6. Espen Baardsen
Retired age: 25
Another goalkeeper on the list, the Norwegian international spent most of his time at Tottenham as understudy to England goalkeeper Ian Walker, but showed that he could one day be an automatic first choice should the chance ever arrive in the future. However, he hung up his gloves before he’s even reached his peak saying: “Once you’ve played in the Premier League and been to the World Cup, you’ve seen it and done it,” he said. “It was dictating what I could do and when. I felt unsatisfied intellectually; I wanted to travel the world.”
He then travelled the world for 18 months before linking up with a asset management fund back in 2005.