These veterans have contributed a great deal to the sport that we all love. With some playing back in the late 00’s all the way through to 2018, these five players have always delivered and are still going as world-class footballers.
From the likes of Ryan Giggs to Gareth Barry, who both have a combined total of almost 1400 appearances in the league, to the very recent ones in the form of James Milner and Leighton Baines, their days in the football are far from over.
Jermain Defoe – AFC Bournemouth (493 Appearances)
A recipient of the ‘Order of the British Empire’, Defore is considered as being one of the most consistent and celebrated English strikers of the modern era. With almost 200 goals in all competitions for 5 different Premier League teams, Defoe is now looking forward to setting a milestone by completing 500 appearances in his career.
Though the number of injuries he has had in his career as a professional football player is one of the reasons why the former English International has not made the obvious impact.
Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, before moving to West Ham United aged 16 and rising through the ranks. He made his first-team debut for West Ham in 2000, and after a season-long loan spell at Bournemouth during the 2000–01 season, established himself in the West Ham line-up.
After West Ham’s relegation in 2003, a move to Tottenham Hotspur in January 2004 soon followed, where Defoe played for four years before being sold to Portsmouth in January 2008. He spent one season at Fratton Park before returning to Tottenham in the January 2009 transfer window. He left for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2014, before returning to England in January 2015 to sign for Sunderland.
Best known for his time with the Tottenham Hotspur side back in the mid-2000s, Defoe has been a real deal for the teams that he has played with.
Passing on his expertise to the next generation of footballers, Jermain Defoe is one of the most widely known faces in the football world. His record-breaking 500, however, is a long time coming.