Premier League cult hero looks unrecognisable 15 years after scoring one of league’s best ever goals
A PREMIER LEAGUE cult hero looks unrecognisable ten years after hanging up his boots.
He played with the likes of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Xavi but his best years came in the Prem.
The attacker played once for Brazil and had a rollercoaster career which included winning the Primeira Liga with Benfica in 2005.
He also won the domestic cup in Brazil and Portugal and spent two years at Barcelona, scoring two goals in 41 games.
A four-year spell at Benfica followed before a move back to his native Brazil with Cruzeiro.
Sven Goran Eriksson then offered him the chance to resurrect his career with Manchester City, but he lasted only a year before his next move.
Premier League new boys Hull City snapped him up in 2008 and he scored eight goals in 34 league games to keep The Tigers in the top flight.
The star in question is Geovanni, who scored one of the best and most memorable Prem goals ever – a 30-yard screamer in a 2-1 win at Arsenal.
He now looks unrecognisable 13 years on from his spell at Hull, which he described as the best years of his career.
In a recent interview with The Athletic he said: “Just speaking about the club makes me emotional. It was a dream for me. Those may have been the best days of my life as a footballer.
“Hull was like a family to me. It was real friendship: we all really cared about each other. I talked to Ian Ashbee just yesterday. He was our captain, an exceptional guy.
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“The kit man, Barry Lowe? We spoke every day. And Stuart, his son. The chefs, the ground staff… it was just different.
“It was a small-town atmosphere and I felt at home there. The club really got under my skin.”