Football is a game of contact, and therefore, injuries are expected, expectedly as part of the game. Yes indeed, it is not uncommon for professional football players to have, at one point or the other suffer an injury no matter the level of severity.
Despite this fact, there are, however, a few footballers who always seem to get sidelined through injuries.
Through no fault of theirs, these individuals always seem to get the rough end of the stick, barely featuring for their respective teams due to one injury or the other.
Who are the most injury-prone football players currently active in football? Let’s identify 10 of them.
1. Eden Hazard
Hazard was one of the fittest soccer players during his time at Chelsea and was a very important player for the Blues, winning everything possible.
He dazzled and was always fouled when playing for Chelsea, but that never mattered until he went to Real Madrid in 2019 and struggled to stay fit.
Now, Eden Hazard is not just one the the most injury-prone soccer players, but one of the soccer players who fell off.
Muscle problems and hamstring issues have been the company of the Belgian at Santiago Bernabeu, and that’s why in four years, he has made just over 50 appearances.
In the 2022/23 season, the Belgian has been injured twice and missed 6 games.
2. Neymar Jr.
Neymar’s case is sometimes described as a conspiracy; his injuries are sometimes timed to some personal dates like his sister’s birthday and the like.
While the coincidences may be too accurate and frequent to be disregarded, Neymar’s playing style doesn’t help matters.
He was injured in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and missed two games as a result.
Currently, the Brazilian has been out for the rest of the season since early March, his second injury layoff in the 2022/2023 season alone, an improvement to the six different injury times he had last season.
He is currently out for a couple of months after undergoing ankle surgery.
3. Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba has only played three games all season at Juventus despite joining Manchester United last summer.
The French midfielder got injured before the start of the season and eventually missed the FIFA World Cup.
In that period till April, before he made his second Juventus debut, he battled a meniscal injury, had knee surgery, and thigh muscle strain, amongst others.
4. Thiago Alcântara
Thiago Alcântara has spent 84 days of the current 2022/2023 season on the doctor’s table for two different injuries.
It’s a continuation of the fitness problems he had to deal with from last season. He missed twenty-four matches dues to different injuries due to Calf, Thigh, and Hip problems.
Alcântara’s fitness problems didn’t start recently like the initial two names on this list, as he has a long list of injuries over the years.
In the 2022/23 season, The Spaniard has been sidelined for almost 90 days due to problems with the hip flexor and hamstring injuries.
5. Marco Reus
Mario Gotze seems like the only German maestro that injuries have denied the football world, but they seem like a twin, with Marco Reus finding staying fit a difficult task.
The Borussia Dortmund skipper has had three different injury breaks this season, and that was like an average number of times he’s injured every season.
He is one of the top footballers who suffered ACL injuries.
In the 2022/23 season, Reus has been injured three times and ill twice, missing almost 20 matches in total.
6. Ousmane Dembele
The list will be deemed fake without the French man who seems to be getting his fitness issues right, but there was a time that Barcelona was ready to cash in on the injury-prone player.
This season, he missed 17 games and 89 days in total, and it’s only the least injury break he’s ever had.
Dembele’s major injury problems include hamstring, knee, and muscle injuries.
Although he is considered one of the most talented wingers in football, injuries has hampered his reputation and success.
7. Anthony Martial
The French striker was more injured than playing so badly that his form took a dip so bad that Manchester United was ready to let go.
Martial has missed twenty-two games for the Red Devils this season thanks to Hips, back, and hamstring injuries this season alone.
He’s only played 13 EPL games and three Europa League fixtures.
8. Reece James
Reece James is undoubtedly one of the best right-backs in the world of football, however, he has recently also become injury-prone.
The man who missed the 2022 FIFA World Cup due to an unlucky injury just after he returned from another injury. Reece James has been out for more than 120 days of the 2022/2023 season due to knee injuries.
James missed the World Cup after only returning seemingly just in time to make the Three Lions roster to the Mundial. Since his return, the fullback has sat out games due to illness, hamstring, and currently injured with a thigh problem.
9. Aymeric Laporte
Defender Aymeric Laporte may not be the usual injury-prone player, but he’s had to deal with a knee injury.
Ninety-five days and eleven games are the times he was out for Manchester City.
He didn’t miss any game due to injury last season at all, but that may change next season, knowing how knee problems can be.
10. Ferland Mendy
Real Madrid’s Ferland Mendy has twice dealt with muscle injuries this season that has seen him sit out nineteen of the Los Blancos games this season.
Nevertheless, he has managed twenty-two games in all competitions for the Los Blancos.
Last season was worse for Ferland, who had several knocks, hamstring issues, and a tear in the abductor’s muscle alongside muscle problems.
Notable Mentions:
There have been a massive number of players who have been known as injury-prone players in the past with a history of frequenting the doctor’s table. Some of them include Abou Diaby, Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen, Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario, and Daniel Sturridge, whose promising career was cut short by multiple injuries.
We also need to mention Jack Wilshire , not forgetting Mario Gotze, who fell off badly after scoring the winning goal for Germany at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 against Argentina.
Arjen Robben is one player whose form and class were always as permanent as his injuries, but Alex Pato couldn’t weather the storm like the Dutch legend did while he had his career across clubs like Chelsea and Bayern.
Not many remember Ibrahim Afellay, no thanks to his injury woes that robbed him of a great career that saw him across PSV, Barcelona, and Schalke.
Michael Owen, Robin Van Persie, and Owen Hargreaves all had a common denominator of playing for Manchester United but also a long history of injury problems in their career.
Apart from these soccer players who always get injured, there are other football players who never get injured.
