In this article we look at a few players that played in the English Premier League, some of the players had extensive careers for their clubs others barely made an impact
The common link is the all moved to MLS teams
Gareth Bale
Where else to start but one of the biggest names to sign for a US based teams
His career started at Southampton before signing for Spurs where he was a standout player regularly scoring world class goals.
He played 258 games and scored 106 goals for Real Madrid, he helped them win many trophies including La liga, COpa Del rey and the Champions league
Los Angeles FC announced that they have signed Bale to a 12-month contract using Targeted Allocation Money
Victor Wanyama
He came to prominence for people in the Uk initially playing at Celtic, even scoring against Barcelona in a Champions league win
He was bought by Southampton for £12 million where he played 85 games before being signed for Spurs for £11 million
Wanyama was sold to Major League Soccer club CF Montréal, where he would become a Designated Player where he ws played 76 game
Christian Fuchs
In 2015, he signed for Leicester, winning the Premier League in his first season at the club. This was aone of th ebiggest shocks in football, in that Leicester were fighting relegation the season before.
He left in 2021 to sign for Charlotte FC, which entered the league in 2022.
On 27 July 2021, Fuchs joined USL Championship side Charlotte Independence for the rest of the season
DeAndre Yedlin
A US player who signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Seatle Sounders but only played 1 game
He was most famous for playing at Sunderland on loan and then signing for Newcastle from Spurs for 5 million where he managed 125 games
Yedlin joined Inter Miami on February 2, 2022 from Galatasary and has played 28 games
Xherdan Shaqiri
He started his career at two of the big european teams in Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, Shaqiri raised a few eyebrows with his £12million move to Stoke City in 2015.
He remained with Stoke until they were relegated in 2018 and then became a squad player for Liverpool in another surprise move.
Shaqiri joined Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire FC on a contract that will run through the 2024 season as a Designated Player. His transfer signing was the most expensive in Chicago Fire history, for a reported fee of €6.5 million
Alexandre Pato
This is a tenuous one as he only played 2 games on loan at Chelsea
He is more famous for his spell at AC Milan where he played 117 games and scored 51 goals and cost them 24 million euros from Brazilian team Internacional
He played in Spain, China and Brazil before moving to Orlando City where he has played 26 games and scored 3 goals
Kieran Gibbs
Another player that was tipped to be an outstanding success at Arsenal but didn’t quite make it, he did make 230 appearances for Arsenal
Gibbs signed for West Bromwich Albion on a four-year contract, for a fee in the region of £6.75 million where he made 100 appearances in total
On 23 March 2021, it was announced that Gibbs would join Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF whre he has managed 25 appearances in 2 seasons
Gonzalo Higuain
Another player that had only minimal premier league impact where he played 19 games on loan for Chelsea and scoring 5 goals.
He was most famous for many seasons at Real Madrid where he played 264 games and scored 121 goals
He then went to Napoli for €40 million and scored 91 goals in 146 games
Higuaín was then transferred to Juventus for a fee of €90 million paid in two installments where he played 149 games and scored 66 goals
Higuaín signed for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and has played 63 games and scored 22 goals
Carlos Vela
Another wonder player touted for Arsenal who never made the grade he was put on loan to 5 different teams
He resurrected his career at Real SOciedad where he managed to play over 200 games and scored 61 goals.
Vela was signed by Los Angeles FC, becoming the first designated player of the team – he has scored 75 goals in 130 games which is a fantastic record
Javier Hernandez
A very good player at Man United who was known as a super sub, famously a penalty box striker where he scored the majority of his goals
Hernández signed a three-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy and became the highest paid player in the league
So far he has scored 34 goals in 62 games
