Football
Which Player Has Played for The Most Premier League Clubs?
These players are the ultimate journeymen of the English Premier League.
Liverpool's Peter Crouch//Getty Images
Premier League, founded in 1992, is the top tier of English football. It is one of the top five European leagues.
The English Premier League is the most followed and watched league around the globe. The league has a very long and rich history of top players and managers. The league is also financially very rich and has one of the best global telecast and broadcast deals in sports history.
The Premier League is always on top of the spending charts in every transfer window, with a lot of ins and outs every window. With most clubs in the league in great financial situation, it is rare to see transfers within the league. But some players have played for multiple clubs within the English top-flight.
Join us as we take a look at the players who have played for the most Premier League clubs.
The 15 players who have played for the most Premier League clubs
| Rank | Name | No. of clubs | Clubs |
| 1 | Marcus Bent | 8 | Crystal Palace, Blackburn, Ipswich Town, Leicester, Everton, Charlton, Wigan, Wolves |
| 2 | Peter Crouch | 7 | Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Stoke, Burnley |
| 3 | Andy Cole | 7 | Newcastle, Man Utd, Blackburn, Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth, Sunderland |
| 4 | Wayne Routledge | 7 | Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Swansea |
| 5 | Tal Ben Haim | 7 | Bolton, Chelsea, Man City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, West Ham, QPR |
| 6 | Craig Bellamy | 7 | Coventry, Newcastle, Blackburn, Liverpool, West Ham, Man City, Cardiff |
| 7 | Nicolas Anelka | 6 | Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Bolton, Chelsea, West Brom |
| 8 | James Milner | 6 | Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool, Brighton |
| 9 | Robbie Keane | 6 | Coventry, Leeds, Tottenham, Liverpool, West Ham, Aston Villa |
| 10 | Scott Parker | 6 | Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham, Fulham |
| 11 | Les Ferdinand | 6 | QPR, Newcastle, Tottenham, West Ham, Leicester, Bolton |
| 12 | Nick Barmby | 6 | Tottenham, Middlesbrough, Everton, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull |
| 13 | Darren Bent | 6 | Ipswich, Charlton, Sunderland, Spurs, Villa, Fulham |
| 14 | Scott Sinclair | 6 | Chelsea, Wigan, Swansea, Man City, West Brom, Aston Villa |
| 15 | Louis Saha | 6 | Newcastle, Fulham, Man United, Everton, Spurs, Sunderland |
10. Scott Parker
6 clubs: Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham and Fulham
Scott Parker//Getty Images
Young fans think of Scott Parker as the current Burnley manager or the former Fulham manager. But Parker was once a top midfielder in the Premier League. Parker broke through at Charlton, making 110 appearances for the club, before moving to Chelsea, but he could not make his mark with the Blues. He then joined Newcastle United and later joined West Ham in 2007.
He also played for Tottenham and Fulham before hanging up his boots.
9. Robbie Keane
6 clubs: Coventry, Leeds, Tottenham, Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa
Robbie Keane is considered a Premier League legend by many. The Irish striker was one of the most prolific strikers in the league during his generation. He scored a total of 126 goals and assisted 37 times in 349 English top-flight appearances.
His Premier League career started with Coventry City before moving to Leeds United. Keane spent most of his career with Tottenham Hotspur, joining the club in 2002 and scoring 91 Premier League goals for the side. He later joined Liverpool in 2008 and also spent two seasons out on loan with West Ham United and Aston Villa.
8. James Milne
6 clubs: Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool and Brighton
James Milner is the only active player on the list. Milner currently plays for Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League. He has made over 600 appearances in the league and currently ranks 2nd in the league for most appearances.
Milner broke through at Leeds United as a 16-year-old and the midfielder spent four years at Newcastle before joining Aston Villa in 2008. After winning the PFA Young Player of the Year in his second season at Villa Park, Man City came calling with a £26m offer and signed the English star.
He helped the club win a few Premier League titles before joining Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, helping the club back to European heights. He joined Brighton at the age of 37 in 2023.
