-okocha-net-worth-profile-age-wife-cars-achievements-houses-how-rich-is-he-in-2023-2023041810241723609#:~:text=Okocha%20lives%20a%20comfortable%20life,of%20the%20richest%20Nigerian%20footballers.&text=He%20is%20the%20CEO%20of,2008%2C%20shortly%20after%20his%20retirment.
Centre midfielder: Adel Taarabt
This could not be a streets won’t forget team without this man. The Moroccan magician terrorised both Championship and Premier League defences at will and the former Tottenham and QPR man is undoubtedly one of the most skilful players the Premier League has ever seen. The King of the Streets won’t forget tag possessed a highlight reel that could convince you he is the greatest to ever do it, however, Taarabt unfortunately did not make the most of his ability and he was frustratingly inconsistent. Taarabt was even branded by former manager Harry Redknapp as “not fit to play football” with Redknapp tearing the Moroccan apart for his fitness and performances during a press conference in 2014. https://www.google.com/search?q=adel+taarabt+harry+redknapp&oq=adel+taarabt+harr&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTINCAIQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBagCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:2fda1044,vid:l28CsUganII,st:0
Taarabt would go on to play for multiple teams, such as AC Milan and Benfica, and is still playing football to this day. The UAE Pro-League is where Taarabt plays now and he even plays alongside Southampton cult hero Manolo Gabbiadini for Al-Nasr SC. According to Transfermarkt, He has made nine appearances for Al Nasr in the 2023/24 season registering two goals and four assists helping the club make the quarter-finals of the UAE League Cup losing 3-2 on aggregate against Al-Ain FC.
Left Midfielder: Dimitri Payet
The French wizard arrived in the Premier League in the summer of 2015 and played a pivotal part in West Ham’s final season at the Boleyn ground. Payet won West Ham’s Player of the Year award in 2016 and also won the Premier League Player of the Year award at the London Football Awards in 2016. The Frenchman’s silky skills combined with his unbelievable ability resulted in a catalogue of outrageous goals, notably free kicks, and assists making his 18-month stint in English football certainly a memorable one. Payet would depart controversially West Ham in January 2017 and would return to his former club Marseille. Following his second spell in Marseille Payet is still playing and finds himself playing for Brazillian side Vasco Da Gama. The former West Ham man has scored one goal in six appearances this season, according to Transfermarkt, and his team find themselves fourth in the Carioca Serie A in Brazil.
Striker: Michu
Swansea’s Spanish superstar. Michu arrived in Wales in the summer of the 2012/13 season and took the league by storm. He scored 18 goals in 35 league appearances and scored three in the Capital One Cup, including one in Swansea’s victory in the final at Wembley against Bradford City, and one in the FA Cup taking his total to 22 goals. Unfortunately, he would only manage another 17 appearances for the Jacks scoring just 2 goals before leaving on loan to Napoli for the 2014/15 season. His career would sadly never hit the heights of his Swansea days and he would later retire on July 25th 2017 due to constant injury struggles following spells at Langreo and Oviedo.
Michu stayed within football following his retirement and is now the sporting director at La Liga 2 side Burgos in northern Spain. If the stats from arguably the Premier League’s greatest one-season wonder weren’t impressive enough, it has been reported that Manchester City’s Erling Haaland idolised the 37-year-old when he was younger and even used to pretend that he was the Swansea legend. https://talksport.com/football/1210900/man-city-erling-haaland-celebration-premier-league-michu-goals/
Striker: Hugo Rodellega
A Colombian striker who touched the heart of Wigan supporters, Hugo Rodellega enjoyed his spell at Wigan scoring 24 goals in 116 games for the Latics. While the numbers aren’t the most impressive, he was a player who had to be watched to be appreciated. Scorer of several fantastic and important goals, the striker is certainly a legend at Wigan and after three years there he would move on to Fulham where he would score 20 goals in 88 games. Following his spell in England, Rodellega has played for several teams in Turkey, Brazil and Colombia and is currently playing for Colombian side Independiente Santa Fe, scoring four goals in seven games this season. Rodellega is the club’s top scorer as the club currently sits in mid-table, 11th, of their league.
Honourable Mentions
Narrowing this team down to just eleven players was extremely difficult and was purely based on personal preference but here are some honourable mentions to players who also will never be forgotten.
Papiss Cisse:
The former Newcastle striker, and scorer of either the best or the luckiest Premier League goal ever, and was training with non-league side Macclesfield FC as recently as November 2023.
https://talksport.com/football/1640477/papiss-cisse-trains-robbie-savage-macclesfield/
Demba Ba:
Cisse’s strike partner at Newcastle and the man responsible for ruining Steven Gerrard’s season in 2013/14, Ba now finds himself owning Senegalese Ligue 2 side Amitie FC following his retirement in 2021.
Nani:
Manchester United’s Portuguese winger who may be overshadowed by one of the best players ever in Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani is still playing at the age of 37 and represents Turkish side Adana Demirspor.
Rory Delap:
The man who caused teams to concede corners rather than throw-ins, Stoke hero Delap now finds himself coaching Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv alongside fellow Irishman Robbie Keane
Roque Santa Cruz:
One of the best one-season wonders that England has seen, Santa Cruz played his best football for Blackburn Rovers, scoring 19 goals and getting seven assists in the 2007/08 season, before a disappointing spell at Manchester City. As recently as November 2023, it was reported that Santa Cruz was still playing football at the age of 42 for Libertad in Paraguay.