One-club men are few and far between in Europe these days with loyalty to either players or clubs seen as a very rare quality in the modern game. But at the other end of the spectrum, there are players who have moved to various clubs throughout their career.
Be it due to failure to impress the manager, an inability to settle into the team, homesickness or just finding a higher paycheck, a number of footballers have spent their entire career moving from one club to the next to collect enough jerseys to start their own museum.
One of the most successful such nomads is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish striker has played for the likes of Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and PSG, winning league titles wherever he plays. Although he has represented seven clubs, he comes nowhere close to the players on this list.
Right at the top is former Italy striker Luca Toni. The 38-year-old is still going strong in Serie A with Hellas Verona, currently in his third season with the club. Last season, he played every league game (an astounding feat for a 37-year-old) and was Serie A’s top goalscorer with 23 goals – only the second time in his career he won the Capocannonieri award.
Toni has never spent more than three seasons at a single club. Starting his senior career with Modena, he has played in the lower tiers of Italian football before finally playing in the top division. Other big teams he has played for include Fiorentina, Bayern Munich and Juventus. He would also make his way to the Italian national team and was the top goalscorer in the Azzurri’s 2006 World Cup triumph.
Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla has also spent his entire career moving from one club to the other. The 32-year-old striker who started his career with Universidad Chile in 2002 is currently at Atalanta. He had helped the club avoid relegation when he was on loan last season and he signed on a permanent deal last summer.
| PLAYER | CURRENT CLUB | CLUBS PLAYED FOR |
|---|---|---|
| Luca Toni | Hellas Verona | 15 |
| Mauricio Pinilla | Atalanta | 14 |
| Kwesi Appiah | Crystal Palace | 13 |
| Javi Guerra | Rayo Vallecano | 12 |
| Alessandro Diamanti | Atalanta | 12 |
| Marco Borriello | Atalanta | 12 |
| Ervin Zukanovic | AS Roma | 12 |
| Andros Townsend | Newcastle | 11 |
| Jaime Jimenez | Eibar | 11 |
| Stefan Scepovic | Getafe | 11 |
| Alexander Manninger | Augsburg | 11 |
| Emir Spahic | Hamburg | 11 |
