I'll start with two players that I have just added to the thread "Left-footed players : name them", which gave me this idea. Didier Six. LW. Valenciennes (1972-1977, incl. D2). Lens (1977-1978), Marseille (1978-1980), Cercle Bruges (Jul. '80-Nov. '81), Strasbourg (Nov. '80-Jun '81), VfB Stuttgart (1981-1983), Mulhouse (1983-1984, D2), Aston Villa (1984-1985), Metz (1985-1986), Strasbourg (Jul. '86-Dec. '87, D2), Valenciennes (Jan. '86-Jun. '87, D2), Galatasaray 1987-1988, VfB Leipzig (1991-1992, BL2), France 52 times (1976-1984). Named Dündar Siz in Turkey. 11 different clubs, 11 transferts, one last contract in 1991-1992. More details, stats : https://www.pari-et-gagne.com/joueur/didier_six.html Xavier Gravelaine. 2nd striker, LW, AM. Nantes (1988-1991, 0 appearances in the first team), Pau (1988-1989, D3, on loan), Saint-Seurin (1989-1990, D2, on loan), Laval (1990-1991, D2, on loan), Caen (1991-1993), PSG (1993-1994), Strasbourg (1994-1995 on loan), PSG (Jul. '95-Nov. '96), Guingamp (Dec. '95-Jun. '96 on loan), Marseille (1996-1998), Montpellier (Jul. '98-Dec. '98), PSG (Jan.-Jul. '99), Watford (Nov. '99-Jan. 2000, on loan), Le Havre (Feb. 2000-Jun. 2000), Monaco (2000-2001), Caen (2001-2002, D2), Istres (2002-2004, D2), Sion (2004-2005), France 4 times (1992-1993). 16 different clubs. 17 changings of club. Made his formation in Nantes in the 80s (with Deschamps and Desailly). More details : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Gravelaine
Sebastian Abreu, 26 clubs. 70 caps and 26 goals for Uruguay. Scored the penalty to send Uruguay to the first WC semi final in 40 years. Among former Ballon d'Or winners, I guess Rivaldo is the record holder. 15 clubs.
An interesting offshoot of this is players who have been great for a lot of clubs. Great is obviously subjective but how many players have really been great or even club legends at multiple clubs, as most great players get locked up in one or two places.
'Club legend' is something difficult because this often requires a long stay and also that the legacy isn't tarnished by playing for a rival club. These players received ESM team of the month selections for four or more teams. Ibrahimovic (Inter, Barca, Milan, PSG, ManUnited) Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barca, Juventus, PSG) Seedorf (Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Inter, Milan)* Ronaldo (PSV, Barcelona, Inter, Real Madrid) Vieri (Juventus, Atletico, Lazio, Inter; played for 13 different clubs) Crespo (Parma, Lazio, Inter, Milan) *) in 94/95 only a team of the year was chosen and he received votes for that one too among the 10 men panel. Ibrahimovic is the only player to score a CL goal for six different clubs. He's followed by a number of players with four different clubs: Robben, Eto'o, Crespo, Balotelli, Schurrle.
That is impressive. ____ Not sure if he'll ever match Abreu's record (that must be the record I guess) but Gaël Kakuta, 27 years old, has played for 11 clubs so far. Will he continue his journey or settle somewhere, future will tell. Formed at US Lille-Moulins then RC Lens he left for Chelsea as a 16 years old. Played for them 6 times in the PL from 2009 to 2011. Follows a series of loans : Fulham, Bolton, Dijon, Vitesse Arnhem, Lazio, Rayo Vallecano. Then he's signed by Sevilla before to be quickly sold to... Hebei China Fortune (2016). He plays near 25 games for them an comes back to Europe on loan : Deportivo La Coruna, Amiens. Back to Rayo Vallecano in 2018-2019 with a contract. (I'm interested in career's journeys across different continents too but I'm not really making researches, I see this when I come across things or think about a specific player too, so thanks in advance).
