In a career blighted by injuries and arguments, something appears to have been forgotten about Craig Bellamy – he’s actually rather good at football.

It has been something that has dogged Bellamy from early in his multi-club career until now, as a 32-year-old veteran of the game. And with his time as a professional footballer in its final few years, there is a genuine worry in the mind of this writer that Craig Bellamy will not be remembered for his ability with a football at his feet.

Underrated is always a difficult tag to place upon a player, without making exactly the opposite true. But Bellamy is one of those that justifies the tag, providing you don’t place him on the ‘wasted talent’ pile.

This is despite delivering the goods at all of the nine clubs he has represented in his career, as well as boasting a good record with Wales to become their fifth all-time scorer while drifting in and out of the international set-up.

A total of 119 goals in 350 appearances in England doesn’t stand out as a phenomenal record, but this does not take into consideration that he is not an out-and-out striker, and has spent a fair amount of his career on the wing, due to his versatility.

But there is a worry the public will not look back on Bellamy with those statistics in mind. Those more generous will spy that only twice in ten Premier League seasons has Bellamy played more than 30 league games, 34 for Coventry City in 2000/01 and 32 for Manchester City in 2009/10.

That final season saw many of those games started from or ending on the bench and weren’t enough to stop Roberto Mancini offloading him to Championship side Cardiff City on loan.

The problem appears to be the secondary, and most widely spoken of his flaws, his temper. It is something that has followed him from club to club, involving fallings-out with the likes of Alan Shearer, Graeme Souness and John-Arne Riise among many others, before Mancini decided he’d had enough of the spiky Welshman. Imagine him in the same dressing room as Mario Balotelli after all!

For every mazy run he makes, people will point to the series of abusive text messages sent from his phone to varying influential members at Newcastle United. For every unselfish assist he makes, they will state he has been involved in two assault trials (though both saw him cleared). For every goal he scores, they will joke about the golf club episode with Riise.

These are the incidents that stick out, meaning, much like Joey Barton, the actual footballing ability is but a footnote of their career, as off-field incidents take priority of what actually matters.

People forget that youngster who emerged at Norwich City to become one of the most promising British teenagers, or the seamless step to a big money move to Coventry City.

It’s ignored amongst the following animosity that Bellamy became the best partner for Alan Shearer since the famous SAS team created with Chris Sutton, allowing the England great to end his career on a high.

People brush away that one-man demolition of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge not two years ago, that really made everyone sit up and take serious notice of Manchester City as a force in English football, as the focus remained on his post-match withering comments on John Terry in the wake of the Wayne Bridge affair.

Hell, even the good he’s done off the field goes unacknowledged, with his own charity fund in Sierra Leone (into which he’s poured over £600,000 of his own money) flying below the radar, while he has been known to contribute to small local sides, helping with fundraising events.

He has encouraged a great deal of money to be coughed up for his services, with Coventry spending a club record £6.5million, while West Ham also paid a then club record £7.5million to ‘persuade’ Liverpool to sell him for the first time. Manchester City then spent £14million to bring him back to the North-West bringing his cumulative transfer fee up to £47m.

So there clearly is something there for a player to have caused that amount of money to be exchanged alone. But with every move or potential move, the element of ‘risk’ is always discussed, due to attitude or injury worries.

Yet with pace and skill in abundance, when he plays with freedom, Bellamy has always been one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League. Gareth Bale has taken plaudits over the past two seasons, but his is a similar style to Bellamy, with maybe that extra touch of pace and strength.

Few defenders will say they have played Bellamy and had an easy game. He is a player that doesn’t do lazy, providing all-action performances that will leave defenders continually looking over their shoulders, if he hasn’t already gone past them, that is.

It’s time for recognition to come the way of Craig Bellamy the footballer. For all his off-field misdemeanours, he has continually been one of the most exciting players to watch with the ball at his feet since he emerged in professional football in March 1997.

Even the late, great Sir Bobby Robson, one of the most adept talent spotters in football noted, “Craig Bellamy is a great player, wrapped round an unusual and volatile character.”

It’s a shame most people have chosen to pay more attention to the second half of that statement.