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The latest instalment in the series looking at players whose careers were either ruined by injury, or failed to fulfil their potential because of them.
Pierluigi Casiraghi
For Part One click here; Part Two click here; Part Three click here, and Part Four click here.
With Chelsea having broken their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, some of their fans may cast their minds back to when Chelsea signed another striker from Serie A in 1998.
Pierluigi Casiraghi had an impressive CV having played for the likes of Juventus and Lazio, and was a regular in the Italy side, winning 44 caps and scoring 13 international goals.
Yet he played just 10 Premier League games for Chelsea, before he suffered the injury that ultimately ended his career. During a London derby with West Ham at Upton Park, he collided with goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and was left crumpled on the floor.
The cruciate knee ligament injury he sustained was so bad that he needed 10 operations to try and correct the damage. Unfortunately for him he never played and his Chelsea contract was terminated.
He later claimed that the medical treatment he received in England was not adequate.
Luc Nilis
Nilis had played at PSV Eindhoven with both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo (the original one!) and his form was impressive enough for Aston Villa to pay big money for the Belgian international in 2000.
He started well, scoring on his debut in the Intertoto Cup, and then netting in his first Premier League appearance against Chelsea. But, a few short weeks later, he was involved in a clash with Ipswich Town goalkeeper Richard Wright, that left him with a double compound fracture of his right shin.
So bad was his injury that, at one stage, it looked like the Belgian might have to have his leg amputated.
Fortunately for him it never came back, but doctors informed him his playing days were over, and he never pulled on a pair of boots in anger again.
Eduardo
In 2007 Arsenal paid £7.5 million for Brazilian striker Eduardo (although he played his international football for Croatia). And, for time the move paid off as he formed a deadly partnership with Emmanuel Adebayor that propelled the Gunners to the top of the league.
However, in February 2008, in an away match, he was on the end of a horror tackle by Birmingham City’s Martin Taylor, who was sent off. Not only did Eduardo break his left fibula, but also suffered an open dislocation of his ankle.
So bad was his injury, that many of his teammates could not watch him being treated on the pitch and some supporters attributed it to the end of their title challenge that year.
Eduardo was out for almost a year, returning for an FA Cup tie, only to immediately pull a hamstring.
He was never the same player again and, although he had later spells in Ukrainian and Brazilian football, he never regained his former prowess.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.