'Club legend' is something else but if I look at the Voetbal International top 100 all-time then the number of players who were 'great' for three or more clubs is indeed scarce (also some debatable cases like Henry, Matthaus). Jimmy Greaves is the only one to receive a BdO vote while playing for three different club teams in the same year. Among NED players I think Gullit and Seedorf are the guys with the four (or more) clubs while receiving a vote/nomination. Gullit was also not too bad for Chelsea (#2 in FWA vote) but didn't receive a vote there, could have been five clubs. Others with four clubs are Boniek, Hagi, Ibrahimovic, Laudrup, Klinsmann, Ronaldo, Scifo. That's all if I'm not mistaken (Crespo and Vieri didn't receive nominations or votes for four clubs, nor did someone like Eto'o). Remarkably, Johan Cruijff was voted as 'player of the year' in his league (by the press corps) for five different club teams: his first spell at Ajax, Barcelona, Aztecs, Diplomats, Feyenoord (not during his 2nd spell at Ajax). This was probably merited (i.e. facts and stats to back it up) & wasn't treated too gently either. This is maybe something to be done too, for example Keegan being 'player of the year' for three different club teams. A few of the 'über legends' (say, the usual top 30 all-time) were indeed only really good at one or two clubs (provided that they tried elsewhere).
Yes I think that's the record. Rivaldo his 15 clubs is the record for BdO winners. Another variation are players who played for multiple top teams. For example Edgar Davids (who has his birthday today) played for Ajax, Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter, Tottenham (finished 5th, two points behind #4 Arsenal). Six top sides one can say. That must be relatively rare, Ibrahimovic can't surpass that. Happy Birthday Edgar Davids! pic.twitter.com/F3KgXmRVRg— 90s Football (@90sfootball) March 13, 2019 Davids in an @AFCAjax shirt ❌❌❌#UCL pic.twitter.com/ITi5MlsvmF— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 13, 2019
So many players play for many clubs. I found somebody who played for 11 clubs which is the same amount as Didier Six's 11 from the first post. Yossi Benayoun made a senior debut in 1997 and his Israeli national team debut in 1998. If you count youth clubs, you can add Ajax and Hapoel Dimona. My source is Wikipedia. Here is the list (a * means he played for that club non-consecutively and only the first time is listed): Hapoel Be'er Sheva Maccabi Haifa* Racing Santander West Ham United* Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal Queens Park Rangers Maccabi Tel Aviv Beitar Jerusalem* Maccabi Petah Tikva How many players played for at least five clubs each in two countries? Benayoun did that. What player played for the most clubs in one city? He played for West Ham United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Queens Park Rangers in London. David N'Gog is 29 and has played for 8 clubs. Benik Afobe is 26 and has played for 9 clubs.
The first French player that entered my mind was Nicolas Anelka. Has played for 12 different clubs. Marco Boriello has scored for twelve different Serie A clubs in the highest league, and also played for West Ham in the Premier League, plus for Triestina in the Serie C. Here three other peculiar ones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutz_Pfannenstiel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Benjamin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burridge
Yep, me too right after the two firsts (PSG, Arsenal for 5 MF/ 1 M euros, Real Madrid for 34 M Euros, PSG who pay the same as Real for his return in 2000, then Liverpool on loan in Jan. 2002, only 2 goals scored for PSG since the start of the season 2000-2001, Man City from 2002 until Jan. 2005, Fener, Bolton, Chelsea, Shangaï, Juve, West Brom, Mumbai). Peculiar, fascinating. John Burridge's name rings a bell, he must be a legend. I know that he made the Team of the 110 ans de l'OM : internet poll ran by the club itself (can't find the internet pages apart from a video... and the copy of the final results on a blog : https://officiel-om-2009-2010.skyrock.com/2847757914-Voici-votre-Dream-Team-des-110-ans.html). Was it the same from Flamengo and Benfica, It's the clubs themselves? In this case, can you provide links? Thanks.
