Failed Wonderkid #17- Diego Contento

Biodata

Full Name: Diego Armando Valentin Contento

Nationality: German

Date of Birth: 1 May 1990

Position: Left Back

Current Club: Fortuna Dusseldorf

Current Market Price: 600k Euro (Updated on Dec 2019)

Highest Market Price: 3.00mil Euro (Aug 2010)

Former Clubs:

2008- 2011 Bayern Munich II

2010- 2014 Bayern Munich

2014- 2018 Bordeaux

International Career:

None

Achievement:

Bayern Munich

2009- 2010 Bundesliga

2009- 2010 DFB Pokal

2010 DFB-Supercup

2012 DFB-Supercup

2012- 2013 Bundesliga

2012- 2013 DFB Pokal

2012- 2013 UEFA Champions League

2013 UEFA Super Cup

2013 FIFA Club World Cup

2013- 2014 Bundesliga

2013- 2014 DFB Pokal

Career

Left-back isn’t the most prominent position in the football pitch as they often get less attention compared to the attacking position, especially when they are still at a young age. However, they will still catch the supporters’ eyes if they play extraordinarily well. There are some famous left-back that made their mark in the history of football such as Roberto Carlos and Patrice Evra. So did the main character of this article put himself on the same level as these two legends? Let’s find out in this article.

Diego Contento joined Bayern Munich youth setup since he was 5 and get promoted to the Bayern Munich second team at the age of 18. His impressive form in his debut season in the 3.Bundesliga side with Bayern Munich II had enabled him to play for Bayern’s pre-season friendlies in 2009. He was also named on the substitutes’ bench for a match against FSV Mainz in August 2009 and even called up to the Bayern Munich squad for the 2009/2010 Champions League. His career has started in a high note.

In the second half of the 2009/2010 season, Contento was announced that he would train with the first-team for the rest of the season and signed his first-ever professional contract alongside David Alaba. He made his debut match in a DFB-Pokal game against SpVgg Greuther Furth. Replacing Tymoshchuk in the second half. One week later, Contento made his debut in both UEFA Champions League and Bundesliga. He even started the following two games in the league. However, he was injured in the second match against FC Koln and this is the beginning of his injury history.

In the following season, Contento started in the 2010 German Super Cup and played the full 90 minutes and begins to regain his starting spot in the Bayern’s first team. However, things didn’t start smoothly as he suffered an injury at the game against TSG Hoffenheim. Since then, he only played sporadically in the first team and unable to regain his spot in the starting lineup. In his 4 seasons played for the Bayern first team, Contento only played 69 matches in all competition and never exceeds 15 league games in a season. This is a huge contrast to his huge potential earlier in his career.

On August 2014, Contento signed for Bordeaux in a four-year deal after staying at Bayern Munich for 19 years. He started to gain more playing time and regain his form in France. He helped Bordeaux to reach the top-half finish in each and every season he played consistently. However, in the 2017/2018 season, Contento lost his starting lineup spot as both of the managers at the season, Jocelyn Gourvennec and Gus Poyet preferred Maxime Poundje and Theo Pellenard more than him. This caused him to move again. This time he signed a two-year deal with Fortuna Dusseldorf returning him to Bundesliga after a four-year spell in France. However, he is still waiting for his debut until the day of writing.

Verdict

Disappointment Rate: 7/10. A career that is damaged by injury. Contento is still waiting for his debut match in Fortuna Dusseldorf explained it all. His career is the definitive definition of a career fall from grace. Another move has to be made to at least rekindle his currently dead career.