South America to Europe is just about the most well-trodden path in football, as players head to the world's biggest leagues for the game's greatest riches.
Considerably fewer players have moved the other way, but those who have make for some fascinating stories.
Our list includes Europeans who turned out for clubs in Brazil, Argentina and beyond – enjoy!
A striker who scored Albania’s maiden major tournament goal at Euro 2016, Armando Sadiku became the first Albanian to play in the Copa Libertadores.
He did so in 2021 for Bolivian giants Bolivar, with whom he spent six months before returning to Europe to join UD Las Palmas of Spain.
A versatile attacking midfielder who won the 2010/11 DFB-Pokal (German Cup) with Schalke, Alexander Baumjohann wound down his career a long way away from his homeland.
Before finishing up in Australia – where he helped Sydney FC to the 2019/20 A-League title – Baumjohann played briefly for Coritiba and Vitoria of Brazil.
Born in Geneva and capped once by Switzerland at U21 level, Dylan Gissi followed his Argentine heritage by spending most of his career in South America.
The centre-back – whose younger brother Kevin has played in Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador – debuted in professional football for Argentina’s Estudiantes and went on to play for a string of other clubs in the country.
Midfielder Bruno Pereirinha came through the ranks at Sporting Lisbon and made nearly 150 first-team appearances, winning two Portuguese Cups.
He left for Lazio in 2013, featuring a handful of times during a two-and-a-half year stint in Rome – before joining Athletico Paranaense of Brazil and helping them to the 2016 Parana state title.
A two-time Poland international, Mariusz Piekarski turned out for two of Brazil’s biggest clubs: Athletico Paranaense and – just about the biggest in the country – Flamengo.
The midfielder also played for Sao Paulo state-based Mogo Mirim, returning to Europe in the late 90s and winning the 2001/02 Polish top-flight title with Legia Warsaw.
Having spent time in the youth set-ups of two of Portugal’s ‘Big Three’, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica, Rafael Ramos took his first steps in senior football over in the USA – featuring most notably for Orlando City.
After stints back in Europe with Dutch outfit Twente and Santa Clara (one of the continent’s westernmost clubs, being based in the Azores), the right-back joined Brazilian giants Corinthians in 2022.
Capped 10 times by Poland, midfielder Krzysztof Nowak swapped his homeland for Brazil towards the end of the 90s, joining compatriot Mariusz Piekarski at Athletico Paranaense.
He returned to Europe in 1998, spending several years with German side Wolfsburg before having to abruptly retire after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease – from which he tragically passed in 2005, aged just 29.
Having failed to make the grade at Arsenal as a youngster, Fran Merida went on to play for a string of clubs in his native Spain – featuring most prominently for Osasuna from 2016 to 2020.
The midfielder has also turned out for teams in China and Brazil, though, spending a short period with Athletico Paranaense – a popular destination for European players, it seems...
A four-time Portuguese champion with Benfica, 39-cap Greece defensive midfielder Andreas Samaris hung up his boots in Brazil.
Samaris, who represented his country at the 2014 World Cup and scored his sole international goal in their win over the Ivory Coast, brought his career to an end with a handful of appearances for Coritiba.
An important midfield cog in the Parma team which won the 1991/92 Coppa Italia and 1992/93 Cup Winners’ Cup, Marco Osio played almost exclusively in his native Italy – where he started out with Torino.
He did fit in a stint in Brazil, though, winning the 1996 Paulista state championship with Palmeiras.
A product of the Real Madrid academy who went on to score 18 goals in 94 first-team outings and collect LaLiga, Champions League, Copa del Rey and Club World Cup winner’s medals, Jese finished his career in Brazil.
The forward – a key member of the Spain side which won the 2012 European U19 Championship – had a short stint Coritiba before retiring in 2023.
Part of the Bulgaria side which reached the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup, striker Velko Yotov had spells abroad in Spain, the USA and Argentina.
He spent much of the second half of the 90s in the latter, playing for Newell’s Old Boys while a kid named Lionel was making a name for himself in the club’s youth system.
After failing to make a single appearance for Manchester City, centre-back Pablo Mari left Europe altogether to join Brazilian giants Flamengo in 2019.
A domestic champion and Copa Libertadores winner with the decorated Rio outfit, Mari got another crack at English football with Arsenal – where he did actually feature in the first team, albeit sparingly.
Brussels-born defender Mikael Yourassowsky represented clubs in his native Belgium, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Canada, Mexico and Argentina over the course of a globetrotting 14-year career.
He actually headed to South America relatively early on, swapping Genk for Boca Juniors in 2004 but spending barely a year with the iconic Buenos Aires side.
Having made the bulk of his career appearances for Girona, close to where he was born, Alex Granell seemingly fancied a dramatic change in 2020.
The midfielder headed to Bolivia’s most successful club, Bolivar – based in the landlocked South American nation’s dizzyingly high capital, La Paz – and, after a stint back in Europe with Lommel of Belgium, returned in 2024 for a second spell.
After developing through the youth system at Newcastle, goalkeeper Mark Cook ended up making most of his professional appearances for non-League sides Harrogate Town and Blyth Spartans.
In between turning out for those two outfits, though, Cook played two games for the biggest club in Peru, Universitario – having been contacted by their manager, none other than Newcastle legend Nobby Solano.
Born in North London, George Saunders spent time with Arsenal as a kid – but he never played a minute of professional football in England.
After moving to Spain with his family, the midfielder featured for Valencian lower-league side Eldense, but he ended up making Colombia his home, turning out for six clubs over there – beginning with one of the country’s most renowned outfits, America de Cali – and gaining Colombian citizenship.
