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Many critics thought Real Madrid paid too much for Gareth Bale when they forked out around 85 million for the players services at the end of the transfer window last summer as very few British players were a hit abroad. However Bale silenced his critics by scoring on his debut against Villareal and has netted 14 goals in 29 starts until now along with sealing his status as one of the best players in the world. Here is a list of 5 British players who also had their fair share of laurels abroad. Honourable mentions: David Beckham, Graeme Souness, Paul Lambert and David Platt.
#1 John Charles
Most of us youngsters may not be too familiar with this great Welshman but it can be safely said that he was the “Gareth Bale of his generation”. Born in Swansea on 27th December 1931, Charles began his career with Swansea City then called Swansea Town before moving to Leeds United where he netted 150 goals in 297 starts which was a club record until it was broken by Peter Lorimer.
Charles moved to Italian giants Juventus for a then British record fee of £65,000 and scored on his debut against Hells Verona. The Welshman scored a breathtaking 93 goals in 150 appearances for Juventus and was fondly called ‘Il Gigante Buono’ (The Gentle Giant) by the supporters. Charles left a lasting legacy on Juventus fans who voted him the clubs best ever foreign player ahead of notable players such as Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini.
#2 Gary Lineker
The England legend, who holds the national record for most goals scored in FIFA World Cup finals which is a remarkable 10, had 3 brilliant season’s with Barcelona. The striker arrived at Barcelona fresh after winning the Golden Boot in the 1986 World Cup for £2,800,000 from Everton, where he fired 38 goals helping them win the Community Shield.
Lineker was a success with the Catlan club, scoring 21 goals in 41 appearances in his debut season including a hat-trick against Real Madrid in the fierce El Clasico in spite of being played out of position. The striker won his first trophy with Barca in 1988 when they lifted the Copa Del Ray and also helped the team win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1989 which was his final season with the club. Lineker left Barca for Tottenham after differences with Johan Cruyff but will be fondly remembered for his time with the Spanish club.
#3 Kevin Keegan
Although Keegan’s best days were with Liverpool, the attacker had quite a successful spell with Bundesliga outfit Hamburger SV. Keegan joined HSV for a fee of 500000 after six glorious years at Liverpool. At the time of his signing Keegan was the highest paid footballer in Germany and was expected by the fans to lead the Hamburg outfit to Bundesliga glory.
Keegan helped Hamburger reach the European Super Cup finals in his debut season but they lost to Keegan’s former club Liverpool.The forward scored 12 goals in his debut season which helped him win the Ballon D’Or. Keegan repaid the fans faith in him by leading HSV to Bundesliga glory in 1979 where he scored 17 goals and won the Ballon D’Or once again. The player helped HSV reach the European Cup finals in his last season with the club but they lost to English club Nottingham Forest.
#4 Steve Mcmanman
Mcmanman is one of the most decorated English footballers to ever play abroad and will go down as one of England’s finest attacking midfielders despite his colourful off-field record. The midfielder joined Real Madrid from Liverpool in 1999 and was an instant hit with the fans after he scored 3 goals and assisted many others in his first couple of games with the Madrid outfit.
The midfielder pick up quite a few Man of the Match awards in the La Liga and was a key player for Madrid during the turn of the century. Mcmanman memorably helped Los Blancos win the Champions League in 2000 when he famously scored a brilliant volley against Valencia in an eventual 3-0 win and was named Man of the Match. The Englishman also helped Marid win 2 Champions Leagues, 2 La Liga’s, 2 Spanish Supercups, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 1 Intercontinental Cup. Former Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque also stated that Steve Mcmanman and Geremi Njitap were the two most important players in his team.
#5 Chris Waddle
Waddle joined French club Olympique Marseille from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £4.5 million in 1989 which was the third highest transfer fee for a footballer back then. The midfielder scored 12 times in his debut season with the club, helping them win the French First Division in 1990.Waddle helped Marseille reach the European Cup finals in his second season and even though they lost to Russian club Red Star Brigade, Waddle managed to lift the French First Division trophy with ODM for a second time in a row.
The former England international scored 8 times in 41 appearances in his final season with ODM and managed to help them win the First Division once again. Waddle was held in the highest regard by the Marseille fans who named him the second best ODM player of the century behind Jean Pierre Papin.