For Flamengo Grandes Times Brasileiros" Magazine (1971) Amado Biguá - Newton - Domingos da Guia - Jaime Bria - Dequinha Zizinho Valido - Leônidas da Silva - Vevé Placar Magazine (1982) Garcia Biguá - Domingos da Guia - Reyes - Júnior Dequinha Zizinho - Zico Joel - Leônidas da Silva - Vevé Placar Magazine (1994) Raul Leandro - Domingos da Guia - Mozer - Júnior Dequinha Zizinho - Zico Joel - Leônidas da Silva - Bebeto Lance! Newspaper's special magazine (1999) Raul Leandro - Domingos da Guia - Mozer - Júnior Dequinha - Adílio Dida - Zico Leônidas da Silva - Romário I can't find the Benfica one. Still, he sits on the border with Germano and Coelho, according to public opinion. Honestly, I prefer Coelho for his aerial ability, despite being a worse defender. Germano could play midfield as well.
Ok. That being, Mozer is one of the best headers ever. But let's stay on the topic now. Thanks to avoid to the max the "all-time discussions". Some names were interesting to bring in the discussion as they played for several "great clubs" but then we can add Pirlo, why not Benetti and so on, so yeah it's more about 10-12 clubs in career players (or youngs who already travelled a lot), "incredible journeys" or "peculiar" careers as PuckvanHeel said. Also, it can be a bit less than 10, or way more than 12 as we have seen too.
Pirlo played 'only' for three big clubs. Benetti for three as well, if we see AS Roma of that time (early 80s) as a big club. I think this is a nice variation of the theme since it is less common. Saw later Abreu received a Guiness certificate for his travels: https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/ult...nness-world-record/14q6w8ffdzwrh1npouss2qq86g
Peter Crouch: 1. Tottenham (0 games but came back and played for them later) 2. Dulwich Hamlet (currently in the sixth level in England) 3. IFK Hässleholm (currently in the fourth level in Sweden) 4. Queens Park Rangers 5. Portsmouth 6. Aston Villa 7. Norwich City 8. Southampton 9. Liverpool Back to Portsmouth Back to Tottenham and played for them 10. Stoke City (2011-2019) 11. Burnley (first game for them was January 31)
From my mind, for Perú: - Percy Olivares - Augusto Palacios, a candidate to had played in most Confederations
John Burridge has played for the most clubs of anyone in England - 15 Football League clubs and 29 total, including several in Scotland. He's also the oldest player to play in the Premier League.
Then I would add Carlos Tévez to the thread. Plenty of clubs, titles and appreciation. From Wikipedia: Boca Juniors Primera División: 2003 Apertura, 2015 Copa Libertadores: 2003 Copa Sudamericana: 2004 Intercontinental Cup: 2003 Copa Argentina: 2014–15 Corinthians Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2005 Manchester United Premier League: 2007–08, 2008–09 Football League Cup: 2008–09 FA Community Shield: 2008 UEFA Champions League: 2007–08 FIFA Club World Cup: 2008 Manchester City Premier League: 2011–12 FA Cup: 2010–11 FA Community Shield: 2012 Juventus Serie A: 2013–14, 2014–15 Coppa Italia: 2014–15 Supercoppa Italiana: 2013 Individual South American Footballer of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005 South American Team of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005 Copa Libertadores MVP Award: 2003 Player of the Year of Argentina: 2003, 2004 Argentine Sportsperson of the Year: 2004 Summer Olympics Golden Boot: 2004 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Player: 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2005 Bola de Ouro: 2005 Bola de Prata: 2005 West Ham United Hammer of the Year: 2006–07 Manchester City Official Supporter's Player of the Year: 2009–10 Manchester City Player's Player of the Year: 2009–10 Premier League Golden Boot: 2010–11 PFA Team of the Year: 2010–11 Premier League Premier League Player of the Month: December 2009 PFA Fans' Premier League Player of the Month: March 2010 Guerin d'Oro: 2014, 2015 Juventus Player of the Season: 2013–14,[192] 2014–15 Serie A Team of the Year: 2013–14, 2014–15 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season: 2013–14 Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2014–15
I don't have exact memories (contrarily to you surely) but Roberto Palacios was an excellent player. As for Augusto, I love the fact that he was the coach of the Hong-Kong women national team. It is like the final touch on his profile.
Jamie Cureton has played for 17 clubs, including appearing in the 8 top levels of the English pyramid, and is still active at 43.
I think Burridge may have as well. He's certainly played at level 7 (Enfield) and level 8 (Blyth). He's also played in the top 3 Scottish divisions (at the time).