List of foreign Premier League players

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This is a list of foreign players in the Premier League, which commenced play in 1992. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

  1. Have played at least one Premier League game. Players who were signed by Premier League clubs, but only played in a lower league, cup, and/or European games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included.
  2. Are considered foreign, i.e., outside the United Kingdom determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if his allegiance is not to play for the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

More specifically,

  • If a player has been capped at an international level, the national team is used; if he has been capped by more than one country, the highest level (or the most recent) team is used. These include British players with dual citizenship.
  • If a player has not been capped at the international level, his country of birth is used, except for those who were born abroad from British parents or moved to the United Kingdom at a young age, and those who clearly indicated to have switched his nationality to another nation.

Clubs listed are those for which the player has played at least one Premier League game – and seasons are those in which the player has played at least one Premier League game. Note that seasons, not calendar years, are used. For example, "1992–95" indicates that the player has played in every season from 1992–93 to 1994–95, but not necessarily every calendar year from 1992 to 1995. Therefore, a player should always have a listing under at least two years – for instance, a player making his debut in 2011, during the 2011–12 season, will have '2011–12' after his name. This follows the general practice in expressing sporting seasons in the UK.

122 of the 211 foreign FIFA-affiliated nations have been represented in the Premier League. On 5 September 2025, Haiti became the most recent country to be represented, when Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde switched and played for Haiti national football team.

In bold: players who have played at least one Premier League game in the current season (2025–26), and are still at a club for which they have played. This does not include current players of a Premier League club who have not played a Premier League game in the current season.

For each country, the leading appearance-maker is indicated by the number of matches that he played in the Premier League.[1]

Details correct as of 22 February 2026.

Algeria

Riyad Mahrez was voted PFA Player of the Year after helping Leicester win the title in 2016

Angola

Benin

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Geremi won two consecutive Premier League titles with Chelsea

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Congo

DR Congo

Egypt

In 2017–18, Mohamed Salah won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and was the top scorer with a record breaking 32 goals

Equatorial Guinea

Gabon

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the joint-top goalscorer in the Premier League in 2018–19, scoring 22 goals for Arsenal

Gambia

Ghana

Michael Essien won the Premier League twice with Chelsea

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Ivory Coast

Didier Drogba scored 104 Premier League goals and won four league titles with Chelsea

Kenya

Liberia

Mali

Mauritania

Morocco

Mozambique

Nigeria

Mikel John Obi won two Premier League titles for Chelsea

Senegal

Sadio Mané scored the quickest Premier League hat-trick, netting three goals in 176 seconds

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Tanzania

Togo

Emmanuel Adebayor played for four different Premier League clubs

Tunisia

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Asia (AFC)

Australia

Mark Schwarzer is the only player from outside the United Kingdom to play over 500 Premier League matches

Bangladesh

China PR

Sun Jihai is the first East Asian to score a Premier League goal when he scored for Manchester City in 2002

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Japan

Shinji Kagawa won a Premier League title with Manchester United in 2013
Shinji Okazaki won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016

Korea Republic

Park Ji-sung won four Premier League titles with Manchester United in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011
Son Heung-min became the first Asian to reach 100 Premier League goals in 2023 with Tottenham Hotspur

Oman

Pakistan

Philippines

Uzbekistan

Europe (UEFA)

Albania

Armenia

Austria

Belarus

Belgium

Vincent Kompany captained Manchester City to win the Premier League title in 2012, earning him the accolade of Player of the Season
Eden Hazard was voted the Player of the Season after helping Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2015
Kevin De Bruyne has won five Premier League titles with Manchester City, and was named Player of the Season twice

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Dimitar Berbatov won two Premier League titles with Manchester United, and was the league's top scorer in 2010–11

Croatia

Luka Modrić helped lead Tottenham Hotspur to their first ever Champions League appearance

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Petr Čech won four Premier League titles with Chelsea and holds the most Premier League clean sheets

Denmark

Peter Schmeichel won five Premier League titles with Manchester United and is the only goalkeeper to be voted Player of the Season

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Finland

France

With 175 goals, all for Arsenal, Thierry Henry is the third highest-scoring foreign player in Premier League history
Nicolas Anelka won the Premier League at Arsenal and Chelsea
Eric Cantona captained Manchester United to one title, winning four overall
Patrice Evra won the Premier League five times with Manchester United

Georgia

Germany

Jens Lehmann, goalkeeper for Arsenal during their undefeated season in 2003–04
İlkay Gündoğan won five Premier League titles with Manchester City

Gibraltar

Greece

Hungary

Dominik Szoboszlai won the Premier League with Liverpool in 2025

Iceland

Israel

Italy

Mario Balotelli is the first Italian to win the Premier League, doing so with Manchester City in 2012

Kosovo

Latvia

Lithuania

Malta

Montenegro

Netherlands

Edwin van der Sar is the holder of the record for the longest Premier League clean sheet streak, while playing for Manchester United
Robin van Persie was Premier League top scorer in two consecutive seasons for two different clubs – Arsenal and Manchester United
Ruud van Nistelrooy was the top scorer and Player of the Season in 2002–03

North Macedonia

Norway

Ole Gunnar Solskjær won six Premier League titles for Manchester United, a record for a player from outside the British Isles
Erling Haaland scored a Premier League record 36 goals for Manchester City in the 2022–23 season

Poland

Wojciech Szczęsny played over 100 Premier League matches for Arsenal, and kept the most clean sheets in the 2013–14 season

Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo won a hat-trick of Premier League titles with Manchester United, was twice voted Player of the Season and is the only player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year while playing in the Premier League
Ricardo Carvalho won three Premier League titles with Chelsea

Republic of Ireland

Roy Keane won seven Premier League titles with Manchester United, including four as captain
Robbie Keane played for six different Premier League clubs and scored a total of 126 goals
Shay Given kept a total of 113 Premier League clean sheets

Romania

Dan Petrescu was selected as the right defender of the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards Overseas team

Russia

Andrey Arshavin became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals in an away game at Anfield

Serbia

Nemanja Vidić won five Premier League titles for Manchester United and was voted Player of the Season twice

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Fernando Torres was signed by Chelsea from Liverpool in 2011 for £50 million, then the most ever paid by a Premier League club
Cesc Fàbregas recorded 111 Premier League assists, the second most ever by a non-British player, and won two league titles with Chelsea
Pepe Reina of Liverpool had the most Premier League clean sheets in three consecutive seasons

Sweden

Freddie Ljungberg won two Premier League titles with Arsenal and was named Player of the Season in 2002

Switzerland

Turkey

Ukraine

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

Antigua and Barbuda

Barbados

Bermuda

Canada

Costa Rica

Cuba

Curaçao

Dominican Republic

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Wes Morgan captained Leicester's title-winning team in 2016

Mexico

Javier Hernández won the Premier League twice with Manchester United

Montserrat

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Dwight Yorke scored 123 Premier League goals, a record for a player from North America

United States

Brad Friedel appeared in a record 310 consecutive Premier League matches during spells at Blackburn, Aston Villa, and Tottenham

Oceania (OFC)

New Zealand

Chris Wood has made over 200 Premier League appearances and played for five different clubs

South America (CONMEBOL)

Notes

References

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