Several players made a bold move to sign for direct rivals for a chance of winning the Premier League.
Winning a league title has been a huge challenge for most clubs in the top flight. Since Leicester’s shocking success in 2015/16, only three clubs managed to lift the league trophy. Manchester City has been the dominant side with six titles, whereas the other two, Chelsea and Liverpool, only had one glorious season each, in 2016/17 and 2019/20, respectively.
Thus, a chance to move to the reigning champions is too good to refuse. A number of top names from elite clubs who have never won the coveted Premier League trophy would not rule out such moves to direct rivals, despite the fact that they could be widely criticized by their own fans. Winning silverware with Manchester City or Liverpool, for example, is easier nowadays than fighting against them in the title race. Here are the players who made the controversial switch.
Kyle Walker (Tottenham to Manchester City)
Kyle Walker is one of the best right backs in the Premier League today. Despite being 34 years old, he is still a mainstay in the English national team, constituting an integral part of Gareth Southgate’s setup. Thanks to his decision to join Manchester City in 2017, his performance level has been rising since then. He has also enjoyed the trophy-laden stints with The Citizens, including four consecutive Premier League titles and treble winners in 2023.
Nevertheless, such would not have been in his hands should he have stayed loyal to Tottenham Hostpur. The former Sheffield United man was playing for Spurs from 2009 to 2017, with three loan spells with his ex-club, The Blades, and QPR in the second tier plus Aston Villa in the top division.
Walker cemented his place in the starting XI in North London from 2011 to 2017, but Spurs’ best achievement was only EPL runners-up in the 2016/17 campaign, without any domestic cup or such. No wonder he instantly left Spurs for working under the serial winner, Pep Guardiola, and it has paid off handsomely in his career.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal to Liverpool)
The current Beşiktaş man was one of the promising talents in the 2010s, when Arsenal snatched his signature in 2011 from Southampton, which was still competing in League 2, the third tier in the English football system. Oxlade-Chamberlain stayed with The Gunners until 2017. Yet he could only lift the FA Cup trophy three times without a single league title. Arsenal’s best finish in the Premier League was only sitting second in the 2015/16 campaign.
The Portsmouth-born midfielder eventually switched sides to Liverpool in summer 2017 for a chance to win major trophies. The versatile attacking midfielder clinched the Champions League plus the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2019, a league title in 2020, and another FA Cup in 2022. However, the current Beşiktaş man only played regularly in 2017/18 and 2019/20. His seasons in the other campaign were mainly marred with injuries and physical fitness issues. He eventually left the Reds after winning everything in 2023.
Raheem Sterling (Liverpool to Manchester City)
The 29-year-old versatile forward made a controversial move to Manchester City in 2015. The Citizens have been The Reds’ rival since the mid-2010s. Yet he did not hesitate to switch sides for the league title dream. His stint in Liverpool was rather unfortunate, as he just left before Jürgen Klopp arrived in Anfield. Sterling stayed for three years with the Reds and was part of the squad when they narrowly missed the title in 2013/14. Brendan Rodgers’ men only sat second behind Manchester City.
In Etihad, the winger had to wait for two years before eventually clinching the league title in 2018. In total, he has won four Premier League, FA Cup 2019 and Champions League runners-up in 2021. Once again, his move to Chelsea in 2022 was rather too early, as Guardiola’s men eventually won treble in the 2022/23 campaign, including the coveted UCL title. His move to Stamford Bridge turned out to be a disaster as he has yet to win a single trophy for The Blues. In fact, he is currently frozen out of the Enzo Maresca’s squad and left to join Arsenal instead.
Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Manchester United)
The former Dutch forward was not just a star in Arsenal but a skipper and the main goalscorer when he left for their arch-rival, Manchester United, in 2012. Van Persie joined The Gunners in 2004, but all silverware he had was FA Cup 2005, without a single EPL title.
He had been waiting for a long time for his dream of lifting a league trophy but never came to reality until his first season at Old Trafford in the 2012/13 season. Ironically, it was also United’s last EPL title and Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season. The Red Devils’ decline became inevitable, and the former Feyenoord man soon departed from England in 2015.