8 world-class footballers who have somehow been relegated: Neymar next? | OneFootball

Former Manchester United, Inter Milan and PSG stars are among the world-class players who’ve surprisingly been relegated.

Neymar could find himself added to this list soon with his side Santos currently sat in the relegation zone of the Brazilian Serie A, with three games remaining.

To make matters worse, Neymar himself recently picked up an injury and has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2025 season.

With that in mind, here are eight world-class footballers who’ve been relegated.

Rio Ferdinand

After competing for titles year in year out for Manchester United, Ferdinand spent his last year as a professional battling relegation with QPR.

At this point, the United legend was past his prime and Ferdinand has since admitted that the move to Loftus Road was a mistake.

“I wish I finished my career at Manchester United, rather than moving to QPR,” the defender told Stick to Football.

“Because it was the first time I had been in a changing room where people were talking about money and wages.

“We had players not wanting to train because they were on a certain amount of money, the intensity wasn’t that high, and for whatever Harry Redknapp was trying to do, the players weren’t buying into it, and that team ended up getting relegated.”

Julio Cesar

Another player relegated from the Premier League with QPR was former Inter goalkeeper Cesar.

The Brazilian joined QPR in 2012, two years before Ferdinand arrived at the club, and was relegated in his first season.

“In 2012, after seven and a half years at Inter, I never thought I’d play for another club,” Cesar said.

“I definitely never thought I’d end up at Queens Park Rangers.

“The whole thing was very difficult. Inter wanted to cut their expenses and the squad began to unravel. They tried to lower my salary, which I felt was unfair, so I wanted to leave. It was all very sad.

“I only had one offer on the table: QPR. As ever, the money was important, but I also believed in the project. The Premier League excited me and London is a great city.

“Yet nothing turned out as planned. Even though the club invested heavily, the winning mentality just wasn’t there, and we were relegated.”

Franco Baresi

One of the greatest defenders of all time, Baresi was relegated with AC Milan on two occasions.

The club was relegated in 1980 when implicated in a match-fixing scandal and were relegated again in 1982 when they finished third bottom.

Despite being relegated twice, Baresi never considered leaving the club and spent his entire 20-year career playing for Milan.

Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon was part of the Juventus side relegated to Serie B in 2006, despite the club technically finishing first that season.

Juventus were stripped of their title and subsequently relegated after claims of match-fixing were levelled at the Italian club.

Other world-class players in that squad included the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Patrick Vieira, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alessandro Del Piero and Pavel Nedved, who also technically have a relegation on their CV.

Roy Keane

Prior to moving to Old Trafford, Keane was relegated from the Premier League with Nottingham Forest.

Despite finishing rock bottom in 1992-93, Keane’s quality shone through and he subsequently made the move to United shortly after Forest’s fate was sealed.

Michael Carrick

Another former United midfielder who experienced a relegation was Carrick, who went down with West Ham in 2003.

He did stick with the Hammers for one more year in the second tier before being picked up by Tottenham in 2004.

Michael Owen

It’s safe to say that Owen isn’t a fan favourite at Newcastle.

The 2001 Ballon d’Or winner was relegated in 2009 after finishing 18th in the Premier League.

Owen himself made 28 appearances that season and scored eight goals, but couldn’t save the club from relegation.

“My move to Newcastle was one I really regret because I should have followed my gut instincts from the start,” Owen said in his 2019 autobiography.

“I didn’t want to go there and my heart was set on a return to Liverpool. Florentino Pérez told me if I wanted to stay I could stay and if I wanted to go I could go.

“I told him I wanted to go to Liverpool but he said it wasn’t possible unless they matched Newcastle’s offer.

“That statement was a dagger to my heart. I had two options and I didn’t particularly fancy either of them.

“A move to the north east was a downward step. If I only thought of money, Newcastle blew everyone out of the water as they were offering me £120,000 a week.

“But my feelings weren’t a reflection on Newcastle specifically. I didn’t want to sign with any club that wasn’t Liverpool.”

George Best

Best joined Hibernian in 1979 at the age of 33 and crowds at Easter Road subsequently rocketed to see the former United winger in action.

While the dynamic winger did provide some moments of magic in a Hibernian shirt, his off-field problems had become more common at this point in his career.

The winger went AWOL in February 1980 and the club were subsequently relegated at the end of the season.

“There were moments of genius from George and sometimes he was a move ahead of his colleagues but that only confirmed my fears that he was out of step with the rest of the team,” former Hibernian manager Eddie Turnbull wrote in his autobiography.

“All the time I had that deep-down feeling that you know something is going to go badly wrong.

“Watching George was like being witness to a car accident taking place in slow motion. And it was only a matter of time before the head-on crash occurred.

“In February 1980, George simply went absent from training sessions. Nobody knew where he was until he was photographed coming out of a nightclub in London.”