Transfer flops: Helder Postiga

When a highly rated young striker heads to the Premier League from the continent, it is always a hugely exciting time for which ever side the prodigy chooses. That was exactly the case at Tottenham Hotspur in 2003, when Glen Hoddle brought an exciting Portuguese 21-year-old to White Hart Lane.

That man was of course Helder Postiga, the fleet footed exciting goal getter who arrived from Jose Mourinho's FC Porto for £6.25m. So what next for a young man who was tipped to reach the highest echelons of the football world? Surely a tremendous season in which he captured the imagination of fans worldwide?

Well it didn't exactly go to plan. A season that very much fell below the required standard was followed by a swift return to his native Portugal. After a solitary disappointing Premier League goal, FC Porto returned and rescued Postiga from his English nightmare with Pedro Mendes heading in the opposite direction.

This misguided attempt to conquer England seemed to have a big impact on the front man, and after four seasons back at Porto two loan switched followed. Saint Etienne was first up, quickly followed by a short stint in Greece with Panathinaikos. Sporting Clube de Portugal is where Postiga currently plies his trade, but how different a career this could've been had he been patient while in Portugal and not been so hasty to move on. Such a shame for a man who has an impressive record at international level, scoring 15 goals in 40 games for Portugal.

Transfer flops: Jean-Alain Boumsong

After a transfer that raised many eyebrows to start off with, it was soon evident that the public were right all along.

In his native France Jean-Alain Boumsong built up quite a reputation, alongside Philippe Mexes at the heart of the Auxerre defence.

However at four years at the club, and with his contract coming to an end Rangers lured Boumsong to Ibrox in the summer of 2004.

Despite his upcoming frailties in England though, he adapted quickly in Scotland and enhanced his reputation.

So much so that Newcastle manager Graeme Souness paid £8m in January 2005, ending his Scottish adventure after just half a season.

However the defensive mistakes began to creep in and it was clear he didn't possess the movement or nous to keep out Premier League strike forces.

After 18 months his unhappy spell came to end, as he moved to Juventus for barely a third of the fee Newcastle paid Rangers.

After another year and half he was on the move again, this time back to France with giants Lyon.
Citing the fact he felt he had more chances of making the French Euro 2008 squad with this transfer.

Boumsong is now playing his trade in Greece, after moving to Panathinaikos during last summers transfer window.

Future Stars - Ioannis Fetfatzidis

After easing in to this new feature with Liverpool defender Martin Kelly, we have now spread our wings further afield to Greece.

Olympiacos' attacking midfielder, who can also operate on the wing, is causing a lot of people to sit up and take note in his native country.

Fetfatzidis joined the Olympiacos academy at 12, rejecting overtures from other Greek giants AEK Athens and Panathinaikos.

He made his debut against Atromitos a little over a year ago, and went on to make his Champions League bow a few days later as a substitute at Standard Liege.

The Greece national team was the next calling, making his under-21 and senior debut's both this year.

This season has seen the youngster feature more for his club, with Olympiacos finally realising his huge potential and rewarding him with a new contract.

Europe's top team swill now have to pay in excess of £10m, Fetfatzidis also seen his wages rise significantly in a contract which now runs until 2015.

His main attributes is his dribbling ability, along with a great technique for someone so young.

If he can continue to improve in this way, Fetfatzidis could be a huge name for Greek football for many a year.