Which footballers enjoyed stellar careers despite failing medicals?

“What are the highest-profile examples of players who have failed a medical and then gone on to have long and successful careers,” wonders Crispin Leyser.

Club doctors and physios, look away now. One has to be pretty confident in a diagnosis to halt a multimillion pound deal in its tracks, but a failed medical is no laughing matter. That said, there are lots of players who have overcome the odds and gone on to have stellar careers elsewhere.

Tom Aldous is first through the door. “Demba Ba failed a medical at Stuttgart in 2009 and Stoke in 2011, but still went on to have a good career at West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea, which included some goal after someone slipped,” he emails. “Kanu underwent a medical following his transfer to Internazionale in 1996 which found a heart defect and stopped him playing until 1997. He still went on to have a great career at Arsenal and Portsmouth, in particular. Ruud van Nistelrooy failed a medical in April 2000, which delayed his move to Manchester United by a year … it’s fair to say that it all went well anyway. John Hartson failed a medical at Rangers, Charlton and Spurs in 2000; he instead moved to Celtic and scored 88 goals in 146 league games.”

For a bit more context, the Rangers chairman, Sir David Murray, had flown Hartson up from Wimbledon in his private jet with his dad. Such were the crowds, “it was like Michael Jackson was arriving”, remembers the former striker. Murray did not hold back after the results of the medical. “His levels of fitness, our doctor told us, was a risk,” said Murray. “We did not feel that he had the correct fitness at the time to go straight into the Champions League. No disrespect, but to score against Huddersfield is slightly different to scoring