Newcastle United old boy Davide Santon retired from professional football last week. The Italian defender was just 31 years old but a recurring knee injury has forced him to quit the game early.
The defender, who could play on either side, spent three-and-a-half seasons at St James’ Park and was part of the Magpies side that finished fifth in the Premier League back in 2011-12.
However, in 2014, he lost his first-team spot to Paul Dummett and returned to Inter Milan in January 2015.
Knee injuries have plagued him since and after leaving Roma in the summer he took time to reflect before deciding to hang up the boots.
Of course, Santon is not the only player to have retired too soon. Here are five more former Newcastle United players whose careers came to an end before their time, with varying reasons why.
Charles N’Zogbia
The flying Frenchman was Sir Bobby Robson’s final signing for Newcastle United and went on to play over 150 games for the Magpies.
After a falling out with Joe Kinnear, he left for Wigan Athletic, where he earned his two French national team caps before a difficult five-year spell at Aston Villa followed.
He left Villa Park in 2016 shortly after his 30th birthday but after a move to Nantes fell apart due to the discovery of a heart condition ‘Zog’ disappeared from the game.
Even The Athletic failed to track him down effectively for a profile piece in 2020 and he is presumed retired.
Patrick Kluivert
The Dutch sensation was considered a coup of a signing in 2004 when he arrived from Barcelona. Despite memorable goals v Chelsea and Spurs, he was released after just one season on Tyneside.
Stints at Valencia, PSV and Lille followed but knee injuries plagued his later career and he retired in 2008 at just 31.
Jermaine Jenas
BBC The One Show presenter left Newcastle United in acrimonious circumstances back in 2005 and went on to have a stellar career with Tottenham Hotspur, including winning 21 caps for England.
However, after a long list of injuries another serious knee problem proved the catalyst for his retirement at just 32 in 2016.
Paul Woolston
A name possibly not familiar to Newcastle United fans but the goalkeeper’s inclusion on the list is due to the heartbreakingly young age he was forced to hang his gloves up.
Woolston, came through the ranks at Newcastle before joining Manchester United in 2018.
The North Shields born stopper never played a first-team game of football and retired in March at just 23-years-old after a chronic hip injury left him in danger of having a hip replacement in his mid-20s.
Kevin Keegan
The Newcastle United hero was 33 when he called time on his incredible playing career. Unlike the other players on the list, this at least seemed a decision Keegan was ready for in 1984. .
After realising he was losing a yard of pace after Mark Lawrenson hunted him down whilst goalbound, Keegan decided to bow out respectfully, as he revealed in his 2018 autobiography.
He went on to have two stints as Newcastle United manager and did in fact play two more games, as a guest player for Australian outfit Blacktown City in 1985.
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