Premier League journeymen – Which players have played for the most Premier League clubs?

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Six players played for 7+ clubs 

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Loyalty is becoming a trait less and less practiced in modern day football. Players move clubs much more often than in years gone by, and frequently end up playing in leagues all across the world. However, playing for a high number of Premier League clubs is a little more rare. Here at Transfermarkt, we have calculated the players to have played for the most Premier League clubs, ranking players on the same amount of clubs by the highest number of Premier League appearances. Former France striker Nicolas Anelka is often renowned for being the ultimate journeymen and representing a number of English clubs, but he ranks only ninth on the list. The entire gallery can be scrolled through below.

The only player to have represented eight different Premier League clubs is former striker Marcus Bent. During his career, he played in the English top-flight for Crystal Palace, Blackburn, Ipswich, Leicester, Everton, Charlton, Wigan, Birmingham, and Wolves, and amassed 214 Premier League appearances. In second place is former England forward Peter Crouch, who played for seven separate clubs, and played 468 times in the Premier League. Next up in third is Andy Cole, who played 415 times in England’s top division for seven clubs. Then in fourth it’s former winger Wayne Routledge, whom represented seven clubs, playing 297 Premier League games.

He is followed in fifth by former winger Craig Bellamy – the Welshman played 294 Premier League matches for seven different clubs. In sixth, also having played for seven clubs, but only having amassed 148 games is former defender Tal Ben Haim. There are then a further 18 players who represented six separate Premier League clubs during their career, with that group ranked by their number of appearances in the division in the gallery further above.