I was labelled one of the greatest talents of my generation when I joined Liverpool - it didn't work out

Ryan Babel has admitted he endured a rocky career, full of ups and downs, after announcing his retirement from football earlier this month. Liverpool signed the former forward in an £11.5m deal from Ajax in July 2007 when he was only 20 years old.

But despite a promising first season at Anfield, the Dutchman fell out of favour under Rafa Benitez as his starting opportunities dried up. While he would make 146 appearances for the Reds, returning 22 goals and 15 assists, only 65 came from the start.

Hew would stay put on Merseyside following Benitez’s exit in the summer of 2010, but his fortunes did not improve under Roy Hodgson.

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And with Liverpool then working on a deal for Luis Suarez in January 2011, Babel made way as he was sold to Hoffenheim for £8m.

The 37-year-old would go on to play for Kasimpasa, Al Ain, Deportivo La Coruna, Besiktas, Fulham, Galatasaray and Eyupspor, as well as make two separate returns to Ajax, before hanging up his boots.

And he has admitted that he is well aware that people will have different opinions about his career.

“An incredible journey but a lot of ups and downs,” he conceded to Sky Sports. “I am well aware that when I just entered professional football player, I was labelled at my time as one of the greatest talents from my generation.

“I was fortunate enough to play for Ajax in the Academy. I was very fortunate to make a move to Liverpool.

“I know my Liverpool career was with a lot of ups and downs. 50/50 opinions about my career there obviously.

“After that, it was a very rocky career with a lot of different moves where you would, beforehand, never expect me to make.”

Babel has repeatedly gone on the record bemoaning how his Liverpool career unfolded in the years after leaving Anfield. In November 2021, he told the Guardian that his relationship with Benitez was ‘weird’, as he pointed the finger of blame at the Spaniard for the fact he was unable to push on on Merseyside.

“It was, in my opinion, a weird relationship (with Benitez) because when he signed me I looked at him as the big uncle who wanted to give me a chance and help me succeed," he said. "But then as we went on he left me totally on my own and only judged me for the things I didn’t do right instead of telling me how to solve or improve the things I had to improve.

"I was very young and I just needed guidance. I don’t want to blame the coach for me not having the ultimate career at Liverpool but I felt it could have been closer in terms of guidance and support."

Meanwhile, speaking to the Mirror in 2012, he said: “I don’t think people in England ever saw the best of me. For a player to really be at his best you have to give him a certain confidence, but I did not feel appreciated by some people at ­Liverpool.

“Rafa Benitez promised me a certain ­development, but very ­quickly he took away that promise and it was a totally different ­situation. I don’t think I ever really played more than three games in a row.

And in an interview with the Independent in 2017, he said: “He (Benitez) promised me certain things at this time to help me develop which I thought was the same as Ajax but at a different pace.

“But from the start I felt basically left out, by myself, no help and that was of course very difficult for a 20 year old. I had to really become an adult very quickly and adapt.

“It was up and down but at the same time I had a great experience there. I learnt a lot. When I look back I could have done things differently but at the same time I also think I could have got more guidance from the coaches.”