9 brilliant footballers who enjoyed two career peaks: Van Dijk, Griezmann…
Some of the greatest footballers to ever take to the pitch didn’t peak just once, but twice during their illustrious careers.
Every story should have a beginning, middle and end and football is no different. Players find their way in, climb the mountain to reach their peak and then bow out as their powers begin to wane.
Not these nine, though. The following players somehow broke the mould and peaked again later in their careers, just as they began to look over the hill.
Virgil van Dijk
The haters were desperate to see the end of Van Dijk. And for a short while it seemed as though they got their wish.
The Dutchman seemed to lose half a yard and a whole lot of aura after a layoff with an ACL injury, but under the new management of Arne Slot, big Virg is back and better than ever.
He’s been imperious so far in the 2024-25 season and looks as good as he did when Liverpool were competing for top honours under Jurgen Klopp, if not even better. Those waves are crispier than ever and you can once again feel the aura from a mile away.
Granit Xhaka
Even at his best, the jury was out on Xhaka at Arsenal – from Premier League fans and Arsenal fans themselves.
In his peak years, Xhaka could be a 10/10 and a 1/10 in the same 90 minutes, never mind every few games. Arsenal captain, stripped of captaincy, the man flipped between face and heel with his own fans more times than the Big Show did in WWE.
Since moving to Bayer Leverkusen, though, the midfielder has unlocked a new level to his game and enjoyed an outstanding second peak to prove instrumental in their unbeaten Bundesliga campaign in 2023-24 as they won the title.
Radamel Falcao
Glorious at Porto and destined for the history books at Atletico Madrid, Falcao’s career looked as good as over when a series of knee injuries caught up with him at Monaco and loan spells to Manchester United and Chelsea couldn’t have gone any worse if he tried.
The Colombian’s career at the top level seemed as good as done by 2016, but he somehow regained fitness and form and earned a lifeline which he grasped with both hands. Falcao captained them to their first title in 17 years as well as reaching a Champions League semi-final as the club’s top scorer.
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Teddy Sheringham
Another former United striker, Sheringham joined the Red Devils in 1997 as a 31-year-old to replace Eric Cantona. Having already peaked in the early and mid-1990s, it seemed like a strange move.
However, Sheringham proved his worth as an experienced arm at United and scored in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals to help them to the treble, winning his first pieces of silverware aged 33.
It didn’t stop there, either; the English forward was named the PFA Player of the Year at 35 and is still the Premier League’s oldest scorer to this day.
Antoine Griezmann
When Griezmann finally joined Barcelona in 2019. the big move appeared to have come too late and it looked like the Frenchman was destined to run off to Major League Soccer having enjoyed his best years but flopped at La Blaugrana. EURO 2016 felt like a distant memory.
That wasn’t the case, though. After returning to Atletico Madrid – initially with his tail between his legs – Griezmann won back the fans with a sudden return to world class as the team’s veteran forward and chief creator. He’s now the club’s all-time top scorer.
Angel Di Maria
Di Maria left Real Madrid as arguably the best right winger in Europe, but after just one year with Manchester United, his stock had completely plummeted.
The Argentine did well to rebuild it at Paris Saint-Germain and was quietly world class in the French capital, but has somehow gotten even better since returning to Benfica. Now 36, Di Maria has bounced back from an injury-hit season at Juventus for the fairytale ending.
Antonio Valencia
Snapped up from Wigan in 2009, Valencia was a textbook Sir Alex Ferguson signing and looked a world-class right winger until he broke his ankle in 2011 and wobbled in form in the seasons following.
While still a fine winger, he transitioned permanently to right-back in 2013-14 and it was the making of him. Valencia enjoyed a second peak and supreme longevity at an extremely high level in his new position, playing and captaining United until his departure in 2019. Underrated.
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Karim Benzema
We’re pushing it a little bit here because Benzema was always a brilliant player, but after signing for Real Madrid in 2009, there was certainly a dip in his importance in the mid-to-late 2010s.
Always the facilitator to the stars, Benzema was linked with a move away on a number of occasions, but aged like a fine wine after Cristiano Ronaldo left the club and Gareth Bale declined.
The Frenchman not only made a return to international football, but enjoyed a second peak so strong that he completely carried Los Blancos to a La Liga and Champions League double in 2021-22, with 27 goals in 32 league games and 15 European goals. The Ballon d’Or was the icing on the cake.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
When Zlatan’s spell at United was curtailed by an ACL injury and he headed off into the Los Angeles sunset in 2017, it felt like the closing chapter for a once phenomenal footballer.
Except it wasn’t. While he was always bound to light up the MLS with LA Galaxy, Ibrahimovic did so well that he managed to return to European football, re-signing for Milan at the beginning of 2020.
It was back with the Rossoneri where he enjoyed a stunning second peak, scoring eight times in 2021-22 and playing through an ACL injury in 2021-22 to help them to their first Scudetto in over a decade.