Remembered (or forgotten, depending on your allegiance) in England for flopping at Newcastle, Xisco had a couple of spells far from Spain later in his career.
A Thai double winner with Maungthong United in 2016, the striker went on to spend a year-and-a-half with Penarol – the most successful club in Uruguay.
The first and, at the time of writing, only player to play professional football in all six FIFA-recognised continental associations, goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel turned out for a whopping 25 clubs – only two of which were from his native Germany.
Pfannenstiel – who had two loan spells with English non-Leaguers Bradford Park Avenue – completed that remarkable set of six when he joined Brazil’s Atletico Hermann Aichinger in 2008.
A three-cap Portuguese international who played in England for Tottenham and Birmingham – winning the 1998/99 League Cup with Spurs – Jose Dominguez concluded his career with Vasco da Gama of Brazil.
The ex-Sporting Lisbon and Kaiserslautern winger made a handful of appearances for the Rio outfit in 2005, before retiring at the age of 31.
London-born striker Colin Kazim-Richards earned 37 caps for Turkey at international level – and he represented clubs in Europe, North America and South America.
In the summer of 2016, he left Celtic for Brazil, where he played for Coritiba – scoring on his debut in a derby against Athletico Paranense – then Corinthians, winning national and state titles with the latter.
After playing mostly for clubs in France, England and Spain – scoring 10 goals for Barcelona – Euro 2020 semi-finalist Martin Braithwaite opted for a new challenge in 2024, joining Brazil’s Gremio as a replacement for Luis Suarez.
And he enjoyed an eventful debut for the multiple Copa Libertadores winners, bagging a brace and scoring an own goal on his debut – a 3-1 victory over Cuiaba.
One of Sporting Lisbon’s best players of the late 60s and early 70s, Fernando Peres won two Portuguese titles before heading to Brazil in 1974.
The winger – an unused squad member as Portugal finished third at the 1966 World Cup – helped Vasco da Gama to top-flight success in 1974 and Sport Recife to the 1975 Pernambucano state championship, before finishing up with northeastern Brazilian outfit Treze.
Manchester City legend Georgi Kinkladze arrived in the Premier League in 1995, having caught the eye while starring for hometown club Dinamo Tbilisi.
And it was during those early years of his career that ‘Kinky’ took his dazzling dribbling abilities to Argentina, making a handful of appearances on loan at Boca Juniors.
A late bloomer who didn’t establish himself at the top level until his mid-20s, 21-cap Spain striker Dani Guiza had two curious loan spells away from Getafe during the 2010s.
The first of those was with Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta’zim, the second with Cerro Porteno of Paraguay – where the Euro 2008 winner made quite an impact, helping them to the 2013 Primera Division Clausura (the Paraguayan top flight runs a split season) and scoring 12 goals in his one full season.
An important part of France’s run to the final of their home Euros in 2016, Dimitri Payet made the 2015/16 PFA Team of the Year for his scintillating performances in a West Ham shirt.
The attacking midfielder returned to France in 2017, though, re-joining Marseille and tearing it up in Ligue 1 for the next six years – before moving on to Vasco da Gama and helping them avoid relegation from the Brazilian top flight.
An integral part of Atletico Madrid’s success under Diego Simeone – winning the LaLiga title and two Europa League crowns, as well as reaching two Champions League finals – Juanfran saw out his career with two years at Sao Paulo.
Capped 22 times by Spain, the right-back featured 56 times for the Brazilian outfit before returning home to take up futsal in his hometown of Crevillent, Alicante.
A veteran of over 150 appearances for both Manchester United and Fulham – winning the 1947/48 FA Cup with the former – Charlie Mitten was one of three English players to join Colombia’s Independiente Santa Fe in 1950.
The outside forward, along with Stoke City duo Neil Franklin and George Mountford, made the move amid disputes over the £12-a-week maximum wage for footballers in Britain and went on to score 15 goals in 34 games for the club based in the Colombian capital, Bogota.
Born in France to a French mother and an Argentine faither, Hugo Bargas began his professional football journey with All Boys of Buenos Aires.
The forward’s itinerant career later took him to clubs in Bolivia (Blooming and Oriente Petrolero) and Ecuador (Deportivo Cuenca), as well as a string more in Argentina (via the Netherlands, Italy, Azerbaijan, Kuwait and El Salvador).
One of Italy’s greatest-ever midfielders and among the best in the world at his peak, 2006 World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi was almost a one-club man at Roma.
He fancied a stint in South America before hanging up his boots, however, featuring a handful of times for Boca Juniors – where he was reunited with former Roma teammate Nicolas Burdisso, Boca’s sporting director at the time.
Forever a legend in France as the man who scored the golden goal to clinch Euro 2000 glory, David Trezeguet had spells in Argentina at both ends of his career.
A prolific goalscorer for Juventus in his prime, Trezeguet was born in Normandy to Argentine parents and grew up in Buenos Aires – where he started out at Platense and, the best part of two decades later, fired River Plate back to the top flight, before spending a season with Newell’s Old Boys.
Capped nine times by Yugoslavia, Dejan Petkovic mad a handful of appearances for Real Madrid in the mid-90s.
The attacking midfielder would spend almost the entire rest of his playing days outside Europe, though – mostly in Brazil, where he chalked up well over 200 appearances across spells with Vitoria, Flamengo, where he won the 2009 top-flight (Brasileiro) title, Vasco da Gama, Fluminense, Goias, Santos and Atletico Mineiro.
