Moving house is a ballache – packing your life away, trying to wedge the sofa out of the back door, and estate agents – but some footballers have been canny enough to switch clubs without the need to move anywhere.
It’s easy to forget that footballers are human beings too, with roots in their local area and kids at the local schools. Some players just don’t fancy moving to the opposite end of the country on the whim of a manager who’ll likely be sacked in a few months anyway.
The latest player to fulfil one of our favourite transfer niches – pointed out thanks to Danny Corcoran and Ajay Bhakta on Twitter – is Martin Braithwaite. Unloved and unappreciated at Barcelona, Braithwaite managed to secure a switch to city rivals Espanyol on transfer deadline day.
As well as securing first-team football for the foreseeable future, the Denmark international can carry on living in one of Europe’s best cities without the need to put his worldly possessions into storage.
In the midst of Braithwaite’s move, we’ve found another 11 transfers where the player didn’t need to pack their belongings into cardboard boxes and up sticks…
Clarence Seedorf
One of the greatest midfielders of his generation, with a gloriously Edwardian English first name to boot, Seedorf spent over a decade in Milan and didn’t even need to move stadiums when switching from Inter to AC in 2002.
While the former Netherlands international didn’t lift any silverware with Inter, he is fondly remembered by the Nerazzurri for two stunners against Juventus in the 2002 Derby d’Italia.
Clearly seduced by Milan’s abundance of cafes and Cotoletta alla Milanese, the midfielder enjoyed a glorious decade at AC Milan afterwards and won 10 major honours in the famous red and black stripes.
Willian
Back in the Premier League with Fulham, Willian already enjoys a close relationship with the city of London.
After being heavily linked with Tottenham in 2013, the Brazil international chose to join Chelsea instead and enjoyed a seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge that was more successful than you probably remember.
Okay, his time at Arsenal was a complete failure – which probably endeared him to Chelsea fans even more – but the forward did altruistically agree to rip up his lucrative contract early before returning to Brazil.
Now he’s back in London, we’re wondering whether his old house is available.
Nick Barmby
Despite arguably being less heated than other rivalries, not…
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