❌ Not just Donnarumma: when top players are left out 😰

The absolute protagonist in the historic conquest of the first Champions League to the clamorous farewell: the sudden exclusion of Gianluigi Donnarumma is further proof of how, in modern football, even a leading role cannot guarantee continuity.

This is not the first time a champion has ended up on the margins of their club: in recent and past history, several top players — for economic, technical, or relational reasons — have found themselves having to say goodbye abruptly, as demonstrated by the famous cases that we will review below.

The divorce between Juventus and Roberto Baggio remains one of the most sensational cases of the ’90s. Despite being the symbol of the team and having just won the Ballon d’Or (1993) and led the Bianconeri to the scudetto in 1995, the club — led by Gianni Agnelli and the Moggi-Bettega-Giraudo trio — proposed a renewal with a 50% cut in his salary.

Lippi, who had just arrived, wanted to focus on a younger group and build the future around Alessandro Del Piero, who was then an emerging star. Baggio refused the new conditions, feeling marginalized, and Juventus decided to sell him to Milan for around 18 billion lire. The choice provoked the anger of many Bianconeri fans, who saw him as the team’s technical leader, but also marked the beginning of the new Del Piero era.

For over a decade, the symbol and captain of Real Madrid, Iker Casillas experienced a farewell that was anything but serene. After years as the undisputed number one, the arrival of José Mourinho in 2010 changed the balance: tense relationships, technical differences, and alleged friction in the locker room led the Portuguese coach to often bench him in favor of Antonio Adán and, later, Diego López.

Despite the technical change, the situation never returned to what it was before. Casillas confessed that he no longer felt secure in his role as a starter and perceived a lack of trust from the club. In 2015, after 725 appearances and a rich trophy cabinet, he left Real Madrid for Porto. The farewell was accompanied by a solo press conference, without teammates by his side, an image that deeply affected the fans and remained a symbol of an epilogue handled with little sensitivity.

Arrived in 2003 from Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldinho changed the destiny of Barcelona. With his extraordinary talent, he gave the team spectacle and trophies, including two championships and the 2006 Champions League, also winning the Ballon d’Or in 2005. For years, he was the face of the club and the symbol of the blaugrana rebirth.

However, starting from 2007, his performance began to decline. His physical condition was no longer optimal, and his lifestyle, characterized by frequent parties and trips, began to create friction with the environment. The arrival of Pep Guardiola as coach in the summer of 2008 marked the turning point: the Catalan coach, determined to focus on a new cycle based on Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta, considered him outside the technical project, as did the club, which sold him to Milan for around 24 million euros.

El Niño Torres, who exploded between 2007 and 2011, was one of the most prolific and beloved strikers in Europe. In January 2011, his sudden transfer to Chelsea for around 50 million pounds (a record figure for the club at the time) was not due to a simple change of jersey, but to a fracture with Liverpool’s project.

Torres revealed that he felt betrayed by the management and lived the transfer as a way not to waste his time and ambitions to win trophies. The move to Chelsea was highly controversial: many Liverpool fans labeled him a “traitor” — to the point that some jerseys with his name were even burned — expressing anger and disappointment towards a choice considered hostile to the club’s history.

Alessandro Nesta, a true pillar of Lazio and captain, represented a symbol for the biancoceleste fans: a product of the youth academy, defensive leader, and winner of numerous trophies. However, in 2002, Lazio went through a severe financial crisis that forced the club to sell its jewels, including Nesta. Such a precarious context led to economic pressure: the transfer to Milan materialized in the last days of the summer market, for a figure close to 31 million euros.

The move was so sudden that Nesta himself recounted going from a morning training session with Lazio to an evening presentation as Milan’s new player. The deal, in addition to alleviating Lazio’s finances, significantly strengthened Milan’s defense. The defender immediately found his space in the backline and contributed to a historic season, culminating in the conquest of the Champions League and the Coppa Italia in his first year with Milan.

Sergio Ramos, a historic captain and legend of Real Madrid, left the club in the summer of 2021 at the end of his contract. The farewell was provoked by a distance on the renewal: the club proposed a reduced one-year contract, while the defender proposed a two-year counteroffer. This was added to doubts about the sporting vision of the future project.

Ramos perceived a lack of consideration from the club and an irreparable break, accentuated by the contrast with Florentino Pérez. The separation marked the end of an era, that of a symbolic player who left the scene after years of leadership and triumphs.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 Kevin C. Cox – 2025 Getty Images