*THREAD*

When you think of some of the world's biggest stars, they seemingly all have stints at some of the world's biggest clubs. However, as their career progresses, some find themselves in bizarre and surprising clubs. Some forgettable, some memorable. Here's a look at a few:

SAMUEL ETO'O

Club: Anzhi Makhachkala
Period: 2011-2013

Located in Dagestan,at the time known as the most dangerous place in Europe, local mogul Suleyman Kerimov decided to build a super club. So, he paid a fortune (especially in wages) to get Eto'o at the height of his powers

ROBERTO CARLOS

Club: Anzhi Makhachkala
Period: 2011-2012

Before Eto'o arrived, however, it was Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos who arrived. He became something of a cult hero, even managing the club and was gifted a Bugati Veyron by Kerimov on his 38th birthday. Money.

WILLIAN

Club: Anzhi Makhachkala
Period: 2013

Before his stint at Chelsea, Willian left Shakhtar Donetsk for Anzhi it what was a huge deal. However, it didn't last too long. Kerimov decided to stop investing, and the Dagestan club quickly fell apart. Thus, all the stars left.

RIVALDO

Club: Bunyodkor
Period: 2008-2010

A World Cup winner in Uzbekistan? Yep! Rivaldo went to Bunyodkor, and became a club icon. It was reported he was paid £8million over two years. He signed there at age 36. Bunyodkor also once bid for Samuel Eto'o, apparently.

JOAN CAPDEVILA

Club: Santa Coloma
Period: 2016-2017

Capdevila was known as the left back when Spain won Euro 2008 and WC in 2010. Though never really a superstar, he is remembered fondly at Villarreal and Deportivo La Coruña. His career ended in Andorra, with Santa Coloma.

DUNGA

Club: Júbilo Iwata
Period: 1995-1998

A player going to Japan is perhaps not the strangest, but the timing here is somewhat strange. Dunga had captained Brazil to a World Cup title in 1994, and was to captain in 1998 as well. In between, he went to Japan to ply his trade

GABRIEL BATISTUTA

Club: Al-Arabi
Period: 2003-2005

Definitely in the twilight of his career, Batistuta decided to go to Qatar for one last payday. Perhaps not weird in these days, but back then (as I remember), he became a pioneer for such a move. 25 goals in 21 games too.

STEFAN EFFENBERG

Club: Al-Arabi
Period: 2003-2004

Following Batistuta was the swashbuckling former captain of Bayern München, Stefan Effenberg. Der Tiger, however, decided to stay a year shorter than his legendary Argentinian teammate.

PABLO AIMAR

Club: Johor Darul Ta'zim
Period: 2013-2014

Known as the Lionel Messi's idol, a move to Malaysia does not perhaps fit in with the narrative of Pablo Aimar. Eight games, two goals and a league champion in Malaysia with "JDT". I guess that's something, right?

PAUL GASCOIGNE

Club: Gansu Tianma
Period: 2003

Certainly in his twilight,Gazza decided to try out Chinese football before he hung up the boots. He struggled with personal problems, and his stint ended. Since then, Gansu Tianma struggled themselves and are now defunct.

ANDRÉ-PIERRE GIGNAC

Club: Tigres
Period: 2015-

You gotta love Gignac. Instead of sticking around in Europe, he took a chance and went to Tigres in Mexico. Since then, he has become a club icon and led the club to several leagues title in Mexico.

VINCENT JANSSEN

Club: Monterrey
Period: 2019-

Perhaps inspired by Gignac, Vincent Janssen took the trip to the north of Mexico in 2019. He helped the club win their first league title since 2010, by scoring in a penalty shootout against powerhouses Club América.

MILOS KRASIC

Club: Lechia Gdansk
Period: 2015-2018

Known as "the new Pavel Nedved", the Serbian danced his way through teams in the CL and earned a move to Juventus. However, he never got it to work and eventually found himself on the move. His career ended in Poland.

RALF FÄHRMANN

Club: Brann
Period: 2020

An astounding signing in itself, Fährmann was looking for a club after ending his loan spell at Norwich, and did so at Brann in Norway. However, due to corona, he never actually played in Norway and has since gone back to Schalke 04.

DIEGO LUGANO

Club: BK Häcken
Period: 2015

The charismatic Uruguayan captain suddenly showed up in Swedish football after having led his nation to the Copa América title four years prior. However, he would only stay for season before moving back to South America.

DANIELE DE ROSSI

Club: Boca Juniors
Period: 2019-2020

Boca are a massive club, but De Rossi had played his whole life at Roma. However, due to his admiration for Boca and their fans, he wanted to give it a go before retiring. And whose to tell DDR not to follow his dream!?

EMILIO BUTRAGUEÑO

Club: Celaya
Period: 1995-1998

A Real Madrid legend, in 1995 he had lost his place to some young whippersnapper named Raúl. So, what did he do? Inspired by former teammates Hugo Sánchez, a Mexican legend, he went to Sánchez' country to try something new.

CLARENCE SEEDORF

Club: Botafogo
Period: 2012-2014

Much like Boca, Botafogo are a huge club. But you would kinda think Seedorf, who was in his late 30s, would like to choose something more calm? Nope! He wanted one last challenge, and he found that in Brazil, of all places!

