Michu, Grafite, Janssen: 11 of the biggest one season wonders in the 21st century

They often say consistency is the one attribute that separates the good players from the truly great ones.

A handful of goals here and there, a small string of solid performances is all well and good, but if you can’t take that up a notch and do it week after week, season after season, you’ve no hope of making it to the top.

Sounds horrible, but simply not everybody can make it to the top. And truthfully, football would be a much more boring sport if everybody did. The beautiful game needs those cult heroes, and the best ones are born out of one above average, sometimes world class season, before fading into complete obscurity.

Gather around your mates and dig out the nostalgia goggles, GIVEMESPORT has compiled a list of 11 of the biggest one season wonders in football during the 21st century

Having made the jump to the Premier League and Fulham in 2007, nobody would’ve thought that Dempsey had it in him to elevate to such a high level after several seasons of fairly average scoring rates. But alas, the 2011/12 campaign rolled around and, suddenly, Fulham’s American forward became a man possessed, hitting 17 goals and seven assists in the Premier League as the Cottagers finished ninth. He never scored that many league goals in a single season once again, hitting 15 in the 2014 MLS season.

A product of Barcelona’s famed academy, Ramirez made a brave decision to depart La Blaugrana for Malaga in 2016, which paid off. The young striker scored 14 La Liga goals and assisted five times from 30 games in his debut campaign and first real season as a regular first team striker. That was enough to tempt Everton into paying £5.2 million to sign him the following summer. He scored one goal all season, and left for free in 2020 after