Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Legendary Players Who Joined Rival Clubs

Leaving one club for another is a common thing in football. However, leaving a club to play for its rival club is never welcomed and appreciated in the world of football

In football, leaving one club for another club is a common thing. Every year, several players leave one club to join another club, hoping to achieve more success. However, leaving a club to join a rival club is never appreciated by the football fraternity. In the eyes of the fans, such players are nothing more than traitors. In this feature, we have listed some legendary players who left a club to join the rival club. 

Luis Figo- Probably the most controversial transfer in the history of football was of Luis Figo’s, who left club Barcelona to join Real Madrid. Figo spent five years at Barcelona and became a legend of the game. Not to forget, he was also hailed a legend of the club. However, he received severe criticism when he joined Real Madrid from Barcelona. He became the worst traitor in the history of football, which further fuelled the Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalry. When Figo returned to Nou Camp for a match, he was booed and the Barcelona fans threw objects at him. 

Carlos Tevez- We all know how massive the rivalry is between Manchester United and Manchester City. Tevez was a West Ham United player who impressed Manchester United and therefore, he was purchased by the Red Devils. During his time at United, he turned into a world-class player. He performed well for United, but what he did in 2009 made him the most hated player in United’s history. In 2009, Tevez signed a five-year deal with Manchester City which did not go well with the United supporters. 

Ronaldo- For the Brazilian Ronaldo, it was a fun thing to play for one club and then join its rival club. He did the unethical activity twice in his career. First, Ronaldo joined Barcelona and left to join Inter Milan. Five years later, he again came back to Spain and joined Real Madrid because of which, he gained hatred from Barcelona fans. After spending a stint at Real, he once again flew to Italy and joined Inter Milan’s rival club AC Milan. Twice in his career! Probably Ronaldo loved to piss off his own set of fans.