In recent years there has been a distinct lack of English talent leaving our shores to try their hand in foreign leagues. Whilst it is true that many English players do play abroad, 195 to be exact if you exclude British clubs, they are not exactly of the highest quality, and gone are the days when Steve McManaman and David Beckham donned the white shirt of Real Madrid. Following Gareth Bale's move to Madrid in the summer, it got a lot of people wondering why more English players don't play abroad (I realise that Bale is Welsh but his football upbringing has very much been in England). The amount of rumours over the years of English players moving to foreign clubs could be counted on one hand, with Chelsea's Frank Lampard linked with Inter Milan, then coached by Jose Mourinho the one that immediately springs to mind. The only other one that could have happened is Wayne Rooney, who has been linked with several foreign clubs over the years. Neither has actually moved, and neither were probably well suited to the ways of foreign leagues, whereas at the moment there are several players who are. The youngsters that are coming through at the moment are the players that have been brought up in the more possession based style more familiar with Spain or Germany. However there are a couple of players that have always been there that are more in line with the European style, and the players in this list could easily slot into teams abroad. Despite this, they will probably never leave England, unless they see Bale's move as inspiration, and even then it would take a very big club to tempt them into a transfer.
Began writing about football aged 16, I've previously worked for Goal and I'm currently writing for Inside Spanish Football. Specialise in anything linked, connected with or involving football!
