The Mailbox did a dangerous thing this week. It made us think: which country is the best exporter to the Premier League?
Amid the flak flying around Florian Wirtz right now, and while musing over the success of the Portuguese lads at Manchester United, Mailbox stalwart Badwolf pondered which nation produces the best imports into Our League.
Immediately, all hope of any work being done for the following hour vanished. Down the rabbit hole we went…
Wistfully, we reminisced over our personal favourites. Winty went for David Silva because, well, he’s magic. Continuing the theme of pint-sized sorcerers, Joe Williams opted for Juninho. Some other names thrown around the desk: Cantona, Klinsmann, Hazard, Henry, Aguero…
So no consensus there over the best nation to import from. Come to think of it, how do we answer that question?
We could build an algorithm to mine the data… f*** that. Spelling ‘algorithm’ is arduous enough for a Friday, we’re definitely not building one.
Like the rest of the nation’s workforce, we hoped AI might help us get an early dart to the pub. ChatGPT’s answer: ‘France for quantity and consistency; Portugal and Spain for elite influence.’ Thanks for f*** all.
No, instead of digging deep ourselves to answer this question, we’re mining our greatest resource: the knowledgeable and devilishly-handsome F365 readers. You started it, so you can finish it.
So get involved, first by giving a simple answer to a complex question in the poll below.
Then head Below The Line to state your case, and offer up your favourite individual imports. We’ve given you some stats and numbers below if that’s your thing.
Be warned: discussing your personal foreign hero can quickly descend into a game of ‘name the most random foreign player you can think of’ and, instantly, productivity plummets to zero. So you might as well get off now and do it in the pub anyway…
🚨 The Famous F365 Friday Quiz: Premier League foreign imports edition
Premier League imports by the numbers
122 of the 211 foreign FIFA-affiliated nations have been represented in the Premier League since the inaugural season in 1992/93.
Players from 105 nations have scored Premier League goals.
Players from 58 nations have played in this season’s Premier League, with five more nations represented in squads. A total of 30 nations were represented in 1992/93.
After England, Netherlands have accumulated most minutes so far this season, followed by France, Brazil, Spain and Portugal.
Top 10 nations for Premier League players
France – 266 players
Spain – 191 players
Netherlands – 178 players
Brazil – 138 players
Portugal – 111 players
Italy – 98 players
Denmark – 96 players
Germany – 96 players
Argentina – 93 players
Norway – 84 players
Top 10 nations for Premier League appearances
France – 16,805 appearances
Spain – 10,686 appearances
Netherlands – 10,085 appearances
Brazil – 8,554 appearances
Norway – 5,506 appearances
Denmark – 5,473 appearances
Belgium – 5,428 appearances
Argentina – 5,381 appearances
Portugal – 5,371 appearances
Germany – 4,743 appearances
Top 10 nations for Premier League goals
France – 1,790 goals
Netherlands – 1088 goals
Spain – 965 goals
Brazil – 954 goals
Belgium – 739 goals
Norway – 690 goals
Argentina – 637 goals
Nigeria – 608 goals
Portugal – 521 goals
Italy – 473 goals
Top 10 nations for Premier League assists
France – 1,283 assists
Spain – 977 assists
Brazil – 712 assists
Netherlands – 686 assists
Portugal – 497 assists
Belgium – 495 assists
Germany – 404 assists
Argentina – 359 assists
Norway – 351 assists
Nigeria – 322 assists