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Winning the league title in any country is a huge achievement for any player because of the increased competition in the leagues across Europe. Many players have been lucky enough to play for top teams across different leagues and win league titles with more than one of those teams. Take for example the case of Arjen Robben who has won league titles in Netherlands, England, Spain and Germany. However, one thing Robben hasn’t been able to achieve is winning the league title in successive years in different leagues.Very few players have been able to achieve this rare feat and here are ten modern day footballers who have managed to do so.
#1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a player who is so good, that he has won league titles with all but one of the teams he played for. His first professional club, Malmo, is the only club with whom he hasn’t won a title so far.
The Swede lifted his first league title in Netherlands with Ajax in 2001/02 and he won a second in 2003/04. He joined Juventus prior to the 2004/05 season and won two league titles with the club in as many years, but both titles were revoked due to the match fixing scandal.
Even if the titles he won with Juventus are discounted, he still managed to win consecutive league titles in different countries.
Zlatan moved to Internazionale from Juventus and won three consecutive league titles from 2006/07 to 2008/09. His brilliant performance with the Italian club earned him a move to Barcelona and he won the La Liga with the Catalan club during the 2009-10 season. He returned to Milan in the colours of AC Milan for the 2010-11 season and won the league title again.
#2 Samuel Etoo
Samuel Eto’o is one of the most decorated African footballers of all time and one of the best strikers of the current century.
The Cameroonian forward became a renowned star during his time with Barcelona and won three league titles and two UEFA Champions Leagues during his stay there. His last season with Barcelona was very memorable as his 36 goals helped the club win the treble for the very first time. This was also the first time that a trio (Eto’o, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry) scored 100 goals in a season for any club.
He moved to Italian club Internazionale for the 2009-10 season and was a crucial member of the squad that won the treble under Jose Mourinho. This made Eto’o the first player ever to win two trebles.
After his triumph with Inter, Eto’o hasn’t been able to win a league title since after spending time in England, Russia and Italy. He currently plays for Turkish club Antalyaspor which sits 14th in the league table, despite Eto’o being the league’s top scorer.
#3 Maxwell
Brazilian international Maxwell is one of Ibrahimovic’s closest friends in football as they have played together at four different clubs.
Maxwell’s first league title was with Ajax in 2001-02 and he won a second in 2003/04. However in his last two seasons with the club he failed to win a league title. In 2006, he moved to Italy to play for Internazionale where he reunited with Ibrahimovic.
The Brazilian was a regular in the Inter side that won a hat-trick of league titles from the 2006-07 season to the 2008-09 season.
In 2009, Maxwell and Ibrahimovic both made their switch from Inter to Barcelona and they won the league title with the Catalan club in their debut season making it back to back league titles in different countries.
Maxwell won one more league title with Barcelona before moving to French club PSG in 2012 and Ibrahimovic joined him at the French capital a few months later.
#4 Shinji Kagawa
Japanese international Shinji Kagawa became a sensation in Europe while playing for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund. Kagawa didn’t have a huge role to play in Dortmund’s first title winning season under Jurgen Klopp back in 2010/11, but he was one of the best players in Europe when Dortmund lifted the league title for the second time under Klopp in 2011/12.
Kagawa scored 13 league goals for Borussia Dortmund and assisted 9 more in 31 Bundesliga appearances for the club in 2011/12. His brilliant show for Dortmund earned him a move to Manchester United prior to the 2012/13 season.
Kagawa was a big signing for United for what turned out to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season, but he didn’t have the sort of impact United would have expected from him. United opting to play a 4-4-2 formation meant that the Japanese had to play out of position in the wings to find game time.
He only made 20 appearances for United in the title winning season and managed to score just six goals and provide three assists.
#5 Deco
Deco is one of the best players to have played for Portugal in recent years. The former Barcelona man was born in Brazil, but opted to play for Portugal as he didn’t get the recognition he deserved from Brazil.
His first European club was Benfica in Portugal, but he became a star with their arch rivals Porto during his five year spell with them between 1999 and 2004. Deco won the prestigious UEFA Champions League during his time there and three league titles as well, with the last one coming in 2003/04.
After the success in Portugal he moved to Spain to play for Barcelona. He won two league titles with the Catalan club in his first two seasons there, but failed to win another one in the next two seasons.
