5 active footballers who have spent more than a decade with their current club

It is very difficult for a top-level footballer to withstand the rigors of top-level football for an extended period of time. It needs a lot of hard work, dedication, and improvisation to last more than a decade in top-flight football.

Only some footballers are able to play for a top club for more than a decade as any decline in his form might compel the said club to sell him to another one.

Moreover, loyalty is not very common in today’s football as most of the footballers try to earn as much as possible in a very short period of time. Therefore, they do not often bother to stay with a particular club for more than a certain period of time.

As a result, it is very difficult to find players who have spent more than a decade with a certain club. In the past, players like Paolo Maldini, Ryan Giggs, and Francesco Totti have done it, but such examples are very rare.

In this article, we take a look at five active footballers who have spent more than a decade with their current club.

#1 Lionel Messi

Much has already been said about the greatness of Messi as a footballer, so it would not make much sense to add to it. It should be enough to point out the simple fact that Barcelona’s golden period coincided with Messi’s meteoric rise in world football.

He has scored 572 goals in 656 matches for Barca, won 4 Champions League titles and 9 La Liga titles with them and been drawing comparisons with the legends of the game like Pele, Maradona, and Cruyff for the past few years.

Messi started his Barcelona career in 2004 and has won 5 Ballon d’Or titles in the last 14 years. He has also been the biggest reason behind Barca’s rise to prominence in world football.

There have been speculations of late about him leaving the club, but his exploits with the Catalan club would remain very difficult to match. He also remains the greatest footballer in Barcelona’s history.

#2 Daniele De Rossi

De Rossi is into his 18th season for AS Roma and remains an epitome of loyalty and longevity in modern football. Along with his legendary ex-teammate Francesco Totti, De Rossi helped Roma become one of the best clubs in Italy in the last decade and a half.

De Rossi could not win the Serie A title in spite of going close a few times but managed to win the Coppa Italia twice for his beloved club. He has also regularly appeared in the Champions League for Roma.

De Rossi is primarily a defensive footballer, who can also play box-to-box. He is known for his hard tackles and good passing range. He has played with different generations of footballers starting from Gabriel Batistuta to Radja Naingollan and still continues to make appearances for Roma.

All in all, he has played 603 matches for Roma and scored 61 goals. He remains an inspiration to many young players.

#3 Sergio Ramos

The hard man of Spanish football is also a Real Madrid legend. It is difficult to come across a more committed player than Ramos. It is also difficult to think of a defender who has been more successful in terms of winning trophies for his club.

In his 13 years’ association with Real Madrid, Ramos has played in 588 matches for them and scored 78 goals. He has also won 4 UEFA Champions League titles and four La Liga titles for Real Madrid.

Ramos started his career as a right-back and replaced Michel Salgado in Real’s starting line-up. However, he gradually became a centre-back and started dominating the defensive third with his commanding displays.

Ramos has one of the greatest headers of all time, is an underrated passer, a very strong tackler and a true leader on the pitch. He has scored some very important goals for Real from set-pieces too, including one against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final in 2014.

#4 Sergio Busquets:

It is difficult to believe that Busquets is still only 30 years old, given his staggering achievements in world football. In his 10 years’ association with the Barca senior team, Busquets has won 4 Champions League and 7 La Liga titles.

He also remains one of the best defensive midfielders in modern football. He is a very intelligent player who can also play as a sweeper at times. Busquets’ distribution and off-the-ball positioning are very good too.

He started his career as an understudy to Yaya Toure but replaced him soon in the starting line-up. He has played 506 matches for Barca till date and scored 13 goals.

Busquets still has some seasons left in him at the top level and would retire as one of the most successful footballers of all time. It is also very unlikely that he would leave Barca for any other club before his retirement.

#5 Giorgio Chiellini

Chiellini is still among the best centre-backs in the world after having spent 13 years at Juventus. He is a very good tackler and man-marker and exceptionally strong in the air too. He also remains one of the greatest defenders the world has seen in the new century.

Chiellini started his career as a left-back but soon made the centre-back position his own. He has played in 487 matches for Juve and scored 35 goals for them. He has also won seven Serie A titles for Juventus.

Chiellini has played both in a 4-man and a 3-man defense for Juventus. He was part of the much-vaunted back 3 also comprising Leonardo Bonucci and Barzaghli for a considerable period of time.

He helped Juventus make it to a couple of Champions League finals but could not win the trophy ultimately. However, he can take heart from the fact that he has quite possibly been the most consistent member of the strongest defense in European club football for the past decade.