CIES: Two Brazilians in the ranking of the most loyal footballers

On Valentine's Day, the CIES Football Observatory highlights the careers of the most loyal footballers in the world

Josué Seixas

2024-02-14 14:41:36

Image Credits: © (Twitter @PSG_Report)

In today’s football, the football of million-dollar contracts and business predominance, it is very difficult to find stories of true love like those from before.

Therefore, taking advantage of Valentine’s Day, the CIES Football Observatory wanted to highlight the careers of the most loyal footballers of today, focusing on those players who have spent a decade or more defending the colors of the same team.

Marquinhos and Leândro Rossi, the most loyal Brazilians today

In this ranking, two Brazilians stand out for having more than 10 years at their current clubs. The most prominent of all is Marquinhos, the current captain of PSG, who arrived in the summer of 2013 from AS Roma for a fee close to 31.40 million euros.

This season, Marquinhos will complete 11 consecutive years wearing the Paris Saint-Germain shirt, already being one of the great legends of the Parisian club, where he has won eight Ligue 1 trophies, six French Cups, six League Cups, and eight French Super Cups.

With a contract until the summer of 2028, Marquinhos could complete three more seasons with the Parisian team. However, due to his status as captain and legend, this stay could be extended for several more years.

The other Brazilian to make it onto this list is one who may not be familiar to the general public, but who has had a masterful career in Polish football: Leândro Rossi, a 35-year-old Brazilian forward who has been playing for Radomiak in the Polish First Division since 2012.

This winger born in 1988 was trained in Araçatuba and Mixto and in 2012 joined the Polish Zawisza Rzgow, where he had a short spell before finally arriving at Radomiak, where he became a reference and captain. The Brazilian has scored 103 goals and provided 23 assists in 303 matches and is one of the great legends of the Polish club.
The 15 most loyal footballers in the five major European leagues

The CIES Football Observatory separates its research between players in the five major European leagues and those playing elsewhere in the world.

Overall, the most loyal footballer of all is Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who has spent his entire career at CSKA Moscow, already accumulating 21 consecutive seasons at that club.

In the five major European leagues, these are the 25 players with the longest careers at the same club: