Key Takeaways
Selfishness can be beneficial in football, particularly for goal-scoring.
Yet selfishness can extend beyond the field of play.
Players like Harry Kane, Jack Grealish and Ben White have faced criticism for perceived selfishness.
There are times in football where selfishness is a virtue. Strikers in the Premier League need to have a certain amount of tunnel vision for shooting at goal if they are to become the main goal-scoring threat for their side. The likes of Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are thought of as the most selfish players in the world. Yet selfishness in football goes beyond just what happens on the field of play.
It can be about career decisions players have taken. As well as how those decisions have been perceived by fans and the media. Not to mention how that has impacted the player. Selfishness can be a very subjective thing to assess.
One person’s lack of consideration for others is somebody else’s single-minded focus on a set goal. While there will be much debate on the subject, here are the 10 most selfish British players in football history.
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10 Ashley Cole
Notable clubs: Arsenal and Chelsea
Ashley Cole
Today, in retirement, Ashley Cole seems far more at ease with the media than he did in his playing days. It was Cole’s autobiography that left many drawing their breath at what they felt was egocentric behaviour.
Cole improved his wages when he left Arsenal for Chelsea. An excerpt from his autobiography created something of a storm. In it, he was dismayed to the point of amazement when Arsenal wouldn’t offer him more than £60k a week, saying he nearly crashed his car.
Of course, the going rate for his defensive colleagues in the England set-up was more than that. Yet it didn’t stop Cole from being called selfish in a money-grabbing sense.
9 Wayne Rooney
Notable clubs: Everton and Manchester United
England's Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney was England’s top goalscorer until Harry Kane overtook him. There is no denying, Rooney was a superb player, one who was prepared to track back and help the team when required. He was also one of Britain’s most naturally gifted footballers.
Rooney also realised that an element of goal-scoring is a numbers game. Over his 16 years playing in the Premier League, he had 1,237 shots on goal. That is the most shots on goal a player has had in Premier League history. To put that into context, Jermaine Defoe had 871 and Sergio Aguero had 1,015. If Rooney saw the whites of the posts, chances are he wasn’t going to pass.
8 Jadon Sancho
Notable clubs: Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Chelsea
Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho at last seems settled in the Premier League after a difficult period at Manchester United. While at Old Trafford, the England international, reportedly didn’t reach the expected levels in training. Sancho reacted with a social media post claiming he was being made a scapegoat.
Some saw Sancho’s attitude as selfish. This was further highlighted when he refused to apologise for his public statement. This did nothing to help the circus at Manchester United during the 2023/24 season. What followed was a painful exit. Firstly, on loan at Borussia Dortmund and then in a further loan to Chelsea, where he seems to be slightly happier.
7 Harry Kane
Notable clubs include: Spurs and Bayern Munich
Harry KAne
Harry Kane is one of England’s best-ever attacking players. He is also England’s all-time leading goal scorer. This is not a feat that can be achieved without a certain single-mindedness. With all great strikers, there needs to be a streak of selfishness, with Kane certainly showing that over the years.
The most potent act of selfishness came in 2018 in Spurs shirt against Stoke. Kane was insistent that Christian Eriksen’s free-kick had brushed his chest on its way in. The England striker was seemingly desperate to claim the goal when talking to Sky Sports:
It's my goal for sure. It flicked off my shoulder and went in. I swear that's mine. It was just off my shoulder. I don't care, it's my goal."
In the end, after appealing to the Premier League’s Goal Accreditation Appeals Panel, Kane was given the goal.
6 Jack Grealish
Notable clubs include: Aston Villa and Manchester City
Jack Grealish socks
There is no doubt that Jack Grealish has carried out many unselfish acts. During the 2022 World Cup, after scoring against Iran, he performed a special dance for 12-year-old fan Finlay Fischer. City fan Fischer has cerebral palsy and was thrilled. Grealish has also said in the past he probably needs to be more selfish in front of goal.
After becoming one of the most expensive transfers ever, Grealish has come under scrutiny. It was his behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic that caused people to call Grealish selfish. In March 2020, 24 hours after the government urged people to stay at home, the England international crashed his car. This incident occurred only a day after he had posted a video on social media encouraging people to stay at home.
5 Daniel Sturridge
Notable clubs include: Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool
Daniel Sturridge celebrates scoring for Liverpool
Daniel Sturridge is rated as one of Liverpool’s best-ever finishers. Yet it is the single-minded quality that got him goals that some have deemed him selfish. His career was no doubt impacted by injuries. Many still felt Sturridge was too focused on scoring even by a striker’s standards.
When other players were open, more often than not, Sturridge would go for goal. This is no doubt a factor in him getting 68 Liverpool goals in 160 games. Yet the selfish tag never seemed to leave him. Sturridge felt such criticism was unwarranted. Although undeterred, he freely admitted that goals were what he liked best.
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4 Sol Campbell
Notable clubs include: Spurs and Arsenal
Arsenal-Sol-Campbell
Sol Campbell is considered one of Arsenal’s greatest-ever players. He is also incredibly unpopular with Spurs fans, having shocked English football for leaving Tottenham to join their local rivals Arsenal. Prior to making the move in 2001, Campbell was a firm Spurs favourite. His move came after he refused the offer of becoming Tottenham’s best-paid player.
The England defender instead chose to move to Arsenal so he could play Champions League football. From Spurs fans' point of view, this is still seen as a deceitful and selfish act. From Arsenal’s view, it was no doubt regarded as a great move.
3 John Terry
Notable clubs: Chelsea
Chelsea legend John Terry
Nobody can doubt John Terry’s ability as a footballer. He is one of Chelsea’s best ever players. It has to be said, some rumours of his behaviour off of the field leave a lot to be desired. Yet it is his antics at the 2012 Champions League Final that divide opinion. Terry missed the final due to suspension.
Having won the final against all odds against Bayern Munich, the defender appeared in full Chelsea kit to lift the trophy. While he was very much the captain, it is not something you could have imagined Roy Keane doing in Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League win. This act has drawn many to call Terry something of an egomaniac and ultimately selfish.
2 Ben White
Notable clubs: Brighton and Arsenal
Arsenal's Ben White blows a kiss to the travelling supporters.
For many, representing your country is a huge honour. The public consensus is that people should never turn their backs on such honours. However, that is what Arsenal defender Ben White did when he made himself unavailable for selection for Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
Having asked to be not considered for selection for Euro 2024 was one thing, but his behaviour in the lead-up to the tournament was considered selfish. While England were losing 2-1 in a friendly to Brazil, White’s wife posted pictures to social media of the two them playing cards while on a holiday in the sun. If White was trying to make a point, many football fans didn’t like it.
1 Joey Barton
Notable clubs include: Manchester City and Newcastle United
MixCollage-04-Jan-2024-05-51-PM-2290
Joey Barton’s post-playing career has been filled with controversy. Much of which could be described as selfish behaviour. Barton’s playing career was no less eventful and controversial.
But it is perhaps his behaviour in a QPR shirt that constituted one of his most selfish acts on the field of play. On the last day of the 2011-12 season, Barton started a fracas against Manchester City that could have easily resulted in relegation for Rangers. Fortunately for the west London club, other results fell in their favour, while City won the Premier League.
Barton later hinted his behaviour was a strategy to get a City player sent off and thus increasing QPR’s chances in the game. But given the meltdown he had, it seems highly unlikely Barton was thinking at all, risking his colleagues' and club’s future in the process.