10 of the most injury-prone footballers ever, ft. James & Neymar | OneFootball

Reece James has been hit by a hamstring injury and will miss some time this season, a situation no one wants to find themselves in.

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The defender is no stranger to injuries, though, and has had troubles in the past staying healthy, with plenty of time spent on the sidelines.

It seems as though he's spent more time unhealthy than he has available to his club at this point, so his place among a list of the most injury-prone stars of all time shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

From prospects denied the chance to reach their potential due to injuries, to world-class stars whose prime was cut short, here are 10 of the most injury-prone footballers of all time.

Reece James

Regularly regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world, James continues to show great potential, despite suffering from several major injury issues over the years.

Having spent a year on loan at Wigan in 2018/19, the Englishman impressed and was handed a chance at Chelsea the following season and didn't let it go to waste.

Over the next four years, he was the Blues' first-choice right-back, but injuries have held him back on more than one occasion, and he's only featured in more than 30 Premier League games for the side just once.

As he's still young, there's hope for James to turn things around and overcome his injury setbacks, and hopefully, he will, otherwise he may end up like some of the other names on this list.

Thomas Vermaelen

Early in his career, Thomas Vermaelen looked like a serious talent and his move to Arsenal in 2009 seemed to establish that. After starting off strongly at the club, he fell out of favour with Arsene Wenger and was sold to Barcelona in 2014.

That's where things went drastically wrong for the centre-back, though, and injuries soon took over his career. The Belgian joined the La Liga side in the summer of 2014, but wasn't even able to make his debut for the club until May after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

For anyone who hoped that would be the start of a lengthy run in the side, they were to be disappointed as Vermaelen's injury woes didn't improve, and he was limited to just 64 appearances over the course of the next four years. He eventually left Barcelona for Vissel Kobe in the J1 League, but still couldn't stay healthy and after just 58 appearances over the next three seasons, he retired in 2021.

Thiago Alcantara

On his day, Thiago Alcantara is one of the best midfielders in the world and largely proved so whenever he was available. The only issue is, he has spent large portions of his career on the sidelines.

Through his career and spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool, the Spaniard has only played 30 league games in a season just once. It's a hindrance to what is clearly an elite-level midfielder.

Whether it's a calf, hip or hamstring injury, Thiago's time at Liverpool has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that many had when he arrived, and it's largely down to his inability to remain healthy.

Neymar

It's hard to imagine the heights that Neymar would have reached at Paris Saint-Germain if he hadn't been held back by so many injuries. The Brazilian had lit La Liga on fire during his days at Barcelona, and his move to France, the most expensive transfer of all time, was viewed as a major success for PSG.

Unfortunately, Neymar struggled to stay fit and never made more than 22 league appearances in any of his six seasons in Ligue 1. Despite his limited availability, the 31-year-old continued to show how talented he was and still managed to contribute heavily to the side. With 118 goals over the course of the six seasons, just imagine how good he'd have been if he wasn't forced onto the sidelines so many times.

His move to Al Hilal this summer will hopefully bring about a spell of health and, hopefully, his injury woes will be left behind in France.

Michael Essien

Joining Chelsea in 2005, Michael Essien was a big hit with the London side, playing a huge role for the club for the first three years of his time at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately, injuries soon started to seize control of the former Ghana international's career, and throughout the final 12 years of his career, he only played more than 30 league games in just three seasons.

A loan spell at Real Madrid hinted at a change of fortunes for Essien as he remained relatively healthy, but that was as good as it got and from then his career quickly spiralled. After 22 games in two years at AC Milan, he joined Greek side Panathinaikos, Persib Bandung in Indonesia and Sabail in Azerbaijan before he called time on his playing days. There's no doubt that he'd have been an influential midfielder for years to come at Stamford Bridge if he hadn't been struck down by so many injuries over the years.

