Strikers Angelo Henrique and Franco Di Santo left the Premier League as flops after much was expected of them when they were hot prospects. The two players have been able to pick up their respective careers in South America.
Franco Di Santo played for Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic while he was in the Premier League, while Henrique featured for Manchester United and Wigan Athletic. As a matter of fact, both Franco Di Santo and Angelo Henrique were on the substitutes’ bench when Wigan Athletic delivered the greatest moment in their history via the FA Cup in 2013. They were in the Wigan Athletic squad that beat favourites Manchester City 1-0 in the 2013 FA Cup final to win the competition for the first time thanks to then manager Roberto Martinez. Midfielder Ben Watson scored the only goal of that final played at the Wembley Stadium.
Eight years on from that exceptional Wigan Athletic feat, former teammates Di Santo and Henrique faced each other in the Copa Libertadores in South America earlier this year. In the qualifying round of the competition, Di Santo’s San Lorenzo ran out 3-1 winners over Henrique’s Universidad de Chile.
Franco Di Santo joined San Lorenzo in his native Argentina last year thus making it the first time he has played for a club in Argentina. He started his career at AudaxItaliano in Chile before moving to Premier League giants Chelsea as a teenager. The Argentine went on to play for Wigan Athletic (England), Blackburn Rovers (England), Schalke 04 (Germany), Werder Bremen (Germany) and Atletico Mineiro in Brazil before arriving at his present club.
Henrique who's five years younger than Di Santo also started in Chile before moving to Premier League club Manchester United where he failed to make a single appearance for the first team.