Journeyman can often be used as a derisory term. A journeyman isn’t considered good enough to stay with one team, shipped off as soon as he’s determined surplus to a club’s needs. A journeyman is seen as more mercenary than teammate.
But Sebastián Abreu is more than a striker for hire.
Abreu is a Uruguayan forward who holds the record for most clubs played for by one player. As of the end of 2018, the 42-year-old has played for 27 different clubs, while also making 70 appearances with the Uruguay national team. El Loco’s record stands as a testament to garra charrua and his willingness to play whenever, wherever to continue in the sport he loves.
The numbers behind Abreu’s 23-year career are staggering. We don’t even have the stamina to tell you every club he’s played for, so we’ll just scroll them here:
Abreu’s most expensive move came in 1998 when Argentina’s San Lorenzo sold him to Deportivo La Coruña in Spain’s LaLiga for about $10 million.
Abreu has played in 11 different countries: Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Greece, Ecuador, Paraguay, El Salvador and Chile.
Abreu has won trophies with five different clubs: San Lorenzo, Nacional, River Plate, Botafogo and Santa Tecla.
Abreu was his league’s top scorer in 2001 (Uruguay), 2005 (Liga MX), 2006 (Liga MX) and 2017 (Chilean B).
Abreu appeared at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups and has scored 26 times for La Celeste.
To top it all off, El Loco is a regular on South American TV, with 19 credits on IMDB, mostly as a TV analyst, but he also has his own YouTube series.
Sebastián Abreu has kept himself — and his movers — busy for the last 23 years.
