The summer transfer window of 2020 slammed shut on Monday much later than usual and with far less fanfare than normal.

Even though clubs in the top five European football leagues spent around £2.99 billion in the window gone by, the figure is significantly lower compared to the £5 billion clubs across Europe spent in the last summer window.

The coronavirus pandemic saw clubs hold their purse strings tight with many preferring loan moves over permanent ones.

With the general decline in the transfer activity this summer, some big names have been left in the wayside and without a club. Despite their glowing reputations at one point of time, their career graphs declined sharply. Here’s a list of five immensely gifted footballers whose once-promising football careers nosedived.

Jack Wilshere

The Arsenal midfielder was considered one of Europe’s most promising midfielders at the time. He had passed the ultimate test standing tall against the midfield of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in their prime. Playing for Arsenal in a Champions League tie against the dominant Barcelona side, Wilshere didn’t just hold his own against the famed trio but also dictated terms at times.

However, injuries crippled his blossoming career. Suffering as many as 18 injuries between 2012 and 2020, Wilshere went from Arsenal’s next midfield maestro to a fringe player at West Ham United.

His fate barely changed in east London leading to very little playing time for Wilshere. Eventually, on Monday, Wilshere terminated his contract with West Ham by mutual consent.

Only 28, the midfielder who was once tipped to be among the best in Europe around this time of his career finds himself without a club and with prospects of reinventing himself fading fast.

Mario Gotze

In 2014, Gotze achieved something every footballer dreams to be able to do: score the winner for your country in a World Cup final. Making his way into that strong German side as an attacking midfielder, Gotze was already a star in his country playing in a Borrusia Dortmund side that had won back-to-back Bundesliga titles.

He secured a move to Bayern Munich in 2013 making him the most expensive German player of all time, a record he only briefly held. He made a promising start to life in Bavaria netting 15 times in his debut season. However, his performances dipped in the following two seasons and he was subjected to criticism by fans and former players.

In 2016, he returned to Dortmund hoping to revive his career. However, in his very first season Gotze was diagnosed with myopathy, a metabolic disorder that causes fatigue and weight gain.

Gotze was never able to recover after discovering his illness as coaches were wary of his condition. At the end of 2019-’20 season, Gotze left Dortmund after failing to make any kind of impact in the last few seasons.

Without a buyer for the most part of the window, Gotze signed with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on a free transfer on the final day.

The 28-year-old German may still rediscover his form in the Netherlands but his fall from grace has been quite astonishing.

Daniel Sturridge

Starting out as a promising youngster at Manchester City, Sturridge had to make way to accommodate the early expensive arrivals of the Sheikh Mansour era. However, he joined Chelsea in 2009 and managed to become a regular feature for the club’s first team in the 2011-’12 season where he helped the Blues win an FA Cup and Champions League double.

After moving to Liverpool in 2013, Sturridge scored 24 goals in 33 matches in all competitions as the Reds came close to winning the Premier League title. He was a part of Liverpool’s famed S-S-S trio: Sterling-Suarez-Sturridge.

However, injuries reduced his playing time over the next three seasons as he fell out of favour with Jurgen Klopp taking over. His loan move to West Brom in 2017-’18 also failed to revive his career as he was forced to move to Turkey with Trabzonspor in 2019. His time in Turkey was again marred by injuries as he suffered eight injuries during the 2019-’20 season.

His contract was mutually terminated by the club in March and he was handed a four-month worldwide ban for breaching betting rules.

Just 31, Sturridge is without a club and is now training with Kidsgrove Athletic, a club in the eighth tier of English football.

Hatem Ben Arfa

Tipped to be one of the next big things in France when he was promoted along with Karim Benzema to the Lyon senior team, Ben Arfa lived up to the hype making an impression in Ligue 1 and also in the Champions League in his early years, playing initially for Lyon and then for Marseille.

After moving to the Premier League with Newcastle United, Ben Arfa was expected to take English football by storm but a tibia fracture ruled him out for almost the whole of the 2010-’11 season.

The French midfielder never truly recovered from that blow as allied injuries never allowed him to get going in England. Ben Arfa joined French side Nice in 2015-’16 where he managed to revive his career scoring 17 goals in 34 matches that saw him sign for PSG.

Ben Arfa never found his feet at PSG and his time there was effectively over when he suffered a groin injury in 2017-’18 season.

He moved to Rennes where he once again failed to live up to his talent and found himself without a club for the first half of the 2019-’20 season. Signing for Real Valladolid in January, Ben Arfa couldn’t convince the club to give him a longer rope.

Only 33, a player who was once touted to be Zinedine Zidane’s heir apparent in the French team is now without a club. There are reports of a possible move to Bordeaux for Ben Arfa but bigger things were expected of him.

Alen Halilovic

Halilovic joined Barcelona at the age of 16 after being termed the ‘Croatian Messi’ by many. Emerging as one of Dinamo Zagreb’s most prodigious talents in 2014, Halilovic was pursued by a host of European clubs.

He had also made his debut for Croatia playing alongside Luka Modric and Ivan Rikitic. For many at Barcelona, Halilovic was the man to eventually take Messi’s place in the team.

However, it went horribly wrong for the youngster who struggled to find a place in Barcelona’s reserve side. He even failed to make an impact at Sporting Gijon where he spent a season on loan.

Eventually, he was sold to Hamburg by Barcelona just two years after signing him. Halilovic never settled in Germany and returned to Spain with Las Palmas on loan. After two seasons at the club where he only managed to score twice, he was sold to AC Milan in 2018.

The youngster’s time in Italy was also frustrating as he failed to deliver the goods on the pitch. He was loaned out to Standard Liege and Heerenveen where he scored just once.

Just 24, Halilovic is now without a club. It’s been a swift decline for a player who’s the second-youngest to ever play in the Champions League.