Players around the world dream to win the Premier League at least once in their career, a trophy which is considered of utmost importance in the footballing world. The Premier League at this point is the biggest and best league in the world, and winning it is a feeling which is not experienced by many. In this article, we look at the 5 popular players who have never won the Premier League.
#5 Mesut Ozil
London danced with joy as Arsenal announced the signing of Ozil, the most in-demand player at the time. Ozil took a bold step when he left Real Madrid to join Arsenal, a step doubted by many. The World Cup winner went on to end Arsenal’s 9-year trophy drought, made 250+ appearances, and won four major titles with the club. Arguably the best-attacking midfielder of his generation, Arsene Wenger worked wonders with Mesut.
During the 15/16 season, he provided a staggering 19 assists in just one season that saw him come within one assist of breaking the Premier League’s all-time assist record. Mesut is also currently number four in the list of players with the most assists in football history.
#4 Fernando Torres
The Spaniard was signed by Liverpool in 2007 for a club-record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by becoming Liverpool‘s first player since Robbie Fowler to score more than 20 league goals in a season. It took him no time to become Liverpool’s fastest player to score 50 goals in the club’s history. The most prolific goalscoring spell of his career, he was even named in FIFA world XI 2008 and 2009.
Silverware eluded Torres, which eventually led him to join Chelsea in 2011 for a transfer fee of 50m. This made him the most expensive Spanish player ever, and he had proven his worth at his time in Liverpool. In his first full season at Chelsea, Fernando won UCL and FA cup. The following season, he scored in the finals of UEL helping Chelsea to win their first-ever UEL.
#3 Luis Suarez
Regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest strikers in football history, Luis Suarez quickly established himself as a marquee player at Liverpool. In 2011, he won the League Cup in his first full season at the club. In 2013, he was named in the PFA Team of the year, he was the second top goalscorer in the league that season.
With 23 goals in the league and 30 goals across all competitions, Suarez was Liverpool’s top goalscorer in the 12/13 season. In 2014, he equalled the goalscoring record for a 38 game Premier League season and won his first Golden Shoe. Controversies revolving around him in England forced him to move to Barca in 2014.
#2 Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola was one of the first players to move to the Premier League at the peak of his career. Zola had learned from the best at Napoli, as he trained with Diego Maradona. The signing of Gianfranco Zola lit up the Stamford Bridge in 1996. Zola went onto win four major titles with the club in his seven-season tenure, but no league titles.
Chelsea were close to winning the Premier League in 1998 and Zola was the reason they were in the title race. He also played an integral part in getting the club into a Champions League spot in 2003. That same year, Zola was also voted the best Chelsea player of all time. He scored 59 Premier League goals at Chelsea and was a fan favourite.
#1 Steven Gerrard
Gerrard enjoyed plenty of success in his decorated career, he was part of the Liverpool squad that completed a cup treble in 2000-01. There was a moment of miracle in 2005 as Liverpool won the UCL in Istanbul, the following season they won an unforgettable FA Cup as well. Steven Gerrard was the talisman on both occasions, playing his part in the comeback against Milan.
He could have easily won the league title elsewhere if he had not rejected Chelsea twice, he finally decided to join LA Galaxy in 2015 after 17 seasons at Liverpool. He won seven major titles at Anfield, but no league title. As he tops the list of 5 popular players who have never won the Premier League.