7. Nicolas Anelka
6 clubs: Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Bolton, Chelsea and West Brom
Nicolas Anelka had a reputation of constantly changing clubs during his playing career. Anelka broke through at Arsenal during their title-winning 1997-98 season. He joined Real Madrid from the Gunners and returned to the Premier League with Liverpool, joining the club on loan.
He joined Man City on a permanent transfer in 2002. Anelka went on to play for Bolton, Chelsea and West Brom in the English Premier League.
6. Craig Bellamy
7 clubs: Coventry, Newcastle, Blackburn, Liverpool, West Ham, Man City and Cardiff
The current Wales men’s national team manager, Craig Bellamy, played for seven different Premier League clubs during his playing career. His Premier League debut came during the 2000-01 season with Coventry City.
He joined Newcastle United the summer after that, before moving to Liverpool in 2006. After just one year at the club and failing to impress, he joined West Ham. Just one year after that, he joined Man City, becoming the first signing after the club’s takeover. He later joined Liverpool and Cardiff City.
5. Tal Ben Haim
7 clubs: Bolton, Chelsea, Man City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, West Ham and QPR
Tal Ben Haim might not be a very well-known player among fans, but he did enjoy a fairly decent Premier League career. Ben Haim made his debut in the Premier League with Bolton Wanderers in 2004. He joined Chelsea in 2007 and joined Man City just a year later after making just 13 league appearances for the club.
He went on to play for Sunderland, Portsmouth, West Ham and QPR, featuring for a total of seven clubs in the English Premier League.
4. Wayne Routledge
7 clubs: Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Swansea City
Wayne Routledge was considered a huge talent within the English circuit when he broke through at Crystal Palace, playing all 38 games of their 2004-05 Premier League season. He signed for Tottenham after just one year but failed to break through at the club. He later joined Portsmouth and Fulham on loan before joining Aston Villa permanently in January 2008.
He finally settled down with Swansea City, making over 300 appearances for the club in ten years before hanging up his boots in 2021.
3. Andy Cole
7 clubs: Newcastle, Man Utd, Blackburn, Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth and Sunderland
Andy Cole is an English legend who is also a part of the Premier League Hall of Fame. At the time of writing, Cole is the 4th highest goalscorer in the league’s history, just behind Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney. Cole broke through at Newcastle United before joining Manchester United in January 1995 on a then-record transfer fee.
At Man United, Cole scored 93 league goals in 195 matches and helped the club lift five Premier League titles before joining Blackburn in 2001. He went on to play for Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth and Sunderland before his retirement in 2008.
2. Peter Crouch
7 clubs: Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Stoke City and Burnley
Peter Crouch is a household name in the Premier League, thanks to his goalscoring ability and long frame. Crouch is one of only 33 players with over 100 Premier League goals in history. He made his top-flight debut with Aston Villa in 2002, rarely making any appearances for the club before joining Southampton in the 2004-05 season.
After just one season with the Saints, he joined Liverpool, where he scored 22 league goals across three campaigns. He later joined Portsmouth and Tottenham. Before he found a home at Stoke City, spending seven-and-a-half seasons at the club, helping them qualify for the Champions League during this time. Crouch hung up his boots in 2019 after a brief spell with Burnley.
1. Marcus Bent
8 clubs: Crystal Palace, Blackburn, Ipswich Town, Leicester, Everton, Charlton, Wigan and Wolves
Heading the list of the players who have played for most Premier League clubs is Marcus Bent. Named the ultimate journeyman, Marcus Bent is the only player to represent eight different clubs in the English Premier League.
His top-flight debut came during the 1997-98 season when he was with Crystal Palace, but the Eagles were relegated in that season. Bent’s next appearance in the Premier League came in 2001 with Blackburn. He joined Ipswich Town to help the club battle relegation but ultimately failed.
Bent spent the 2003-04 season on loan at Leicester before joining Everton on a permanent deal in 2004. He helped the Toffees qualify for the Champions League for the 2005-06 season. He also played for Charlton, Wigan and Wolves in the Premier League.
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