Premier League Players’ Cars: Past and Present

With the exception of the Leicester City squad – who each received a brand new BMW i8 for winning the Premier League last season – most EPL players choose their own wheels. Here we take a look at some of the league's most ostentatious four-wheeled purchases.

bankerwin/Bigstock.com

This extremely capable off-roader is also one of the most costly SUVs available – especially if you choose all those add-ons, which many a footballer has. Premier League legends Jamie Carragher, Jermain Defoe, Frank Lampard and Ryan Giggs all own one of these.

VanderWolf Images/Bigstock.com

But playing in the English Prmeier League doesn’t mean you have to buy an English-built SUV. BMW's X5 has proved a big hit with top-flight footballers. Powerful engines and great handling make this one of the best SUVs out there – and it's just about low key enough not to draw too much attention.

Thampapon1/Bigstock.com

Less under-the-radar is the Bentley Continental GT, which has been given the label 'footballers' car' perhaps more than any other. Among the high profile owners of this refined grand tourer is ex-Manchester City player Mario Balotelli, who made it look a little less refined by giving it a camouflage paint job.

Rqs/Bigstock.com

Another footballer with little regard for subtly was attacking midfielder Stephen Ireland, who gave his R8 a dazzling white and blue colour scheme. He is also known for having a pink-wheeled Range Rover in his Man City days.

Kurmyshov/Bigstock.com

The standard Range Rover is also popular with footballers across the Premiership. However, it’s unlikely many EPL buyers of this 4x4 will appreciate its off-road abilities, let alone its fuel efficiency credentials. After all, some of them could afford to buy a new one each and every week!

Naiyyer/Bigstock.com

Another big footballer favourite, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (produced from 2003-2010) was ideal for those who don’t feel that being watched by millions every week is enough to fill their egoic void. Gull-wing doors and an original price tag in excess of £300,000 made this a real head-turner. Former Tottenham defender William Gallas, however, decided to dazzle onlookers even more, wrapping his own example in mirror-like film.

Artzzz/Bigstock.com

Owning a Cadillac Escalade may already suggest a delicate ego, but having it painted gold takes things to a whole new level. That's what former Leeds player El Hadji Diouf did. Was he displaying an eccentric sense of humour – or didn’t he get enough attention in the EPL?

By Oxyman - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1807783

OK, this isn’t exactly footballer transport, but at Portsmouth the worst-performing player at training was told they had to drive home in one of these three-wheeled monstrosities. Luckily for the attention-seeking footballers concerned, it was pimped out to look (a bit) like The A-Team van.

I ain’t getting in no three-wheeler, fooool.