In spite of being one of the most troublesome players from the past decade, Ryan Babel still manages to join clubs and continue performing at a high-level as the Dutch footballer has recently joined Besiktas on a 2 year and a half year deal.
The 30 year old winger is believed to be earning around £3 million during his stay with Besiktas but for a player that has been involved with so many disciplinary issues, it’s rather surprising to see that there still are clubs interested in signing him and to secure his services.
Ryan Babel has consistently been fined and sanctioned in one way or another for some of the actions that he has made throughout his career. The Dutch player had problems during his time in Liverpool, Al Ain and Hoffenheim. He has even gone out to insult one of his previous managers, Rafael Benitez as Ryan Babel stated that it was because of Benitez that he has had so many problems in the past.
According to Babel, one of the biggest reasons of why he could not develop and live up to the expectations that was initially brought up back when Babel was just a youngster and was making waves in the youth academy of Ajax.
“I think I was badly coached. Neither the coach nor the technical team gave me good advice. I was 20 when I arrived to the Premier League. When you are that age, people have to help you, talk to you. When I arrived, no one helped me. I was alone. It’s difficult for any young player. Not everyone is Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.” This was the statement released by Ryan Babel back on October of 2016 as he partly blamed Rafael Benitez for not being able to properly coach and guide him when he was just a youngster.
Babel is 30 years old and is reaching the twilight stages of his professional career and Besiktas might be the last competitive and well-known European club that he joins before eventually hanging up his boots and hopefully end his career on a high note.