Most loyal players in Europe's Top 5 leagues
Loyalty in football is hard to come by these days for two sole reasons. Firstly; players have their heads turned by better clubs, higher wages and, more often than not, the chance to play in the Champions League.
On the other hand, even the most loyal of players are discarded when they are past their best. It’s no fault of the club in such cases. They simply cannot afford to pay high wages to a second string player if they are to compete at the very top.
However, a number of players have managed to stay at a single club for years on end – some even a couple of decades. We take a look at such players in each of Europe’s top five leagues.
Data courtesy of CIES Football Observatory based on current players’ number of consecutive years in the first team and players fielded in the respective domestic league in the 2016/17 season.
Bundesliga (Average: 8.6 years)
When Borussia Dortmund signed Roman Weidenfeller from Kaiserslautern, they got a lot more than they bargained for. Signed for free in 2002 to replace Jens Lehmann who had made the move to Premier League giants Arsenal, Weidenfeller would establish himself as their no.1 goalkeeper for many seasons to come.
He was instrumental in Dortmund winning two consecutive Bundesliga titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12, and he also took his side to the Champions League final in 2013, finishing runners-up to Bayern. However, of late, he has lost his place to the younger Roman Burki.
Alexander Meier is yet another forward who has lasted more than a decade at a single club. He still stuck with Eintracht Frankfurt in spite of their relegation in 2011 and has so far scored 136 goals for the club.
In third place is Philipp Lahm who may have been second had he not spent some time on loan at VfB Stuttgart. Having won everything there is to win with Bayern Munich, the 33-year-old shocked many with his decision to retire at the end of the 2016/17 season.
| # | PLAYER | CLUB | YEARS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Weidenfeller | Borussia Dortmund | 14.5 |
| 2 | Alexander Meier | Frankfurt | 12.5 |
| 3 | Philipp Lahm | Bayern Munich | 11.5 |
| 4 | Stefan Kiessling | Bayer Leverkusen | 10.5 |
| Clemens Fritz | Werder Bremen | 10.5 | |
| 6 | Benedikt Howedes | Schalke 04 | 9.5 |
| Fabian Lustenberger | Hertha Berlin | 9.5 | |
| Marcel Schafer | Wolfsburg | 9.5 | |
| 9 | Niko Bungert | Mainz | 8.5 |
| 10 | Julian Schuster | SC Freiburg | 8.5 |