If you’ve spent any time on football Twitter (or X, for the purists), you’ve definitely seen the “007” meme floating around. A player makes a big-money move, plays seven games without scoring or assisting, and boom, the internet christens him as Agent 007.
But what started as harmless banter with Jadon Sancho’s slow start at Manchester United has now turned into a full-blown footballing phenomenon. The term, born out of a Sky Sports Germany graphic that cheekily dressed Sancho in a tuxedo, has since become part of Premier League culture, a badge of banter more than a real criticism.
Funny enough, some of the greatest players to ever grace English football, players we now call legends, once went through that dreaded “007” phase themselves. From Cristiano Ronaldo to Thierry Henry, they too started slow before rewriting Premier League history.
So, let’s take a look at five Premier League stars who once went 007 and then went on to become icons.
Five Premier League stars who once went 007
Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United
When Manchester United signed a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, few could have predicted the monster he’d become. The Portuguese winger arrived for £12 million a record fee for a teenager at the time, and was handed the iconic number seven shirt.
He dazzled fans instantly with his stepovers and flair, but goals and assists? Those didn’t come right away. Ronaldo went 007, taking seven matches before finding his first goal contribution.
It wasn’t until November 2003 that he finally broke the duck, curling in a free-kick against Portsmouth at Old Trafford. Ironically, the man in goal that day, Shaka Hislop, would later joke, “I’m not saying it was my fault, but Ronaldo owes me a great deal.”
From there, the rest was football history. Ronaldo ended his United career (across two spells) with 145 goals and 65 assists in 346 games, five Ballon d’Ors to his name, and a career tally that now sits at 946 goals for club and country.
Even James Bond couldn’t match that execution rate.
Thierry Henry – Arsenal
It’s almost impossible to imagine Thierry Henry as anything other than the most elegant finisher the Premier League has ever seen. But when he arrived at Arsenal in 1999, Henry was far from the ice-cold striker fans came to adore.
Signed from Juventus by Arsène Wenger, Henry was initially deployed as a winger, and it showed. He struggled to adapt, missing chances and failing to score or assist in his first seven league appearances. The Frenchman even admitted later, “I had to rediscover my scoring instinct, that automatic reaction in front of goal.”
Then came that breakthrough, a curling beauty against Southampton in his eighth game. From there, the floodgates opened.
By the time Henry left Arsenal, he was their all-time top scorer with 228 goals in all competitions, including 175 in the Premier League, and had established himself as one of the most complete forwards in football history.
From “007” to “King Henry” that’s a redemption story worth toasting.
Steven Gerrard – Liverpool
Before he became “Captain Fantastic,” Steven Gerrard also had his own 007 phase. The Liverpool legend made his debut as a teenager in 1998 but didn’t score or assist in any of his first dozen appearances.
To make matters worse, Gerrard admitted he often felt “out of position and out of his depth” early in his career. Playing across midfield and even at right-back, it took him a while to find his rhythm.
His breakthrough came in 1999, with an absolute rocket against Sheffield Wednesday, the first of 120 goals he’d score for Liverpool.
Gerrard went on to lead Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005 and FA Cup triumphs, becoming the heartbeat of his club for over a decade. From being an unsure academy kid to one of the most complete midfielders of his generation, not bad for a former 007, eh?
Ian Rush – Liverpool
Now, this one might surprise you. The great Ian Rush, Liverpool’s all-time top scorer, also technically went 007 at least in the Premier League era.
By the time the league rebranded in 1992, Rush was already a legend, having scored hundreds of goals across his first spell with Liverpool. But when he returned from Juventus for a record £2.7 million, the goals didn’t come as quickly as fans expected.
He failed to score or assist in his first seven Premier League appearances before finally breaking his drought in a 2-2 draw against Manchester United. And fittingly, that strike was his 287th goal for Liverpool, breaking Roger Hunt’s long-standing record.
“It was such a great feeling to break the record, and to do it against Manchester United made it even sweeter,” Rush recalled later.
He went on to finish with 346 goals for Liverpool. Not a bad way to recover from being a Premier League 007.
Roberto Firmino – Liverpool
When Roberto Firmino joined Liverpool in 2015 from Hoffenheim, fans weren’t sure what to expect. He wasn’t a pure striker, wasn’t lightning fast, and didn’t quite fit into Brendan Rodgers’ system at the time.
The result? A slow start, no goals or assists in his first seven Premier League games. Firmino later revealed in his autobiography that Rodgers never actually wanted him at the club.
But then came Jürgen Klopp. The moment the German took charge, Firmino transformed from an uncertain attacking midfielder to the beating heart of Liverpool’s famous front three.
His first Premier League goal came in a 4-1 demolition of Manchester City, a game that signaled both his and Klopp’s arrival.
By the time he left Liverpool in 2023, Firmino had scored 111 goals and assisted 72, helping the club win the Premier League, Champions League, and just about every other major trophy.
He may have started 007, but by the end, he was Liverpool’s Agent Reliable.
The list doesn’t stop there; plenty of top players have gone through the 007 curse before finding their rhythm, which includes the likes of Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Chris Sutton, and Gabriel Martinelli, among others.
It’s easy to mock players who start slow, especially in an age where memes travel faster than form. But if this list proves anything, it’s that early struggles don’t define a career.
Thierry Henry went from doubting himself to becoming Arsenal’s greatest ever. Ronaldo went from flashy winger to global icon. Gerrard and Rush became Liverpool immortals. And Firmino became the symbol of Klopp’s high-pressing revolution.
But let’s be real, 007 purely as banter is still really funny.
