Football is a game of money. Without adequate financial backing, success is very difficult to attain – especially with the amount of mercenaries in the modern game.
Let’s be clear – we haven’t written this list to shame anyone. Ultimately, football is a form of employment – we’d never begrudge anyone who is simply receiving a paycheck.
Additionally, there is a big difference between being a ‘journeyman’ and a ‘mercenary’. Mercenaries generally make their decisions based on monetary reasons, while journeymen are simply nomadic players with plenty of clubs under their belt.
Jhon Duran
At Aston Villa, Jhon Duran seemingly had the world at his feet. Scoring an array of spectacular goals after his arrival at Villa Park, he surprised many when he opted to make the jump to Saudi Arabia.
Most players opt to join a ‘money league’ when they are in the twilight of their professional careers. Duran, on the other hand, signed the contract at Al-Nassr when he was only 21 years of age.
Now, he is about to cancel his loan at Turkish giants Fenerbahce and head to Russia with Zenit St. Petersburg. Perhaps Jhon doesn’t follow geo-politics, or more likely, perhaps he doesn’t care.
Joao Felix
Joao Felix is teetering on the verge of being a journeyman – however, we decided to label him as a mercenary, considering his natural ability and the stature of the clubs he has bounced between.
Felix still has plenty to offer on the European stage, but he has instead decided to ply his trade at Al-Nassr. He is tearing up the league – one just cannot shake the feeling that his talents are currently misplaced.
In many ways, Felix has been a mercenary since the very beginning, when he moved from Porto’s youth academy to bitter rivals Benfica as a youngster.
Kingsley Coman
One of the most decorated footballers in history, Kingsley Coman’s mercenary mentality has served him incredibly well over the years.
He was won league titles with PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich – at the age of 29, one would assume that he is now in his prime.
However, Coman no longer plays in Europe’s top league – he is now an Al-Nassr player, having been at the club since the summer of 2025. He certainly has something to offer in an elite league – but we won’t begrudge him for chasing the bag, given his prior success in football.
Yannick Carrasco
In the mid-2010s, China were pumping money into their football league to try and gain a foothold on the world stage. Carrasco saw this and capitalised upon it, moving to Dalian Yifang – earning himself a pretty penny in the process.
After a couple of years, he moved back to Atletico Madrid – then, when the Saudi Pro League began to make its presence known, Carrasco secured a move to Al-Shabab.
These moves may have come at the cost of his overall legacy, but Carrasco still has a La Liga title under his belt – he also reached the Champions League final in 2016 with Diego Simeone’s men.
Romelu Lukaku
We had to pick Romelu Lukaku for our top spot. He is a player who is seemingly never happy – whenever he arrives at a club, he is already plotting his escape plan.
The Belgian international has played for three Premier League clubs and three Serie A outfits over the course of his career – currently, he plays for Napoli.
Behind Neymar, Lukaku has the highest cumulative transfer fee in football history – this should tell you everything you need to know about both his stature and mentality in the game.