February 14 is Valentine's Day.
The opportunity to celebrate love and loyalty also in football.
And apart from this PSG-Real Sociedad which monopolizes all the attention, it is the opportunity to take an interest in the active players most loyal to their club, as the CIES Football Observatory has just done.
The International Center for the Study of Sports has listed top players from around the world who have had the most consecutive seasons in their current club's first team.
To this game, the most faithful in the whole world remains the famous goalkeeper of CSKA Moscow Igor Akinfeev.
Almost 38 years old, he has been part of the professional squad for 21 seasons, without interruption.
Anthony Lopes and Marquinhos in the Top 30
In the five major championships, it is Thomas Müller who leads the way with his 16 seasons in the colors of Bayern Münich, the same total as Tony Jantschke, the defender of Borussia Mönchengladbach, still in Germany.
Spain is also well represented with three players in the Top 5 most loyal.
Iker Muniain and Oscar de Marcos have played for Athletic Bilbao for 15 seasons, as has Koke at Atletico Madrid.
In France, only Anthony Lopes (soon to have 12 seasons at Olympique Lyonnais) is ahead of Parisian captain Marquinhos (11 seasons at PSG).
Champions League: does Valentine's Day bring good luck for PSG?
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— The Parisian |
PSG (@le_Parisien_PSG) February 14, 2024
Outside Europe, we find players who are less popular but who delight local supporters like Ali Khaseif, the Al-Jazira goalkeeper for 19 years, or Huikang Cai, the Shanghai midfielder for 18 seasons.