When considering a list of the Premier League’s greatest one season wonders, any seasoned football fan will invariably utter the names Amr Zaki and Michu. The pair haunt one season wonder lists not least due to their brief brilliance in front of goal, but also due to the extent with which their careers sailed off a cliff immediately afterwards. Zaki, who bagged a startling 5 goals in his first 6 Wigan games, scored a meager three professional goals in his six seasons after leaving the Latics. Michu was even more of a hit, scoring 22 goals in his first season at the Liberty stadium. Fast forward three years and he was languishing in the third tier of Spanish football playing in front of 4,000 people every weekend. Yes, they are the kings, but for the love of Jesus let’s look at five more that you perhaps may not have thought of.
Charlie Adam (Blackpool 2010/11)
Yes, he went on to play a lot of Premier League football after this season. No, not all of it was bad. Yes, his halfway line goal at Stamford Bridge was a thing of beauty. But for those of you that were not watching, I don’t think you understand quite how good Charlie Adam was in his maiden Premier League season at Blackpool. Adam pranced around Bloomfield Road pinging balls cross-field and top bins like he was Xabi Alonso. Assisted by the likes of DJ Campbell and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Adam closed out the season with a haul of 12 Premier League goals from central midfield. For context, Ryan Giggs reached this total only once in his 24 seasons at Manchester United, as did Paul Scholes. Sadly it was not enough to save the tangerines from relegation, but Adam got his well deserved move to Liverpool that summer for £7m. Playing in a Liverpool side consisting of Jon Flanagan, Jay Spearing and Fabio Aurelio, Adam had a lacklustre season floating in and out of the side and netting just twice. Six mediocre seasons followed at Stoke City, with an unbelievable 60-yard effort past Thibaut Courtois thrown in for consolation. These days, 33 year old Adam plies his trade in the Championship with Reading.
Robinho (Manchester City 2008/09)
Many people consider Robinho to have flopped in England’s top flight, however it is a little known fact that the most fruitful season of his career was enjoyed in Manchester. Granted, he did not know whether he was playing for the red or the blue half, but with 14 goals in 31 games the diminutive stepover merchant set Eastlands (as it was then known) alight for a brief period. After one full season however, it appeared his patience had worn thin trying to win games with Tal Ben-Haim, Javier Garrido and Ched Evans by his side. His attitude began to worsen and ten goalless appearances marred the beginning of his following campaign, and before long he was ushered out of the door by Roberto Mancini as costly arrivals began to fly into City’s ranks. This was to be his only stint in the Premier League, and an up and down spell at AC Milan kick-started his slow descent into obscurity which took him back to Brazil, China and then Turkey. These days, his once glittering career which took off at the Bernabeu has become overshadowed by a rape charge stemming from an incident in 2013. Despite being sentenced to 9 years in an Italian court, the appeals process is still ongoing and Robinho remains on the books of Istanbul Basaksehir in the Turkish Super Lig.
Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland 2010/11)
Yes, it turns out a 10 goal haul really does make you a one season wonder if you play for Sunderland. Off the back of a tremendous 2010 World Cup with Ghana, Gyan signed for the black cats from Rennes in a club record £13m deal. He immediately endeared himself to fans by netting once on his first appearance, once on his first start and twice on his first league start against Stoke City. Nimble footwork and obvious talent (in his celebrations at least) equally endeared him to neutrals as he rounded off the season as Sunderland’s top scorer, leading them to an impressive 10th place finish under Steve Bruce. Content with his one season at the top of the game, Gyan bizarrely decided to boost his retirement fund, quadrupling his salary by moving to the UAE to join Al Ain. What followed, I kid you not, was 95 goals in 83 league games. Such goal scoring feats in the middle east failed to make European headlines, but the paycheque pursuit continued as Gyan completed a move to Shanghai SIPG in 2015, signing a contract worth a reported £227,000 per week. After 7 goals in two years, what followed was a return to the UAE, an unspectacular spell with Kayserispor in Turkey and now at the age of 33 Gyan is a free agent. Early retirement perhaps?
Adel Taarabt (QPR 2012/13)
A maverick of modern football, Adel Taarabt could have nutmegged a prime Paolo Maldini. A supremely skilful attacking midfielder, strangely it was the season QPR finished bottom of the Premier League in which he shone the brightest. Infamous throughout football for his poor attitude, his sizeable ego clearly relished the prospect of being the best player in a poor team. QPR only claimed four victories from the entire season, two of which Taarabt won practically on his own. The hoops’ long-awaited 2-1 victory against Fulham came in their 17th game of the season, Taarabt scored both goals, including a sumptuous outside of the boot finish following a mazy run from the halfway line. Three weeks later he assisted the only goal in their stunning victory at Stamford Bridge. He ended the season with 5 goals, a dramatically enhanced reputation and a platform to kick on and have a long and illustrious career. Unfortunately, Taarabt failed to score in three out of his next six campaigns in ventures which took him to AC Milan, Fulham, Genoa and Benfica. The calibre of teams he attracts is testament to his ability, but somewhat predictably he has so far failed to resurrect the kind of form that put him on the Premier League map at QPR. Last season at the age of 30 he made just six appearances, split evenly between Benfica and Benfica B.
Benjani Mwaruwari (Portsmouth 2007/08)
Harry Redknapp’s favourite Zimbabwean was well liked for his cheery persona and trademark celebration where he would point his finger three times. Unfortunately for Benjani, three was to be his highest scoring season after leaving Portsmouth, but the legend of his 12 goal season at Fratton Park lives on. He had already reached this total by 19th January after netting his second hat-trick in just four months, the other of which was in Portsmouth’s bizarre 7-4 win over Reading. This early season goal scoring bonanza for Benjani lead him to Sven Goran Eriksson’s Manchester City where everything started to go pear shaped. Things looked to be off to a flyer when he shouldered in the winner for City at Old Trafford, but he would never reach these heights again in the final four years of his career. He scored just five goals in his final four Premier League seasons with Sunderland, Blackburn and back at Portsmouth, before closing out his career with the mighty Chippa United and Bidvest Wits of the South African top flight. He retired at the age of 36 with an overall ratio of 0.24 goals per game, which illustrates just how much of a bolt from the blue that early season form at Portsmouth really was.
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