United Signs 9 Year old Rhain

Scholesy_LEGEND said:
Eurosport - Thu, 02 Aug 11:04:00 2007

With news that Manchester United have signed a nine-year-old child in the hope he will turn out to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo, eurosport.yahoo.com suggests the pressures put on ever younger players these days is far too great for them to succeed at the highest level.

And to back up our claim, we have delved back in time to find a handful of other youngsters who have failed to live up to the great expectations placed on their small shoulders.

Nii Lamptey - Perhaps the most unfortunate of all the players on our list, Lamptey has endured terrible heartache since his rise to prominence as a 16-year-old at Anderlecht. Dubbed the 'new Pele', the Ghanaian dazzled fans with his silky skills and he won a move to PSV Eindhoven before Ron Atkinson brought him to Aston Villa in 1994. Once there though, his problems began as a legal wrangle with his agent led to a rapid decline in his fortunes. A string a clubs and four continents later, Lamptey returned to Ghana after being subjected to terrible racism during a spell in Germany and losing two children, one to a rare disease and the other soon after birth.

Valeri Bozhinov - The talented Bulgairan made his Serie A debut at the tender age of just 15, but has since failed to fulfil his vast potential. A respectable return of 16 goals in 65 games for Lecce prompted comparisons with Wayne Rooney and a big-money move to Fiorentina soon followed, but once in Florence the problems began both on and off the field. A loan spell with Juventus last year proved largely unsuccessful although his summer move to Manchester City could yet revive his career.

Freddy Adu - The great hope of US 'soccer' (pictured here) Adu tried, but failed, to make the jump to European football several times before eventually signing for Benfica earlier this summer. Another player dubbed as a 'new Pele', the Ghana-born striker made his MLS debut at the age of 14 but, despite the hype surrounding him, he could not hold down a place in DC United's starting XI. Like, Bozhinov, his move to Portugal could be the making of him as a player, or, indeed, the breaking of him.

Theo Walcott - Selected by Sven-Goran Eriksson to join the England squad at the 2006 World Cup, the nation were led to believe the then 17-year-old was some kind of secret weapon who was capable of bringing the famous trophy to England for the first time since 1966. Unfortunately, the Arsenal striker did not play a single minute in Germany and a year down the line, many people are still scratching their heads over his inclusion. Now 18, Walcott still has time to turn it round, but question marks remain over whether he can handle the pressure.

Cherno Samba - With a frankly ridiculous record of 132 goals in 32 games for Millwall's youth sides, the 14-year-old was quickly identified as the 'next big thing' back in 1998. But a protracted £1.5 million transfer to Liverpool fell through and he was eventually released by Millwall without having made his professional debut. He summed up his career progression rather succinctly by saying: "At 14 I played for the under-17s. I was still playing for the under-17s when I was 17, which means I didn't improve my football." Now 21, Samba is currently without a team after having been released by Plymouth at the end of last season.

Owen Price - A contemporary of Rooney and Wayne Routledge in the England youth teams, Tottenham paid Charlton £500,000 for the prodigy who entered the Guinness Book of Records for scoring the fastest ever video-taped goal as a 14-year-old. That goal even convinced a major boot sponsor to snap Price up, but the youngster could not make the grade at White Hart Lane and he eventually left to play in the Conference South for Lewes. From Sussex, he left England to play for Swedish first division side Sundsvall, and has since failed to re-appear on British football fans' radars.

Sonny Pike - At the tender age of seven, Dutch club Ajax saw Pike's huge potential and invited the promising toddler to train at their Academy of Excellence. But the pressure heaped on his shoulders at such a tender age proved too much to handle, and Pike could not continue in the path that was chosen for him. He explained: "I couldn't take it, and I got ill, really screwed up. I stopped going to training and stuff, because I was so screwed up I couldn't hack it." As a result, he suffered a nervous breakdown in 2000, before getting out of the game three years later. He is now studying psychology at Dundee University.

Compiled by Mike Hytner / Eurosport
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That list could go on and on.

Keano didn't get a club went he first went to England for trials, he was considered too slight.
Jaap Stam was studying to be an electrician at 19 in case the football didn't work out.
Maradonna said he had a teammate even more talented than himself, but he got an injury and dropped out.


I think it's great that we sign young talents, it's just a highly speculative business.
 
OMG Amazing feckin kid, i saw some Ronaldo skills on him, 9 years old? wtf? I wish to hear soon of this kid, United will improve his technique and in 6 years more he should be on the reserves, i see a bright future for him.
 
Disgraceful behavior from your club. You've probably ruined his chances of ever making it.
 
i coach an under 9's team and one thing i enjoyed about this lads video is that all the time doing his tricks his head is up and down like a yoyo looking for the pass. and he isnt against playing the simple pass as well.
remarkable maturity.
 
charleysurf said:
Does not seem comfortable with his left foot at all. Not good enough.
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As I said at the time, he's obviously not good enough. Dong made more of an impact at this club than he has so far.
 
He's changed his name to Rhainaldinho and is currently working on a tan so he'll be given more of a chance by Caftards when we finally see him in six years.
 
1) not bad of a business, I bet we'll be paying him for less, and for that prospect, he's worth the odds.
2) He's not a guaranteed success, but at least he got bigger chance since he have the skill from he was 9
3) some people here just can't be happy no matter what.
 
I heard he might get a chance in the carling cup, Ferguson is reportedly happy with his progress and will place him on the bench.
 
Quotes this morning in Marca suggesting that he's apparently angling for a move to Madrid. I knew the little shit was a trouble maker right from the start.
 
Just think, by the time this lad may be ready for the first team Rooney and Ronaldo will be in their thirties, and Man City probably would've signed him for 70m
 
UBERScholes said:
Just think, by the time this lad may be ready for the first team Rooney and Ronaldo will be in their thirties, and Man City probably would've signed him for 70m
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Or he will do what all Aussies do in England and work in a bar. He's just 10, let's wait a few years and wait till he breaks into the Youth Cup team before we talk about him.
 
we'll hear about him in 10 years.. i'd be 32 by then..
 
Cold_Boy said:
He is bloody 9 years old.

why are we enquiring about him?
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Wow posted that almost 4 years ago. How time flies by!:( Now I feel old.

Anyways this time I am inquiring about him. Is hes till with us?

Will not be surprised if he isn't though.
 
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