5 most famous Premier League journeymen 

The Premier League has seen some of the best players in the world gracing the stadiums of England (and Wales) over the course of its 25-year journey and some of the great players have also switched over to other teams in the league. However, such moves are rare and hugely controversial.

That being said, other than the stars there are other footballers who might not actually be stars but end up being employed by a range of Premier League clubs over the course of their career. They usually have a pretty unremarkable career and move from club to club to fill a position. They are known as the journeymen and over the years, there have been plenty of such players in the Premier League. Here is a look at the top 5.

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#5 Craig Bellamy

The Welshman was a regular feature in the Premier League for around 14 years and remains one of the most recognisable players from the league, however, people will struggle to pin him down in relation to a club. It is because Bellamy was the quintessential journeyman footballer who never quite settled down at any particular club and kept moving from one to the other after a few seasons.

His life in the Premier League started at unheralded Coventry City 2000 and after a season there, he played for the next 4 seasons at Newcastle United. The 4 season-long stint at Newcastle proved to be his longest stay at any club, as he then moved to Blackburn Rovers for a season before moving to Liverpool the following season. Bellamy was also contracted to Manchester City from 2009 to 2011 and after another spell at Liverpool, he ended his career at Cardiff City. In all, he played for 7 clubs in the Premier League.

#4 Wayne Routledge

Wayne Routledge of Swansea City

Among the scores of journeymen footballers who have played in the Premier League, Swansea's winger Wayne Routledge probably embodies the career of the typical member of his tribe. Routledge has, however, been with Swansea City since 2011 and continues to be on the books. He started his football career at Crystal Palace in 2001 and played with the Eagles till 2005, before moving across London to Tottenham Hotspur.

He was contracted to Spurs till 2008 but spend two seasons on loan at Portsmouth and Fulham respectively. Following that, Routledge moved to Aston Villa but his stay at the Midlands club lasted one season and the subsequent two seasons were spent at Queens Park Rangers (not in the Premier League at the time) and Newcastle United. In total, Routledge has played for 7 Premier Clubs but it is at Swansea City where he seems to have settled down and it is almost certain that he will finish his career in Wales.

#3 Tal Ben Haim

Ben Haim in action for Bolton

The Premier League has had its fair share of journeymen over the course of the past quarter of a century but there have been very few overseas players, who have been able to bounce from one club to the other with such frequency as Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim. He was brought to England by Bolton Wanderers 2004 and that proved to be his longest as well as the most productive stint in the Premier League.

In 2007, he left for Chelsea and after a season there, he signed for Manchester City. A move to Portsmouth followed in 2009 and while he was contracted to the club till 2012, he spent the 2010-11 season on loan at West Ham United. His career in the Premier League ended with a short spell at Queens Park Rangers in 2013. He is a forgotten player of course but perhaps the fact that he could play as a centre-half and a right-back made him a tempting punt for many clubs.

#2 Andy Cole

Andy Cole at Manchester United

Now, he is a real superstar striker who turned into a journeyman towards the end of his career and ended up playing for an astonishing 7 different Premier League over the course of his playing days. English striker Andy Cole's career is primarily associated with his stellar 6 seasons with Manchester United between 1995 and 2001, when he scored 93 goals for the club and won plenty of trophies for the club, including the famous Treble in 1998-99.

However, his career in the Premier League had started at Newcastle United in 1992 and after a couple of seasons there, he moved to United. In 2001, Cole moved to Blackburn Rovers and scored 27 goals for them during the course of his three-year stint, at the end of which he joined Fulham for a season. The next two seasons were spent at Manchester City and Portsmouth before Cole joined Sunderland in 2007. The one year stint at Sunderland proved to be his final season in the Premier League.

#1 Marcus Bent

Marcus Bent during his Everton days

As far as journeyman footballers are concerned, Marcus Bent is the gold standard and still remains the only player to have represented as many as 8 different clubs in the Premier League in his career. After playing for Brentford for three seasons, his Premier League career started with Crystal Palace in 1998 and after one season there, he spent the next few years in the lower divisions before he was signed up by Blackburn Rovers. Bent then represented Ipswich in the Premier League and also spent a season on loan at Leicester City, which all ended in 2004 with a move to Everton.

The next two seasons were spent at Everton and in the two seasons after that, Bent was contracted to Charlton Athletic. The moves simply did not seem to stop as he found it impossible to nail down a place for himself at any club. In the 2007-08 season, Bent went to Wigan Athletic on loan and a year later he moved to Birmingham City, who were then in the Premier League.

Although his Premier League career ended with those 8 clubs, it is interesting to note that he has since played for 5 more clubs and is still employed by Wick in the Sussex County League.