Gareth Bale

After an incredible career for Gareth Bale at both Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid, things didn't end too well, with the Welshman really struggling with injuries at the tail-end of his career.

After taking the world by storm at Spurs, the forward moved to Spain and joined Los Blancos. Things got off to a great start, and he was instrumental in the side's incredible Champions League success during the 2010s. Injuries towards the end of his time at the club destroyed his legacy there, though, and fans turned on the star due to his lack of availability.

It was largely blamed on his lack of commitment, but was actually mostly down to several rough injuries that limited him to just 27 appearances in the last two seasons at the club. A brief spell in MLS at Los Angeles FC saw him retire at just 33 years old. A depressing end to one of the brightest talents the United Kingdom and certainly the best player Wales has ever had.

Owen Hargreaves

After his exploits at the 2006 World Cup, which saw him win the award for England's best player of the competition, Owen Hargreaves was on top of the world, and he was highly sought-after by a number of huge clubs. Having spent six seasons, making 199 appearances for Bayern Munich at the time, it seemed only natural that he would take his game to the next level after the international tournament, but things couldn't have gone worse.

The midfielder broke his leg in a devastating injury during the 2006/07 season and made just 17 appearances that year before he joined Manchester United the following summer. After a bright start to life at Old Trafford, which saw Hargreaves make 34 appearances for the Red Devils, his body broke down.

A series of different injuries followed and surgeon Richard Steadman claimed Hargreaves' knees were in a worse state than anyone he'd ever seen. The damage wrecked his prospects and, over the next four seasons, the Englishman made just nine appearances for both United and Manchester City, before he retired in 2012 at just 31 years old.

Ronaldo

There are few strikers in the history of football who were quite as explosive and as prolific as Ronaldo, who went down as one of the best ever, despite a series of injuries really hurting the second half of his career.

Initially bursting on the scene at Cruzeiro, the forward quickly notched plenty of goals and ended up playing for PSV, Barcelona and Inter Milan as one of the best strikers in the world. It was during his time in Italy that he saw his first injury crisis, rupturing his knee tendons and pretty much missing two whole seasons in the middle of his tenure there as a result.

The injury effectively brought his time at Inter to an end, and he joined Real Madrid shortly after, where he soon rediscovered his form. After five incredible seasons at Los Blancos, he joined AC Milan in 2006 and his injury woes soon returned. He never quite reached his peak at the club and after two seasons where he spent large portions on the sidelines, he left for Corinthians, where he spent three years before retiring.

Never has a player so talented seen his ability damaged so badly by injuries and it's almost scary to think about how much better Ronaldo could have been if he'd remained healthy and in shape.

Jack Wilshere

There are few bigger what-ifs than Jack Wilshere's career after the footballer spent the majority of his career stuck on the sidelines. Initially, it seemed the midfielder was set to become one of England's best ever, and his fine form for Arsenal earlier in his career indicated that.

The Englishman made 49 appearances during the 2010/11 season, one in which he truly broke through into the side. He never featured as heavily again, though. Wilshere only played more than 30 games in a season just three more times throughout the rest of his career, which spanned the next 11 years.

The injuries, largely involving his groin, his ankle and his calf, denied Wilshere what was shaping up to be an incredible career and he retired in 2022 at just 30 years old. What a shame.

Abou Diaby

Initially viewed as a successor to Patrick Vieira at Arsenal, expectations were high for Abou Diaby, and there's a good chance he'd have met them if he hadn't been so unfortunate with injuries.

His career at the Gunners started strongly, but after suffering a severe ankle injury at the hands of Sunderland's Dan Smith, his career was never quite the same.

Over the next 12 years, he showed glimpses of that quality, but struggled to stay healthy and only featured in more than 20 league games in just two of those seasons.

Arsenal held onto him for quite some time, but eventually had to concede he'd never be the player they'd hoped for and let him go in 2015 when he joined Marseille, but after just five appearances over two years for the French side, he retired in 2017 at just 31 years old.