Which Player Has Played For The Most Premier League Clubs?

Loyalty and journeymen. Two words that are used to describe whether a player has remained at a club for a long period of time, or whether they often move clubs in their career. Both have traits that are sought after by managers, but this article will take a particular focus on the Premier League’s journeymen over the years.

Who Are The Players To Have Played For Multiple Premier League Teams?

6 - Craig Bellamy

Craig Bellamy has played for a total of seven Premier League clubs, which has put him joint second place with four other players. The clubs the former winger has played for are Coventry City, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool, West Ham United, Manchester City and Cardiff City.

He accrued 294 Premier League appearances across 13 seasons in England’s top tier during his time at these seven clubs. The Welsh international holds the record for being the only player to score for seven different teams in the Premier League. He racked up 112 goal contributions in England’s highest division, scoring 81 goals and assisting 31 more.

⚽️ Random Premiership goals ⚽️

Craig Bellamy
Newcastle United vs Aston Villa
3rd November 2001#NUFC #NUFCfans #2000s #Barclayspic.twitter.com/jfsmkklTWh

— The Premiership Years (@PremiershipYrs) July 11, 2025

5 - Tal Ben Haim

Tal Ben Haim has also played for seven Premier League clubs across the duration of his career. The former defender played for Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers.

What makes the Isralian’s achievement even more impressive is the fact that he only made 148 Premier League appearances in nine seasons. The versatile defender made most of his appearances for Bolton Wanderers as he played 88 games for the club.

The highest number of matches played for the other six teams was the 22 appearances recorded for Chelsea. Four out of the remaining five clubs saw Ben Haim make less than 10 appearances in the Premier League.

🤪 Random Championship Defender of the Day:

Tal Ben Haim.#CAFC #Pompey pic.twitter.com/3BCsWt9pPH

— The Championship Chat Podcast (@Champchatpod24) July 31, 2025

4 - Wayne Routledge

Wayne Routledge is also amongst the five players to have played for seven different Premier League clubs. The former winger has played for Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Fulham, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Swansea City.

The English international made 297 Premier League appearances in 15 top flight campaigns. He spent the first six years of his Premier League tenure playing for multiple clubs, before settling at Swansea for the last seven seasons of his career.

Routledge made a total of 44 goal contributions whilst in the Premier League, scoring 16 goals and assisting 28 more. 13 of those goals were scored in 160 Premier League appearances with the Swans, scoring another three goals for the Welsh team in other competitions.

On this day in 2011... 🗓️ Wayne Routledge signed for Swansea City.

🅰️ 305 appearances
🎯 33 goals
🤝 40 assists
🏆 1 League Cuppic.twitter.com/5tmxo2F5yf

— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) August 4, 2025

3 - Andy Cole

Andy Cole made 414 Premier League appearances, in which he played for seven Premier League clubs. He spent time at Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland.

During his illustrious career in England’s highest division Cole scored 187 goals, which makes him the fourth-highest scorer in Premier League history. The England international claimed the record for the most non-penalty goals in a single Premier league season in the 1993/94 campaign when he scored 34 non-penalty goals.

Cole made 195 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils, the most of any Premiership club he played for. The former forward was part of United’s 1999 treble winning side and won all five of his Premier League titles with the club.

Andy Cole scored 187 goals in the Premier League, the 4th most in history and only 1 of those goals was a penalty. 🤯👏

Also, he was caught offside only 24 times in 414 PL games. 🚩

Such an intelligent footballer, who never gets the credit he deserves. 🧠⚽️ pic.twitter.com/hNYO2lZQ3j

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) April 14, 2025

2 - Peter Crouch

Peter Crouch is the fifth and final player to have played for seven Premier League clubs. The England international played for Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke City and Burnley.

Crouch made a total of 468 Premier League appearances, scoring 108 goals during his time in England’s top flight. The 6ft 5in forward holds the Premier League record for the most headed goals with 53. This accounts for just under half of all his goals in England’s highest division.

The former striker made the most Premier League appearances for Stoke City with 202. During his time with the Potters he scored 44 Premier League goals, the most of any Premiership club he played for.

Happy birthday to the legendary Peter Crouch, who celebrates his 43rd birthday today! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🗼

🏅 Most headed goals in
PL history
✅ More PL goals than Didier Drogba
✅ More PL assists than Paul Scholes
🤖 One Robot pic.twitter.com/3r30vLWFI0

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) January 30, 2024

1 – Marcus Bent

Marcus Bent takes the top spot by himself, as he is the only player to have played for eight Premier League clubs. During his career Bent represented Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Everton, Charlton Athletic, Wigan Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The English international made 215 Premier League appearances during his career, scoring 40 goals and providing 14 assists. He usually spent one or two seasons at a club before being transferred to a different team. His regular appearances during his stint with these clubs is what allowed him to make so many transfers, as his reliability and quality allowed him to catch the eye of opposing managers.

To find out about more Premier League records, make sure to read our article to discover who has the most assists in Premier League history.