Modric 15th, Vardy 10th & Neuer 7th – Longest time spent at one club

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Thomas Müller included 

©TM/IMAGO

Loyalty is increasingly uncommon in modern football with players constantly moving clubs for better opportunities and more money. The grass isn’t always greener, however, and some players have rejected financial overtures to remain at clubs and they’ve been rewarded with legendary status. Footballers that remain with one club for their entire careers are a special breed but there’s been some famous examples across recent history.

Paolo Maldini is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of his generation and the iconic Italian spent his entire career at AC Milan – as did Franco Baresi. Francesco Totti turned down multiple offers to remain at boyhood club Roma, while Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs famously only played for Manchester United. But which current players have spent the longest time in one club’s first-team squad from the top five leagues? We’ve analysed the data to find out – loan moves have been classified as transfers.

Three current players are tied first after spending 16 years, four months and 13 days at the same club’s first-team. Thomas Müller is arguably the most famous current one club man with the former German international remaining loyal to Bayern Munich. Muller has made 722 appearances for Bayern but there’s speculation that he could leave at the end of the season. Koke has also spent his entire professional career at Atlético Madrid as has Anthony Lopes at Lyon.

 Athletic Bilbao are renowned for the policy of only using Basque players and unsurprisingly two of their players feature in the top ten – Óscar de Marcos and Iñigo Lekue. Manuel Neuer is in his 14th season at Bayern Munich after joining them from Schalke while Premier League duo Seamus Coleman and Jamie Vardy are also in the top ten. Luka Modric ranks 15th with the Croatian midfielder still playing at Real Madrid with his 40th birthday arriving in September.