13 legends who came to the Premier League too late: Weah, Gullit, Hierro…

The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea fans have witnessed some of the world’s best players over the years – but other brilliant players simply moved to these shores too late.

Some arrived well past their best years and left a legacy on these shores far different to that which they left elsewhere, while other players were brilliant even after arriving England late in their career but just left us wishing we’d seen more of them.

Here is a selection of players from both categories, who for one reason or other we’ll rue for not moving to the Premier League earlier.

Just imagine if George Weah had scored this goal in the Premier League. It was exciting enough seeing it on Channel 4, but how good would it have been to see it live? Wow.

He did okay on loan at Chelsea in 2000 and certainly wasn’t a disaster at Manchester City, but this is a player who’d won the Ballon d’Or five years previously. We wanted to see that player.

The thought of a Kluivert-Shearer partnership in the mid-to-late 90s would have been an absolute dream for Newcastle supporters.

As it transpired, the duo linked up in 2004-05, which resulted in a 14th-place finish and the Dutchman departing at the end of the season.

Croatia’s all-time leading goalscorer and a star of the 1998 World Cup, Suker shone in La Liga for Sevilla and Real Madrid before joining Arsenal in 1999.

Arriving in the Premier League the wrong side of 30, Suker lasted only one season at Highbury before an equally short stint at West Ham.

One of the stars of Ajax’s Champions League-winning side of the mid-90s, Litamanen is fondly remembered at Anfield but did not move to England until he was 30 – and injuries meant he missed all three cup finals of the Reds’ 2001 treble.

He