Marcelo, Chiellini, Busquets: The 10 most loyal players currently in European football | OneFootball

Loyalty in football can be hard to come by these days, as wages rise and player power increases it’s not unusual for players to turn their back on clubs or managers.

Of course, some players simply like the idea of playing in different leagues and countries. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a great example of a player who has shined across Europe and beyond in many different leagues.

But one-club players are definitely a dying breed, even Lionel Messi, who spent 21 years at Barcelona after joining aged 13, has now moved on to new pastures.

A Transfermarkt image recently posted to Reddit has sparked the interest of fans. It shows 10 active players from the top five leagues that have spent the most time at a single club without interruption.

There doesn’t appear to be much of a trend amongst the players, as the list includes footballers from the Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at 10 of the most loyal players that are still plying their trade.

10) Thomas Muller – 12 years

Muller is one of the best German players of all time, and he has certainly been awarded for his troubles. The 32-year-old is the most decorated German footballer in history, with 30 trophies.

Muller has managed a ridiculous 606 appearances for the German outfit. The midfielder also spent a large chunk of his youth career in Bayern Munich’s academy, so has actually been at the club since 2000.

9) Marcel Schmelzer – 13 years

Schmelzer’s resume is not quite as impressive as Muller, but the German defender’s loyalty is unquestionable.

Schmelzer only spent two years of his youth career at Borussia Dortmund’s academy, but has still been at the club since 2005. All 13 years of his professional career have been spent at Dortmund, and the defender has racked up 367 appearances which incredibly, is the lowest number on the list.

8) Vincent Manceau – 13 years

Manceau was born in the city of Angers in France, and hasn’t moved since. He joined the club’s academy at just six years old, and has remained there to this day.

After 13 years in the first team, now aged 32, the defender has managed an impressive 377 appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit.

7) Stefan Radu – 13 years

Incredibly despite spending 13 years at Lazio, the Italian club wasn’t Radu’s first professional team. He began his career at Dinamo Bucharest before transferring to Lazio in 2008.

But Radu’s loyalty to the club since arriving has never waivered, in 2021 he became the club’s all time leading appearance maker in all competitions, overtaking Giuseppe Favalli.

6) Gerard Pique – 13 years

Another player whose professional career began at a different club, Gerard Pique transferred from Barcelona’s academy to Manchester United at the start of his career before returning to the Spanish giants four years later.

But since then the defender has racked up an incredible 593 appearances for Barcelona, alongside his teammate Busquets, who happens to be next up in the list.

5) Sergio Busquets – 13 years

Busquets bounced around a number of Spanish academies before arriving at Barcelona in 2005. However unlike his teammate, Busquets has never switched clubs since his professional debut.

This has allowed the midfielder to manage even more games than Pique, clocking up an impressive 659 appearances for Barcelona.

4) Mark Noble – 15 years

Noble arrived at West Ham’s academy in 2000 after a switch from Arsenal. Four years later the midfielder made his first team debut aged just 17, and has never looked back.

Other than two short loan spells at the start of his career, Noble has spent every minute with the Hammers. His 513 appearances and 15 years with the club, means he lands the fourth spot on the list.

3) Marcelo – 15 years

Marcelo is yet another player whose professional career began elsewhere and yet he still ranks in the top three players. Marcelo came through Fluminese’s academy and spent the first year of his professional career with them before transferring to Real Madrid in 2007.

Since then Marcelo has made 538 appearances for Los Blancos, and will likely go down as one of the most iconic left-backs in history.

2) Francesco Magnanelli – 16 years

Just missing out on the top spot is Sassuolo midfielder Magnanelli. Surprisingly, Magnanelli played for four teams before eventually settling at Sassuolo in 2005.

Magnanelli is the club captain, and has helped the team rise from the fourth division of Italian football all the way to Serie A, an incredible journey to say the least.

Unfortunately for the midfielder 475 appearances and 16 years at the club was not quite enough to see him claim number one on the list.

1 of 20

Who is this former Champions League centre-back?

Ivan Cordoba Marco Materazzi Lucio Walter Samuel

1) Giorgio Chiellini – 16 years

Chiellini has practically become a symbol of Juventus in his time at the club, the defender is one of the first players to spring to mind when discussing Italy’s Old Lady.

Despite spending time at Livorno and Roma, and even a brief loan spell at Fiorentina, the 37-year-old has racked up an incredible 16 years at Juventus.

Although his 551 appearances for the club means he still has a way to go to catch up with Busquets, his time served lands him the number one spot on the list.