Seven players that were dubbed 'the next Zidane' - What happened to them?

Whilst there will only ever be one Zidane, that hasn't stopped promising young players being compared to the legend down the years.

There have been several players dubbed 'the next Zidane' but it's a compliment that comes with a heavy expectation. The French icon left a legacy on the footballing world that seems almost impossible to match.

The Frenchman's trophy cabinet includes a World Cup, a Champions League and French and Spanish league titles. And the attacking midfielder's list of individual honours is probably long enough to write a book on.

Let's take a look at seven players who were compared to the legend, and how their careers played out.

After impressive performances for France in the U-17 World Cup, Meghni was given the nickname 'petit Zidane', also in part due to his Algerian heritage.

The youngster moved to Italy before even making his senior debut for Cannes, switching to Bologna in the hope of playing first-team football.

But after failing to perform with any consistency he was moved on to Lazio. Despite the main honour of his career being the 2009 Coppa Italia, he remained an unused substitute.

Meghni moved to Qatar in 2011 where he switched clubs three times before eventually returning to Algeria in 2015. He played for two years at CS Constantine before retiring in 2017.

When Cheyrou signed for Liverpool in 2002, Gerard Houllier was quick to compare the youngster to Zidane.

Houllier said at the time: “Bruno has the same kind of touch and style that Zidane has. There’s a lot of similarities between the two when they’re on the ball.

“The difference is that Zidane is 30-years-old and has a wealth of experience while Bruno is 24 and playing abroad for the first time.”

But after 48 underwhelming performances