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Loyalty is not a very common virtue in football as most of the footballers do not mind changing clubs frequently. There have been some exceptional players like Ryan Giggs, Paolo Maldini or Francesco Totti, who have spent their entire career at a single club, but such examples are extremely rare. Most of the footballers usually cannot resist lucrative offers from other clubs and usually do not hesitate to change allegiance.
It is very commonplace for a professional footballer to play in 2-3 top clubs. However, only some footballers have the chance of playing in three or more clubs in the extremely competitive environment of top football leagues. If a player spends even a decade in the top leagues and three years on an average with a single club, he should not be able to play in more than 3-4 clubs in those leagues.
However, there have been some exceptional players who have played for more than five clubs in EPL, La Liga, and Serie A. They changed allegiance frequently in their career and their longevity as a player allowed them to play in more than five top clubs. We would discuss three such footballers in this article:
#1 Nicolas Anelka
Anelka remains the ultimate journeyman of modern day football. In an 18 year long career, he played in eight different clubs across the top 3 leagues. The French striker made his debut as a professional player for French club PSG but soon moved to Arsenal in 1997. He was moderately successful for Arsenal and scored 28 goals in 90 matches for them. Anelka’s stint with Arsenal coincided with compatriot Arsene Wenger’s initial days as their manager and he performed reasonably well for the Gunners. He also won a Premier League title in his inaugural season for the Gunners. He was signed by Real Madrid in 1999 and went on to score only seven goals for them in 31 matches. He won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2000.
Anelka was an opportunistic striker with quick movements and touches inside the penalty box. However, he was a bit temperamental too and often had problems with his managers. He went to Liverpool and then Manchester City from Arsenal. His most successful stint as a player was with City, for whom he scored 45 goals in 103 matches. He also played for Chelsea from 2007 to 2012 and scored 59 goals from 184 matches for them.
In between, he had also spent a couple of seasons with Bolton Wanderers and also appeared for Juventus in two matches in the 2012-13 season. He played a solitary season for West Brom in 2013-14 before hanging up his boots. He also had to play spells in Turkey, China, and India in his eventful career. Anelka ended up with 210 goals in 665 matches in his career and also won two Premier League, one UEFA Champions League and one Serie A title in his illustrious career.
#2 Christian Vieri
Christian “Bobo” Vieri was another footballer who played in 10 different clubs in the top football leagues in the world. He played for nine different Serie A clubs and also remains one of the few Italian strikers to have played in the La Liga. He was renowned for his heading abilities and scored many goals with headers from set-pieces. He started his senior career at Torino in 1991 but moved to Serie B after having one season with them. He came back to the Serie A in 1995 as he was signed by Atalanta.
Vieri went on to have sporadic stints with various clubs after that, but the most memorable and notable one was that with Inter from 1999 to 2005. Vieri combined with Brazil’s Ronaldo, Chile’s Ivan Zamorano, and Uruguay's Alvaro Recoba to make Inter-Milan a dominant force in the Italian and European football. He scored 125 goals in 204 matches for Inter during those 6 seasons.
He had previously spent a solitary season at Juventus in 1996-97and won the UEFA super cup and the Serie A title with them. He also won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup title for Lazio in his only season with them in 1998-99. Vieri also had a brief stint with Monaco and retired at Atalanta in 2009. He scored 236 goals in 476 matches in his senior career.
#3 Roberto Baggio
Baggio remains one of the greatest modern-day footballers and also among the finest players produced by Italy. He was a splendid attacking midfielder who could also play as a forward. His dribbling and finishing skills were exemplary during his prime. The Caldogno born midfielder also appeared for six Serie A clubs in his illustrious career. His playing career started at Vicenza in Serie C1. He spent three seasons with them.
The No.10 moved to Fiorentina in 1985 and rose to prominence while playing for them. He scored 55 goals for them from 136 matches across five seasons. After the 1990 World Cup, Juventus signed him and Baggio spent five glorious seasons with them.
He scored 115 goals in 200 matches for the Old Lady. He also won one UEFA Cup and one Serie A title for them. He developed into a great player under Giovanni Trapattoni’s tutelage at Juventus. He won the Ballon d'Or in 1993 and finished second in 1994.
He was signed by AC Milan in 1995, but could not succeed there. He scored only 19 goals in 67 matches for the Milan side. He subsequently spent a few more seasons at Bologna and Inter Milan before moving to Brescia, for whom he played from 2000 to 2004. He regained some of his old touches at Brescia and scored 46 goals in 101 matches for them.
Baggio scored 291 goals in 643 matches and provided many more assists in a glorious career.
