This is what happened to the only player Cristiano Ronaldo considered better than him

Cristiano Ronaldo once said:

If you think I'm good, wait until you see Fabio Paim play.

At the time, Ronaldo was just starting to make a name for himself at Sporting, and the now record-breaking Ronaldo had eyes only for his team-mate in training, Fabio Paim. And rightfully so—Paim was considered Portugal's biggest future star and the whole football world foresaw a bright future for him.

A chaotic career

But 16 years later, Cristiano Ronaldo would certainly not say the same thing! Fabio Paim had a chaotic career, playing for 19 different clubs, including in Lithuania and even amateur football in Brazil, before ending up in the reserves of an amateur club near Porto.

But the worst was yet to come since, according to Correio da Manha, Fabio Paim was arrested for drug trafficking. He was arrested at his home with 12 grams of cocaine and £800 in cash. He was later acquitted on the grounds that wire tapping was not admissible evidence in the court of law. At the time, he was transferred directly to Caxias prison near Lisbon.

Needless to say, some football prodigies end up having surprising fates.