5 countries that are the top exporters of footballers

Football, the beautiful game, doesn't have a border and the game has ruled the roost since the modern game was introduced by British expatriates to the rest of the world in the late 19th century. Over the years, Football has been a vital part of the cross-border trade.

Countries let their players play in foreign leagues in order to get the experience and exposure, which, in turn, makes the national team strong enough to fight for international glories. Apart from that, Export of professional footballers brings much needed foreign exchange to the respective country boosting the overall economy.

Here, we will look into top 5 countries that are top exporters of professional footballers.This report has been compiled after scrutinizing 137 leagues of 93 countries.

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#5 England

Playing for Hamburger SV, English superstar Kevin Keegan was named European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1979, won the Bundesliga title in 1978–79, and reached the European Cup final in 1980.

Widely credited as having formulated the laws of the modern game, England was the first country to have world's first club, first knockout competition (FA Cup), and the first national league.

Despite having an outstanding league system, 451 English players ply their trade in foreign clubs, thanks to ruthless competition to get into the first teams in EPL and Championship clubs. While 79 percent of those players are playing in clubs of UEFA countries, 57 percent ply their trade in Wales and Scotland, remaining in Great Britain.

In addition to that, a big chunk of English footballers love to play in the US as they find similarity in language and culture. As a matter of fact, US is the 3rd most preferred destination for English footballers after Wales and Scotland.

English players also fancy playing for two Spanish giants; Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Whenever the opportunity arises to represent them, English players have grabbed the opportunity with open arms.

#4 Serbia

Serbian footballer Nemanja Vidic is the only defender to win EPL player of the season two times

The most surprising inclusion in this list, Serbia is a big fish in Eastern European football. Having a troubled history, Serbia was admitted as an independent nation to the membership of FIFA and UEFA, becoming the sole successor of Yugoslavia and Montenegro, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

460 Serbian professional footballers play in foreign leagues, out of which, 91 percent are under contract at clubs in UEFA countries. Most Serbian players migrate to neighboring counties like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Hungary.

The number of footballers playing abroad per capita is one of the best in the world for Serbia, owing to the country's decision to heavily invest in youth programmes. As a consequence, the country's youth team has excelled recently winning UEFA European U-19 Championship 2013 and FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015.

#3 Argentina

Messi ,aged 13, diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency, joined FC Barcelona when the club agreed to pay for his medical treatment

According to FIFA, Argentina is the country with most football players with more than 2.6 million, both registered and unregistered combined. In fact, a couple of years ago, Argentina was the prime exporter of footballers.

At the moment, 753 professional footballers are challenging in foreign leagues and 50 percent of them are playing in Chile, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Bolivia. 37 percent of all players, who leave Argentina, are under contract with clubs in UEFA countries.

The Argentine Primera Division always attracts attention from every part of the world, as it has been exporting the game's most prodigious talents to every major market in the footballing world. The Argentinian league is one of the hardest to break through, a lot of players therefore are travelling abroad in pursuit of professional careers in comparatively less competitive leagues.

#2 France

One of the deadliest strikers ever, Frenchman Thierry Henry is top scorer of the Arsenal.

Notwithstanding the prowess and outreach of French football, no French club has ever managed to win the European Cup. It may be attributed to the fact that the best French players prefer to play in more competitive leagues than Ligue one.

Amongst 781 French Players, who are playing overseas, England is the leading destination with 107 players. 86 percent of overseas French Footballers are under contract with clubs from UEFA countries; meanwhile 51 percent are playing for the clubs in England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Interestingly, most French players with Algerian roots are migrating back to Algeria to play in the Algerian top division.

In total, French players are available in 60 countries in a quest for professional careers.

#1 Brazil

Brazil forward Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain in a stupendous deal worth €222 million, making him the world's most expensive player

Quoted as "Country of the football" by its world famous fans, Brazil is by far the largest exporter of professional footballers, supplying 1202 players abroad. More surprisingly, 65 percent of those footballers are playing for clubs based in UEFA countries.

Portugal is the major destination for Brazilians, with 221 overseas footballers fighting for honors in the top two leagues of Portugal. This may be attributed to the fact that both countries speak the same language, Portuguese. Brazil, being a former colony of Portugal shares a close culture with the European nation.

Recently Japan has also been a mega importer of Brazilian talents, with 54 players currently under contract at Japanese clubs. In summary, Brazilians are presently in as much as 82 nations displaying their unorthodox style of football.