With the new Premier League season now well underway, there are currently 74 players out injured and unable to play.
Everton have the dubious honour of having the most players listed as injured, with Wayne Rooney’s dramatic-looking eye injury sustained at the weekend keeping the Toffees above West Ham in the current Premier League injury table.
As injuries have the potential to wreak havoc on football seasons – for teams as well as players – we thought it would be a good idea to identify who the most injury prone players in the Premier League are. To do so, we teamed up with injury law specialists CL Legal and used their data to create the below list of Premier League footballers who have suffered the most injuries in the last 10 seasons (since the 2007/08 season).
Wayne Rooney – 66
He may have recently returned to his hometown club, but while he was at Manchester United Rooney racked up some very impressive statistics – becoming the first English player to win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Europa League, League Cup and Club World Cup. He also became both Man U’s and England’s all-time top goalscorer in the process.
In among all these statistics is one that he may not be quite so proud about, though. Over the past 10 and a bit seasons Rooney has sustained a total of 66 different injuries – or 6.6 injuries per season – which makes him by far the most injured player in the Premier League.
Jonny Evans – 47
Rooney’s former Manchester United teammate moved to West Brom in the summer of 2015 looking for more first-team football. Unfortunately, his injury luck has followed him to the West Midlands.
While at United, Evans suffered a total of 35 injuries since the start of the 2007/08 season. Not a great stat, but since he’s been at West Brom the injury rate has actually increased. During his first two seasons with the Baggies the Belfast-born defender has suffered 12 different injuries.
Daniel Sturridge – 45
As anyone who follows Premier League football will tell you, it’s no surprise to see Daniel Sturridge feature highly in this list.
The former Man City and Chelsea striker has suffered a horrendous injury record since making his debut in 2007, which has severely blighted what could have been a stellar career for both club and country.
After making his Premier League debut, Daniel Sturridge has sustained 45 different injuries while playing for Man City, Chelsea, Bolton (loan) and his current club Liverpool.
Theo Walcott – 45
Another once-promising youngster whose progress has been hampered by injury, Arsenals Theo Walcott joins his England team-mate Sturridge on 45 injuries.
Walcott famously signed professional terms with Arsenal on his 17th birthday, and was judged to be such a talent that he was included in England’s 2006 World Cup squad before even kicking a ball for Arsenal.
Unfortunately for him – and Arsenal and England fans – his huge potential has never quite been realised, with constant spells in the treatment room surely playing a part in that.
Moussa Dembele – 44
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino recently called Dembele a ‘genius’, while also explaining the Belgian midfielder’s game time has to be managed carefully due to his ongoing injury problems.
When fit, Dembele is one of the most effective players for Spurs – racking up very impressive passing and dribbling stats – but is now seemingly unable to play more than one game a week.
Abou Diaby – 42
Abou Diaby’s Arsenal career spanned 10 seasons, in which the midfielder only made 180 appearances. In fact, in a playing career that lasted a total of 14 seasons (for Auxerre, Arsenal and Marseille), Diaby only played 198 games – which works out as less than 15 games per season.
When he was fit to play, Diaby looked like the only player capable of living up to the ‘new Patrick Viera’ tag that all Arsenal midfielders used to be burdened with. Unfortunately, such a terrible injury record meant he never really had the chance to fulfil his potential.
Samir Nasri – 40
He may be currently contracted to Man City, but much of Samir Nasri’s Premier League has been spent playing for Arsenal – who certainly seem to have more than their fair share of injury prone players.
Nasri has suffered an average of 5 injuries per season since he first joined Arsenal in 2008.
Vincent Kompany – 40
It looked like the start of this season was a new beginning for Vincent Kompany, whose recent injury woes appeared to be over as he started the first three league games before a calf injury put him back on the sidelines.
It’s a familiar story for the Belgian centre-back, who has now suffered 40 different injuries since joining City in 2008.
Kieran Gibbs – 38
Another Arsenal player to make the list, left-back Kieran Gibbs has never managed to live up to his potential as the natural successor to Ashley Cole – for both Arsenal and England.
He hasn’t been helped by a frustrating injury record that has prevented him from cementing a regular place in the starting line-up for Arsenal over the years.
Gibbs made his debut for Arsenal in the 2007/08 season, and since then has suffered 38 different injuries.
Steven Pienaar – 38
Now winding down his career in his native South Africa for Bidvest Wits, the former Everton, Tottenham and Sunderland attacking midfielder had a very frustrating 10 seasons in the Premier League – racking up more injuries than goals.
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