So many of the world’s biggest and most successful players and managers have a thirst for challenges and have taken seemingly huge leaps into the footballing wilderness to try to prove themselves at a lower level.
For some lesser-known football clubs, the arrival of high-profile managers and players can be a huge distraction.
The media circus that inevitably surrounds the club can either make or break them. The following big names from football have proven that managing and playing in the lower leagues isn’t always the cakewalk it may appear.
High-Profile Managerial Appointments:
Sven Goran-Eriksson (Notts County)
A consortium from the Middle East rode into Nottingham city centre in 2009, promising to bring untold riches to Notts County.
The Meadow Lane faithful could not believe their luck when it was announced that former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson would take charge of the League Two club as a result of the fresh investment.
Eriksson was promised the players and training facilities to take County to the promised land of the Premier League, but the club’s offshore-registered parent company, Munto Finance, proved to be a bunch of shysters.
The Swede was left in limbo and the Football League’s oldest established club on the brink of financial meltdown.
Kevin Keegan (Fulham)
After feeling like he had taken Newcastle United as far as he could as manager, Kevin Keegan then found himself on the banks of West London at Fulham’s Craven Cottage.
Keegan was initially appointed chief operating officer of the then-Division Two club, working alongside head coach Ray Wilkins. Wilkins was eventually sacked, and Keegan took the reins.
His appointment came just months after the arrival of Harrods boss, Mohamed Al-Fayed, as new Fulham owner.
Al-Fayed gave Keegan a multi-million-pound budget to work with, with the manager succeeding in delivering promotion to Division One before becoming the sports betting favourite to take the England hot-seat from Glenn Hoddle in February 1999.
Nuno Espirito Santo (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Portuguese boss Nuno Espirito Santo had already developed an impressive reputation for himself on the continent following a successful managerial spell at Valencia in La Liga, culminating in a fourth-placed finish in 2015.
A somewhat less inspiring spell for Portuguese giants FC Porto – which was trophy-less – meant that Santo had to take a gamble to rebuild his reputation. He ventured to England and the Black Country to take the reins at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Molineux side were chasing promotion from the Championship and were somewhat outsiders for the title among football betting operators; despite the increasing influence of “super agent” Jorge Mendes on the club’s acquisitions.
Santo had an immediate impact, taking Wanderers to the title with four league games to spare.
Brian Clough (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Following a hugely successful six-year spell in charge of Derby County, taking the Rams from the foot of the Second Division to the First Division title in 1972. In 1973, Clough and side-kick Peter Taylor took County to the semi-finals of the European Cup.
However, a boardroom fall-out between the management duo and chairman Sam Longson meant that the pair would eventually resign in October 1973. Clough and Taylor were eventually tempted to Third Division big-spenders, Brighton & Hove Albion.
However, Clough's time in charge of the Seagulls was ill-fated, with a loss to non-league Walton & Hersham in the FA Cup characterising a failed mission on the south coast.
Diego Simeone (Estudiantes De La Plata)
Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone was famed as a tenacious, ball-winning midfielder, with a habit for scoring important goals, too. He was part of the drama that saw David Beckham sent off in Argentina's World Cup second round match with England at France '98.
After a glittering playing career, Simeone slotted neatly into the world of management, too. After a brief spell at Racing Club, he took charge of Estudiantes in 2006, a team that hadn't won a Clausura in 23 years.
By December 2006, Simeone had masterminded the team's first league title in a generation, cementing his status as Argentina's brightest managerial prospect.
High-Profile Player Signings:
Paul Gascoigne (Boston United)
Towards the latter stages of his career, Paul Gascoigne had a somewhat nomadic period. After leaving First Division side Burnley, Gazza eventually rocked up with China League One outfit Gansu Tianma, agreeing a player-coach role.
He scored on his debut, but mental health reasons restricted him to just three more appearances in the Far East.
Gazza returned to Blighty, but few betting experts would have predicted he would agree to play for lowly League Two side Boston United, also in a player-coach capacity.
During a shortlived three-month spell, Gazza turned out five times for the Pilgrims before leaving Lincolnshire. It won’t go down as one of the most iconic failed transfers, but he flattered to deceive.
Lothar Matthaus (MetroStars)
Lothar Matthaus was Germany's most capped player of all time, amassing an incredible 150 appearances in 20 years.
As a dynamic box-to-box midfielder, he had the lot - a great engine, incredible vision and a dependable positional sense. In the latter stages of his career, he dropped back to play as a sweeper.
He would play this role at his final club, joining the New York MetroStars from Bayern Munich. He played a full season, helping to enhance the exposure of the MLS in mainland Europe.
George Best (Fulham)
George Best is held in high esteem by the footballing world; many of whom believe him to be one of the most gifted footballers ever to have graced the sport.
The Belfast-born winger was a maverick both on and off the pitch, so it was perhaps unsurprising that Best would agree to play for Second Division side Fulham in the 1976-77 campaign.
It was a surprise move given that Best had flattered to deceive during a spell in the League of Ireland.
However, Best, along with Rodney Marsh and England’s World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore, helped the Cottagers to avoid relegation to Division Three by a single point.
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
At the tender age of 22, Argentine frontman Sergio Aguero appeared to have the world at his feet.
A five-year spell with La Liga side Atletico Madrid yielded 74 competitive goals, marking him out as one of the most feared marksmen in world football. It was therefore surprising to see Aguero join Manchester City in July 2011 for a fee in the region of £35 million.
Three years prior to Aguero’s arrival, the Abu Dhabi United Group acquired Manchester City and invested £100 million in new faces in 2009. Aguero was one of the final pieces of the jigsaw for a City side that was chasing its first ever Premier League title.
Ironically, the championship was secured in Aguero’s first season, with the Argentine defying the Premier League odds to score a late winner on the final day of the season against QPR.
Pele (New York Cosmos)
Pele is one of the most prolific strikers in the history of football. Playing 638 times for Brazilian club side Santos, he averaged nearly a goal a game for club and country.
A two-year spell with the New York Cosmos in 1975-77 was more of a gimmick given that Pele was already semi-retired. However, his presence did raise the profile of football in the United States, leading to the birth of the MLS as we now know it.
