Manchester United's striker Marcus Rashford is reported to be a potential loan transfer target for European clubs, with AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund among the teams interested in acquiring the services of the 27-year-old player.
We're all familiar with the names of Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho, who followed in the footsteps of stars like David Beckham, Chris Waddle, and Kevin Keegan by achieving significant success in Europe during their careers.
What about the England internationals who made less prominent overseas moves? Here are eight Englishmen who had stints abroad that largely evaded the spotlight.
Joe Hart
This news story got a lot of attention back then, but it's beginning to feel like it was all just a dream.
After falling out of favor at Manchester City due to Pep Guardiola's emphasis on playing from the back, Hart spent Guardiola's first season at the club without a significant trophy on loan at Torino.
He was still England’s top goalkeeper at that time and started almost every game of the 2016-17 Serie A season, but his reputation suffered after the club's chairman Urbano Cairo made a harsh comment saying “we didn’t expect so many mistakes from an England international”. Ouch.
He subsequently returned to England's shores on a loan deal with West Ham before joining Burnley permanently in 2018.
Micah Richards
To be fair, you might remember Richards at Fiorentina because he often brings it up in his post-playing career commentary.
During his time in Florence, the booming-voiced right-back developed a close bond with Mohamed Salah and was part of an eclectic team that also included Josip Ilicic, Alberto Aquilani, David Pizarro, Juan Cuadrado, Federico Bernardeschi and Joaquin.
Vincenzo Montella's team, in fact, finished fourth during Richards' 2014-15 loan spell and reached the semifinals of the Coppa Italia and the Europa League. However, Richards became somewhat of a sparing player, making just 14 starts overall.
Teddy Sheringham
Sheringham is the quintessential English football experience. 1980s Millwall. Two remarkable periods with Tottenham Hotspur. A crucial role in Manchester United's successful treble of 1998-99 and notable spells with Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth and West Ham.
Among all the other things, however, he gained experience for a season with the Swedish team Djurgardens IF on loan from Millwall before making his England debut.
He scored 13 goals in 21 appearances in the Swedish second division, helping the club earn promotion to the top flight in 1985. He then returned to Millwall, continued to perform well, and established himself as a consistent part of the team from then on.
Lee Sharpe
Sharpe's narrative has become a familiar one. A profoundly skilled player at Torquay United, a promising transfer to Manchester United prior to a decline at Leeds United.
Did you know the winger had two absolutely unremarkable spells outside of their home country?
The first was after he'd fallen out of favour at Elland Road, where David O'Leary loaned him to Sampdoria during the 1998-99 season. However, he only made a handful of appearances under David Platt before O'Leary replaced him with a young Luciano Spalletti by the end of the year. He finished the unsuccessful season with just three appearances in Sampdoria's relegation battle.
Later, he spent a brief period with Icelandic club Grindavik, announcing his retirement at the age of 32. The following year, in 2004, he exited retirement for a similarly short term at non-league team Garforth Town.
Peter Crouch
The six-foot-seven striker played for 11 teams in England, rising from his amateur start at a lesser-known club, Dulwich Hamlet, to starting in a Champions League final for Liverpool. A truly remarkable career journey.
After his loan stint at Dulwich, Tottenham sent a 19-year-old Crouch to IFK Hassleholm, who were playing in the Swedish third-tier division at that time. He scored three goals in eight appearances for the club before his parent club transferred him to Queens Park Rangers.
We have listed six of his clubs, so there should be no excuses for not getting a perfect score on our Crouchy quiz.
Ryan Shawcross
English international? Ryan Shawcross.
spectacular long-range bicycle kick.
To gain experience with the Belgian club.
In addition to Eriksson's squad, other notable players including Danny Simpson, Jonny Evans, Fraizer Campbell, Darron Gibson, and Ritchie De Laet trained at Busraustadion during that year.
Ryan Mason
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His early days with Spurs saw him temporarily transferred on at least three occasions to Doncaster Rovers, Millwall, Swindon Town and Yeovil Town.
Buried amid the traditional rites of passage of playing in the Football League was a single spell with French side Lorient. At the time, the player was 21 years old, however, he made no appearances for the first team in the Ligue 1 league championship, opting instead to continue his development by playing in several games for their reserve team.
David Bentley
It's surprising, but Bentley is less than a year older than his former Tottenham teammate Luka Modric.
As Modric continues to excel professionally at Real Madrid, Bentley, by contrast, stopped playing over ten years ago at the age of 29. He decided to end his career, saying that he had lost his passion for football.
To be fair, we can understand why it happened given the way his career fizzled out with a series of unremarkable loans away from Tottenham. Spells at Birmingham City, West Ham, and a return to Blackburn Rovers failed to rekindle his spark.
Among those was a half a season with FC Rostov, where he became the first Englishman to play in the Russian Premier League. He made eight appearances for the club but was unable to score any goals or provide assists, and his time in the port city ended prematurely due to an ankle injury.
