5 current Premier League players who represent smaller countries

Back in 2005, it was a big talking point when Arsene Wenger fielded a starting XI without any Englishmen in a Premier League match against Crystal Palace. Nowadays it has become pretty common and doesn't get much attention.

The Premier League has grown into the most popular football league in the world that is watched in hundreds of countries. The number of foreigners playing in the league has helped attract fans from every corner of the world.

Earlier this year, UEFA revealed a report that stated that a whopping 69.2 percent of Premier League players are foreigners. It was by far the highest number across every European league. The Cypriot first division followed with 57.1 percent.

Among players coming from better-known countries, there are also a few who represent obscure countries that aren't known for football. Here's a look at five of these players.

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#5 Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United & Armenia)

Starting the list off with the best-known player. Every football fan knows Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his ability. The 28-year-old attacking midfielder led the German Bundesliga in assists a couple of years ago and he also started this season in hot form, recording five assists in the first three games to match a Premier League record.

He shares it with Ruel Fox, who interestingly also represented an obscure country, featuring a couple of times for the Montserrat national team.

Mkhitaryan will probably go down as the greatest ever Armenian footballer. He's already the record goal scorer for the international side than any other player and his accomplishments both internationally and in club football will be very difficult to match.

Football is among the popular sports in Armenia, but the level isn't very good. The national team has never qualified for the European Championships nor the FIFA World Cup and is currently ranked 90th in the world with not many players playing abroad.

Aras Ozbiliz of Besiktas and Gael Andonian of Marseille are the only other players at clubs close to the top level in Europe, and neither is featuring much. The latter has only had one game in a Marseille shirt to his name and has been loaned out two years straight.

Mkhitaryan is making the country proud with his performances across Europe. Last season, Armenia became the 96th nation to have a Premier League goalscorer.

#4 Victor Wanyama (Tottenham Hotspurs & Kenya)

Victor Wanyama is the biggest name out of Kenyan football in a very long time

Victor Wanyama also plays at a top club and is a well-known player, but he represents a country very far from the top level in football.

Kenya is best known for its long-distance runners. The nation has won 31 Olympic gold medals, most of which have come from long-distance races.

Wanyama probably also could've been quite successful as a runner as he has a great work rate, but he ended up choosing football. He went to a high school that had a successful football team and that set him up for a good career in the sport.

The 26-year-old defensive midfielder went to Europe in 2007 to play for Swedish side Helsingborg and it didn't take long before he was playing in the Champions League. After signing for Celtic, Wanyama became the first Kenyan to score in the Champions League in 2012.

After a good spell in Celtic, Wanyama was snapped up by Southampton and he later signed with Tottenham in 2016.

Kenyan football as a whole hasn't had any kind of success, though. They are currently 111th in the FIFA rankings and haven't even made it past Round 1 in the African Cup of Nations. They last qualified for the tournament in 2004.

However, Wanyama and his brother McDonald Mariga, who played for Inter a while ago, are giving hope to local youngsters that if you're good enough then it doesn't matter which country you represent.

#3 Ragnar Klavan (Liverpool & Estonia)

Ragnar Klavan fighting for the ball with Danny Drinkwater

Ragnar Klavan is another example of a football truism that the country of your birth should not keep you from reaching the highest level in football.

The captain of the Estonian national team was signed by Liverpool last year after stints in the Netherlands with Alkmaar and in Germany with Augsburg. The 32-year-old central defender has failed to keep a regular starting spot, but he's had some good spells in the team.

Klavan played in 20 Premier League games last season and he recently held the starting spot in six straight matches across all competitions before health issues made him miss Liverpool's last couple of games.

It worth noting that Klavan isn't actually the first Estonian in the Premier League. The country with a population around 1.3 million produced its first Premier League player in the 90's when goalkeeper Mart Poom signed for Derby County. He later also played for Sunderland and Arsenal in the league.

As a team, Estonia also has enjoyed some success. The nation is currently ranked 84th in the world and reached the EURO 2012 playoffs, where they lost 5-1 on aggregate to the Republic of Ireland.

#2 Cuco Martina (Everton & Curaçao)

Cuco Martina in action for Everton in a recent Europa League match

Cuco Martina, who signed for Everton last summer after a couple of years at Southampton, was born in the Netherlands, but he represents Curacao.

Curacao is a small Caribbean island with a population of around 160, 000. It was part of the Netherlands Antilles before the country was dissolved into five separate nations in 2010.

The best-known player born in Curaçao is Vurnon Anita, who played in the Premier League for Newcastle a few seasons ago. The Dutch international helped the Magpies back into the league last season but signed for Leeds in the summer.

Martina has played in the Premier League since 2015. He represented three different teams in the Netherlands before making the big jump.

As captain, Martina led Curaçao their first ever Caribbean Cup win this year. The small nation also took part in their 5th ever Gold Cup tournament this year, their first since 1973.

Former Dutch international star Patrick Kluivert, whose mother is from Curaçao, is the man behind the recent rise.

Kluivert has had a short stint as Curaçao manager in 2015-2016 and he helped attract a lot of players with Curaçaon roots, like Martina, to represent the nation. 18 of the 23 players in the Gold Cup squad had spent the previous season in Europe.

Curaçao was 183rd in the FIFA rankings as recently as 2014, but they achieved their best ever 68th position in July. It's been a massive rise and maybe in a few years time, we won't see Curaçao as an obscure footballing nation anymore.

#1 Nahki Wells (Burnley & Bermuda)

Nahki Wells celebrating a goal in the Championship playoffs

We all know the Bermuda Triangle, where ships and planes seemingly disappear without a trace. But I doubt many football fans knew that there's a Premier League player from the nation with less than 65,000 people, and he's actually not the first one.

Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne, who were both born in the Bermudan capital; Hamilton, made a combined 59 Premier League appearances. Goater was the star striker for Manchester City when the team made it back to the Premier League at the start of the 21st century and has 13 Premier League goals to his name.

Nahki Wells should have a decent chance of becoming the new Bermudan top scorer in the Premier League. The 27-year-old striker has three straight seasons with 10+ goals to his name in the Championship and that prompted Burnley to dish out £5m for his services in the summer.

Wells, who was also born in Hamilton, actually hasn't yet played in the league as he sadly suffered an injury before the season started, but I doubt Sean Dyche bought him just to sit on the bench.

Like Curacao, Bermuda also plays in the CONCACAF region. They have even less history in football. The 180th team in the world hasn't even qualified for the Caribbean Cup.

The recent 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers ended in the CONCACAF 2nd round for Bermuda. Wells scored three times in the 1st round against the Bahamas in an 8-0 aggregate win, but they were dropped from the competition with a 1-0 loss to Guatemala.