All target men who went from L1 to the Prem in their late 20s/early 30s. The first two with the same club, we of course missed out on that second promotion, but Yann did it with Bournemouth.
Olivier Giroud Jamie Vardy Luka Modrić Emi Martínez Mohamed Salah Barnabas Várga Luca Toni Dimitri Payet Andrea Barzagli Robin Gosens
You cant put Modric on that list. He was a full Croatia international BEFORE he signed for Spurs and was already heralded as a massive talent and it was a shock he went to Spurs as all the big clubs wanted him.
94 games for Dynamo Zagreb 120 odd games for Spurs 360 odd games for Real Madrid.
Only if it’s bad that I haven’t heard of 5 of the people on your list, and of the others, I wouldn’t have a clue who they play for or how old they were when they started with the exception of Vardy.
I don't think Mo Salah is a late bloomer. Neither is Luka Modric for that matter. Salah made his debut in Egypt aged 17 and moved abroad to Basel, a Champions League team, when he was 19. He won the Swiss League and won the Golden Player award He then signed for Chelsea, then perennial Premier League and Champions League challengers, aged 21. He was mismanaged by Chelsea which wasted his time more than anything else but he subsequently tore it up across 2.5 Serie A seasons leading to him being signed by Liverpool aged 25. Since he was 20 he's been playing Champions League football and has been a player exclusively for top clubs in whatever country he's been in. Him getting better and better in line with having more experience isn't late blooming. Modric signed for Spurs aged 22 for £16m and played Champions League football for them before signing for Real Madrid in his prime years. Late bloomers are players who were languishing and then suddenly became top-level players, not just players who kept improving
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Grant Holt
Yann Kermorgant
All target men who went from L1 to the Prem in their late 20s/early 30s. The first two with the same club, we of course missed out on that second promotion, but Yann did it with Bournemouth.
94 games for Dynamo Zagreb
120 odd games for Spurs
360 odd games for Real Madrid.
Some bloke called Chris Powell..