PEP GUARDIOLA

Club: Dorados de Sinaloa
Period: 2005-2006

It was said Guardiola went to Mexico to work under manager Juanma Lillo, and learn about the game under the Spanish manager. Ironically, Lillo is now Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City. Full circle, I guess.

RONALDINHO

Club: Querétaro
Period: 2014-2015

"The lost tape"-years of Ronaldinho's career took a bit of everywhere. Perhaps the most bizarre place was Querétaro in Mexico. However, he scored twice against Club América at the mighty Estádio Azteca, so there's something.

ANDREY ARSHAVIN

Club: FC Kairat
Period: 2016-2018

Remember when Arshavin just tore the world apart at Euro 2008, and was chased by the likes of Barcelona? Well, after his stint at Arsenal, things kinda went downhill for the magician. His career ended in Kazakhstan at Kairat.

SÓCRATES

Club: Garforth Town
Period: 2004

15 years after retiring, at age 50, the Brazilian legend made a one-month comeback in English football. He made one appearance in the semi-pro league in England with Garforth, which I guess only adds to his massive legend.

MATÍAS ALMEYDA

Club: Lyn
Period: 2007

Having played at Inter and Lazio, you kinda wouldn't expect Almeyda to show up in Norway of all places. However, he did, but it never worked out for the Argentinian legend. Lyn have since been relegated to the fourth tier in Norway.

DMYTRO CHYGRYNSKIY

Club: Barcelona
Period: 2009-2010

To the Ukrainian's credit, he'd been fantastic at Shakhtar. However, he was a walking disaster at Barça,who reportedly paid €25m, plus he could play in the Super Cup final. For Shakhtar. Against Barcelona. It was all weird

MICHAEL ESSIEN

Club: Persib Bandung
Period: 2017-2018

The former Chelsea midfielder was once one of the world's absolute best, but towards the tail-end of his career he had a stint in Indonesia. He even said he hoped to be a pioneer for players going to Indonesia. He wasn't.

CARLTON COLE

Club: Persib Bandung
Period: 2017

However, Essien was not alone in trying his luck in Indonesia at the time. Former Chelsea- and West Ham striker Carlton Cole also had a brief stint with Persib. They even played together for the club that first year

DENILSON

Club: FC Dallas
Period: 2007

Again, not weird for a player to go the US, but Denilson was at a time the most expensive player in the world. OK, so was Kaká, he was at Orlando, what's my point? Denilson played eight matches. Before he was basically cut from the team

DENILSON

Club: Hải Phòng
Period: 2009

It doesn't quite end there for Denilson, however. Two years later, the former "samba star" would have an exotic twist to his career playing for Hải Phòng in Vietnam. He played one game, scored one goal and was paid handsomely for it

RAFAEL VAN DER VAART

Club: FC Midtjylland/Esbjerg
Period: 2016-2018

The former Dutch superstar had two stints at different clubs in Denmark towards the end of his career. One of the reasons was said to be because his wife, Estavana Polman, played pro handball in Denmark

ALEXANDER BAUMJOHANN

Club: Coritiba/Vitória
Period: 2017-2018

Moving for love is also the reason why German player Alexander Baumjohann suddenly found himself playing Brazil. He played for two clubs in Brazil, the country of his wife. Not bad from the former Schalke man

NICKLAS BENDTNER

Club: Rosenborg
Period: 2017-2019

It caused a collective "WTF!?" in Norway when big club Rosenborg announced it had signed "The Lord" himself. Bendtner was somewhat of a success, winning two leagues and a cup. Then he left after a dispute with the manager

ANTHONY STOKES

Club: Tractor Sport Club/Persepolis
Period: 2018-2019, 2020

An Irishman in Iran? You betcha! It was all seemingly based in turmoil, but after leaving Tractor for Turkey, he decided to return to giants Persepolis. So Iran can't have been that bad, eh?

PETER ODEMWINGIE

Club: Madura United
Period: 2017-2018

Back to Indonesia we go, and Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie can actually look back on it with a lot of success. 24 games, 15 goals is quite all right! I just hope he didn't drive all the way to secure his transfer ...

LEE SHARPE

Club: Grindavík
Period: 2003

Want one last little adventure before the career is over? Why not Iceland? So thought Lee Sharpe, apparently. He lasted only a handful of games before it was over for the former Manchester United and Leeds United player.

FLORENT MALOUDA

Club: Delhi Dynamos/Wadi Degla
Period: 2015-2017

Ready for this? Malouda was part of the big football boom in India (more on that later) and played for Delhi Dynamo. He was then loaned out to Wadi Degla in Egypt. Now there's a cool move, if I ever saw one.

FLORENT MALOUDA

Club: FC Differdange 03
Period: 2018

A special career deserves a special ending, right? After his adventure in Egypt and India, Malouda reportedly struggled to find a club. So, as you do, he finished his career in Luxembourg with FC Differdange 03.

DAVID JAMES

Club: Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja
Period: 2013

Not even located on mainland Iceland, Vestmannaeyjar is 7 square miles and has a population of under 5000. In 2013, one of those were former England no. 1 David James. Now, there's an adventure, if I ever saw one

YAROSLAV RAKITSKIY

Club: Zenit St. Petersburg
Period: 2019-

The move, professionally, kinda makes sense. But for a Ukrainian to move to Russia ... not popular. This also happened during the turmoil in Donbass, the area his former club Shakhtar are from, during the conflict