The UEFA Champions League is a trophy every player wants to win. Some players go as far as leaving their former club in search of a better team where they stand the chance of winning the UEFA Champions League. Some also turned down transfer requests from teams without Champions League play.
Today, I will bring to mind three players that left their former club either to win the champions league or to play for a better club, but only to see their former club lift the popular trophy after their departure.
Eden Hazard.
Eden Hazard joined Chelsea after the club's champions league victory in 2012. He stayed with Chelsea till 2019 when he joined Real Madrid. While in Chelsea, he won 2 Europa League trophies, 2 Premier League trophies, 1 FA Cup, and 1 League Cup. He also won the PFA Young Player of the Year in his first season with Chelsea, the FWA Footballer of the Year, and the PFA Players' Player of the Year award in the 2014-2015 season.
Sadly, He missed Chelsea's UEFA Champions League victory in 2021.
ALVARO MORATA
Morata joined Chelsea from Real Madrid for a fee of around £60 million in 2017. He had a poor season in Chelsea and left the club in 2018 to join Atletico Madrid with less than 30 total goals in all competitions for Chelsea.
Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League three years after his departure.
PHILIPPE COUTINHO
Coutinho joined Liverpool in 2013 and stayed five years with the club. He was named the PFA player of the year in 2015. He flourished in Liverpool which made Barcelona sign him for €160 million, a record-breaking fee at that time making him the most expensive player back then. He forced his way to Barcelona because Liverpool has been suffering cup drought for more than four years.
Liverpool under Klopp lifted the UEFA Champions League just a year after his departure ( 2019).
However, unlike Hazard and Morata who have not won the Champions League after leaving their former clubs, Countinho won the UEFA Champions League while on loan at Bayern Munich. Morata only won the champions league in Real Madrid before joining Chelsea, and Hazard is yet to win the Champions League.