Deco’s last club in Europe was Chelsea and during the 2009/10 season, which was also his last season there, he won the league title with the Blues. He moved back to Brazil at the end of the season and helped Fluminense win the Brazilian league in 2010. This was his second league title in the same year.
#6 David Beckham
Former Manchester United player David Beckham is a well-travelled footballer. He has plied his trade in England, Spain, Italy, France and in the United States before it became a common sight.
Beckham won six league titles with Manchester United before leaving the club in 2003 to join Real Madrid. However, the former England captain had to wait till 2007 to lift his first and only league title in Spain.
He joined MLS outfit the LA Galaxy in 2007 and played for AC Milan on loan on a couple of occasions as well. Beckham had to wait for a long time to win the MLS Cup with the Los Angeles club and his first title win came in 2011. In the following season which was also his last with the club he lifted the trophy again.
In 2012, when Beckham’s contract with LA Galaxy expired, he joined Ligue 1 club PSG for the second half of the 2012-13 season. Beckham would follow up his title in USA with a league winner’s medal in France, before drawing curtains on his playing career.
#7 Thibaut Courtois
Chelsea’s number one, Thibaut Courtois, signed for the club back in 2011 after winning the Belgian Pro League with KRC Genk. He didn’t feature for Chelsea back then and was loaned to Atletico Madrid who had lost David de Gea to Manchester United in the same summer.
Courtois would end up spending three full seasons on loan with Atletico Madrid and his time with the club from the Spanish capital was quite successful.
During his first two seasons with the club, he won the UEFA Europa League and the Copa del Rey. In his final season with Atletico, he helped the club lift the La Liga and was also the winner of the Zamora trophy, which is awarded to the keeper with the lowest goals conceded to games ratio.
Upon winning the league title with Atletico, he finally returned to Chelsea as a first team member in 2014. Jose Mourinho even went as far as giving him the starting role ahead of the incredible Petr Cech.
Courtois was one of the standout performers for Chelsea in the 2014-15 season and in the end he helped the Blues lift the Premier League trophy.
#8 Mark van Bommel
Former Netherlands captain Mark van Bommel played for some of Europe’s elite clubs before he retired. He spent seven years in the first team of Dutch minnows Fortuna Sittard before joining PSV Eindhoven.
Van Bommel’s first league title came in his debut season with the club from Eindhoven and he would go on to win three more league titles with the club. The last title he won with PSV was in the 2004/05 season which was also his last season with PSV. He moved to Barcelona in the summer of 2005 and won the league title and the UEFA Champions League in his only season in Spain.
After leaving Barcelona, Van Bommel joined Bayern Munich. The Dutchman spent four and a half seasons with the club and won two league titles during his time there. His last Bundesliga title was in 2009/10.
In the following season, he left the Bavarian club midway through the season to join AC Milan. He then went on to win his only Serie A title at the end of the season.
#9 Ezequiel Garay
It may come as a surprise to many when they discover that Ezequiel Garay was a Real Madrid player. The Argentine International spent two seasons with Real Madrid’s first team, but failed to get enough game time under Jose Mourinho.
In 2011, Garay left Real Madrid to join Portuguese giants SL Benfica. He was initially transferred as a part of the deal which saw Fabio Coentrao go the opposite way.
The Argentine spent three seasons with Benfica and saw his side finish second behind FC Porto in his first two seasons at the club. In his third and final season with Benfica, the club finally managed to lift the league title.
Garay was the subject of interest from many clubs, but in the end he moved to Russian giants Zenit St. Petersburg in 2014. He managed to win the league title in his debut season with Zenit and thus made it two league titles in two seasons.
#10 Diego Costa
Diego Costa joined Atletico Madrid in 2010 and up until the end of the 2012-13 season, he played second fiddle to the likes of Radamel Falcao. During the 2013-14 season, Costa shouldered the responsibility of leading Atletico’s attack following the departure of Falcao. He scored 27 goals in 35 league games to help Atletico win the league title and in the process ended a decade of dominance by Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Costa’s impressive season with Atletico earned him a move to England with Chelsea and he was joined by Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis from Atletico.
The naturalised Spaniard’s arrival helped Chelsea end their striker woes which was prevalent for about two seasons as he scored 20 goals in 26 league games for the Blues.
Costa’s rich goal scoring form ensured that Chelsea won the league title under Jose Mourinho and he was also named in the PFA Team of the Year for his contributions.
