I was originally planning on doing one top 10 a week. But as I have loads I want to get through, I've decided to do two with one being a Premier League related one, and the other being a European League's related one.
This week's first European League's top 10 is British Exports.
Very few British players went abroad about 20 or 30 years ago, but over the last few years the number of British players who have gone overseas has grown with the majority of them being young.
A lot of youngsters in recent years have gone abroad to get experience and they have benefitted from that. Jadon Sancho was the one who started that trend as many other young players have followed in his footsteps since his first season at Borussia Dortmund. Jamie Gittens is the latest player to have followed in Sancho's footsteps and like Sancho, he's gone to Dortmund and is thriving there. Especially in the Champions League.
Senior players are also going abroad as well as young players including Conor Gallagher and obviously Harry Kane, both who have moved abroad very recently. Gallagher left Chelsea for Atletico Madrid in the summer whilst Kane has been on fire since arriving at Bayern Munich from Spurs last season.
And without further or do, here is the list:
David Beckham
Chris Waddle
Kevin Keegan
Gareth Bale
Jadon Sancho
Jude Bellingham
Steve McManaman
Paul Ince
Kieran Trippier
Harry Kane
Paul Ince
Ince left Man United for Inter Milan in 1995 as part of Fergie's first rebuild. He spent two seasons at the San Siro and was a real powerhouse in their midfield with his energy and tenacity.
It did take him time to settle in as he was playing in a different country, but one his adaptation period was over he immediately became an important player for Inter.
He didn't win anything during his two year spell at Inter before returning to England with Liverpool.
Kevin Keegan
Keegan was one of the first British players to play abroad when he left Liverpool for Hamburg for a then-world record fee of £500,000 in 1977.
He had a successful time in Germany as he won two Ballon D'or's in 1978 and 1979 respectively, and a Bundesliga title in 1979.
It did take him a while to settle in when he first arrived as he struggled with the German language and felt isolated from the team.
But he soon learnt the language and integrated himself into the team, and later started to deliver the goods as he ended his debut season with 12 goals in all competitions. He got 17 in his second season and 9 in his third.
Kieran Trippier
Trippier made a surprise move from Spurs to Atletico Madrid in 2019 and under Diego Simeone's management, his game improved massively and especially defensively.
He did have flaws in his game defensively when he was at Spurs, and having a defensive minded manager in Simeone helped him improve that part of his game a lot.
He was a key part of the Atleti side that won La Liga in 2021 and he returned to England a better player when he joined Newcastle in January of 2022.
I've put him just above Keegan because he developed more as a player during his time away from England.
Chris Waddle
Waddle was another one of the first Brits to play abroad when he joined Marseille from Spurs in 1989.
He spent three seasons in France and he had a successful time there as he won the league in every season he spent there, and registered a good number of goals and assists.
The Marseille fans loved him during his time there and rightly so due to what he gave them during his three seasons there.
Harry Kane
Kane hasn't been at Bayern Munich for that long, but I had to have him in this position because of how good he's been since joining them from Spurs in 2023.
He won the European Golden Shoe in his first season as he scored 36 goals and is leading the charts in the Bundesliga once again this season.
He joined Bayern to win trophies and although he's not won one yet, he could do this season with Bayern currently leading the way in the Bundesliga.
David Beckham
Beckham left Man United for Real Madrid in 2003 after falling out with Alex Ferguson, and he arrived as a well known celebrity.
He spent four seasons at the Bernabeu and was part of the Galacticos team which included Zinedine Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos.
He might not have won much during his time at Real with the La Liga title in 2007 being his only major trophy, but he still put in a lot of good performances and provided a lot of assists during his four year spell in the Spanish capital.
Steve McManaman
McManaman joined Real Madrid from Liverpool in 1999 after nine seasons at Anfield, and at Madrid he won everything on offer including two Champions League's in 2000 and 2002.
He put in a number of quality displays during his four seasons at the Bernabeu including in the 2000 Champions League, where he scored one of their three goals against Valencia and was named man of the match.
He almost left Madrid after just a season in 2000 following the arrival of Luis Figo, which forced Real to sell players to reduce debt. Despite not being a squad number at the start of that season, he decided to stay and fight for his place and after not featuring much earlier in the season, he soon became a regular in the team and a key player as they won the La Liga title.
Jadon Sancho
Sancho was the one who got the ball rolling for young players going abroad to get playing experience when he left Man City for Dortmund at just 17 years of age.
He was one of the most exciting young talents in Europe when he was at Dortmund because of his pace, trickery and ability to both create and score goals. He registered a lot of both goals and assists during his time there and especially in his first two seasons.
It was disappointing that things didn't work out for him at Man United and one reason why is because they didn't play a style that suited his game. He's better when he's given the freedom to play and he certainly had that at Dortmund.
He's had that freedom at Chelsea this season as he's impressed whenever he's been given an opportunity. Hopefully he'll get his career back on track soon.
Gareth Bale
Had I done this a few years ago, Bale would've been top of the list because of the player he was at Madrid and what he won.
He won everything on offer during his time at Real including five Champions League's and three La Liga titles, and had many wonderful moments including the goals he scored in Champions League finals, and that solo goal he scored against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final in 2014.
His time at Madrid didn't end as well as he hoped as the fans turned on him and criticized him for playing too much Golf, and he also had a lot of injuries which soon saw him frozen out of the side.
But his time in Spain was still a success and he deserves more respect than is given to him.
Jude Bellingham
He might be youngest player on this list and hasn't been around as long as the others were, but Bellingham still had to be my no.1 because of the player he has become and is going to grow into.
He left Birmingham for Dortmund when he was just 17 in 2020 and soon established himself as a first team regular. De developed a lot as a player during his three seasons at Dortmund with his final season being his best.
His game has gone onto another level since he's been at Real Madrid as he's become one of their main men, and has become one of if not the best midfielder in the world.
He's pretty much replaced Harry Kane as England's talisman over the last couple of years and as a lot of people have already said about him, he's definitely a future England captain.
MY TOP 10
Jude Bellingham
Gareth Bale
Jadon Sancho
Steve McManaman
David Beckham
Harry Kane
Chris Waddle
Kieran Trippier
Kevin Keegan
Paul Ince
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