Top 10 Most Transferred Players in History
The idea of a footballer playing for one club the whole career or for most of the career is not an uncommon sight. The round leather game been a host to a lot of players of this category such as, Paulo Maldini, Ryan Giggs, Francesco Totti, Lionel Messi, John Terry and Thomas Muller to name a few.
But while some players would rather spend a lot of time in one football club, some players due to choice or rather circumstance play for numerous clubs and are involved in a lot of transfers. Below are ten of players who have transferred to most football clubs in history.
10. PETER CROUCH (11 CLUBS)
Peter Crouch had his first taste of English football at Queens park rangers after two previous loan spells from Tottenham Hotspur. He spent most of the next many years moving between numerous English clubs including, Portsmouth, Norwich and Liverpool where he won his only titles.
The 2, 01 m turned up for Tottenham before moving to Stoke City where he enjoyed his longest stint. He retired at Burnley in 2019 in a career that spanned across 11 football clubs and 199 goals in all competitions.
9. ROBBIE KEAN (11 CLUBS)
The Irish man who is number 17 in the all time premier league highest goal scorers list with 125 goals is next on our list having played for 11 football clubs in his career.
Having made his professional debut for Wolves, the former Irish captain made his Premier league debut two seasons later for Coventry city. He went to Inter Milan afterwards but spent most of the contract time on loan to Leeds united where he later permanently transferred to.
He enjoyed spells at Tottenham, Liverpool, West Ham, Celtic, Aston Villa, LA Galaxy and ATK where he retired. Kean had the most of his career at Tottenham where he scored 122 goals in 306 games.
8. NICOLAS ANELKA (12 CLUBS)
Nicolas Anelka happens to be amongst the list of players to have scored for six different Premier league clubs. The French man played for four top English clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea FC. He also represented Bolton wanderers and West Brom in the Premier league.
The 2008/09 Premier league golden boot winner also had stints at Real Madrid, Juventus, Paris Saint German and Fenerbache to mention a few.
Anelka played the most games for Chelsea where he scored 59 goals and 33 assists in 184 games.
7. ANDY COLE (12 CLUBS)
Andy Cole started his professional career at Arsenal before a loan spell at Fulham. He moved to Bristol city after wards. His move to Newcastle was his breakthrough as he managed to score the most goals and provide the most assists in one season which caught the eye of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
His eight seasons at the club saw him win 10 titles and provide 121 goals for the English giants. Andy Cole’s subsequent moves to other clubs like Manchester city, Burnley, Portsmouth and others were not as successful as his time at Manchester United.
6. CHRISTIAN VIERI (12 CLUBS)
Christian Vieri is one of the most successful strikers in Italian football, winning the Italian golden boot as well as the golden boot in with Atletico Madrid in the Laliga. The Italian also won the Serie A and two Italian cups while in Italy.
Vieri’s illustrious career started off at Torino from where he went on to play AC Pisa, Ravenna, Venezia, Atalanta, Ravenna and Juventus before a one season stint with Atletico Madrid where he won the golden boot. His return to Italian football saw him don the shirts of Lazio, Inter Milan and AC Milan before another short spell at Monaco.
He returned to Italy once again, playing for Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Atalanta once again before retiring in 2009.
5. RIVALDO (15 CLUBS)
Rivaldo is known as one of the best footballers of his time, winning both the World Cup and Copa America with Brazil. The attacking midfielder also won the prestigious Ballon d’or award.
Rivaldo played for 15 different football clubs, spanning across six countries in four different continents across the globe. The 1999 best FIFA men’s player enjoyed his best spell at Barcelona and AC Milan where he won a combined eight trophies, including two Laliga titles, one Serie A title, and one Champions league trophy.
He also won trophies with Olympiacos, Palmeiras, Sao Paulo and Bunyodkur Tashkent. Rivaldo retired in 2015 at the age of 42.
4. MARCUS BENT (19 CLUBS)
Marcus Bent started his professional football career with Brentford in the 1995/96 season. Bent went on to play for fourteen different English clubs, including Wolves, Ipswich, Birmingham, Port Vale, Leicester and Crystal Palace amongst others.
During his time at Wigan, he scored a hat trick against Blackburn, the first scenario in the history of the Premier league where two different players from opposing teams scored a hat trick. Marcus Bent currently plays for English side, Cornard United.
3. LUTZ PFANNENSTIEL (27 CLUBS)
Lutz Pfannenstiel is a German goalkeeper who holds the record for the first footballer to professionally represent clubs from the six different football continental confederations. The German shot stopper has played in s]countries such as Germany, Malaysia, England, South Africa, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Armenia, Brazil, America, Albania and Namibia.
He represented 27 clubs in his career, such as Penang, Wimbledon, Orlando Pirates and FC Haka amongst others. Lutz retired in 2011 at Ramblers FC.
2. JOHN BURRIDGE (29 CLUBS)
John Burridge played for 29 different football clubs in a career spanning 27 years, he plied his trade across different clubs in England Scotland.
Burridge started off in the 1970/71 season at Workinton AFC before moving to Blackpool. He had silver ware success at Aston Villa where he won the English league cup and at Scottish league’s Hibernian where he won the Scottish league cup. Burridge is also one of the oldest footballers to appear in the Premier league at the age of 43.
Burridge played for clubs like Aston Villa, Manchester city, Newcastle, Hibernian, Wolves, Derby and Aberdeen FC amongst other clubs.
1. SEBASTIAN ABREU (34 CLUBS)
Sebastian Abreu holds top spot with a record 34 clubs which he represented in his long career.
The 2010/11 Copa America winner started off his career at Uruguayan club Defensor FC, he moved to San Lorenzo shortly after which he joined Spanish outfit, Deportivo la Coruna where most of his football journeys happened from. During his six years at Spain, Abreu went on seven different loan spells to clubs like CD Cruz Azul, Gremoi, UAG Tecos, Nacional, Club America and San Lorenzo.
He left the club for Nacional in 2004 but struggled to stay at one club as he continued moving until 2022 when he retired in Olimpia Minas.
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