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An outrageously good XI of English players abroad in 2026-27: Stones, Gordon, Spence… Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter and Real Madrid are among the elite European clubs now boasting English players in their ranks. It wasn’t so long ago that an English footballer abroad was a rarity. Back in the Golden Generation era, Owen Hargreaves playing in the Bundesliga felt like something of a novelty. That’s all changed in recent years, with more and more of England’s top players testing themselves at Europe’s biggest clubs. We’ve compiled a full English XI playing overseas in 2026-27. GK: Charlie Setford Who? Fair question. By their nature, these XIs often have a player or two that sticks out like a sore thumb. And this one is no exception. Setford fills that role in this team, and we had to plumb the depths of Transfermarkt to find him. While there was tough competition for other spots here, particularly in defence, for whatever reason decent English keepers never seem to move abroad. The older brother of top-rated Arsenal prospect Tommy, Charlie was born in Haarlem and has represented both the Netherlands and England at youth level. He’s come through Ajax’s academy and won their ‘Talent of the Future’ award back in 2022, following in the footsteps of the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Christian Eriksen and Matthijs de Ligt. There’s a chance that Setford will come good at Ajax. But he’s 22 now and is yet to make his senior debut, having failed to make a single matchday squad in last season’s loan at MK Dons. Bear with us, there are some proper superstars further forward. RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold From winning the league with Liverpool and talking about his ambitions of winning the Ballon d’Or to not even making England’s 26-man World Cup squad. It’s been a rough 12 months for Alexander-Arnold. Following the appointment of Jose Mourinho and signing of Denzel Dumfries, things might not get much better at Real Madrid. We might’ve followed Thomas Tuchel’s lead and chosen Trevoh Chalobah (Como) or Jarrell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen) here. An honourable mention for Ainsley Maitland-Niles at Lyon, too. But we do have faith in Alexander-Arnold’s ability. He’s lucky that there’s a paucity of solid left-back options though, or else he’d have been booted out for Inter’s latest signing. CB: Charlie Cresswell The Leeds United academy graduate had been linked with a move back to England this summer, having impressed at Toulouse. Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Brighton were among the clubs linked. The 23-year-old rising star, who won two European Under-21 Championships with the Young Lions, did get a transfer. But he’ll remain in France, joining a Rennes side that can offer Europa League football this season. We’ve stuck our necks out to include Cresswell at the expense of some more established internationals, such as Scudetto winner Fikayo Tomori, but we fully expect him to be pushing to make Tuchel’s squad for Euro 2028. CB: John Stones This could have been John Stones’ final World Cup, although at just 32, there’s still plenty of football left in him. The defender was adamant that he was fit enough to feature more regularly for Manchester City last season, and his assured performances at the World Cup certainly suggested he had a case. A move to Serie A could give him a new lease of life and potentially extend his international career by another tournament or two, with Italy proving a particularly forgiving environment for ageing veterans. We can’t wait to see how he’ll fare at Inter, alongside… LB: Djed Spence Spence can probably feel a bit hard done by not to feature in his favoured right-back role in this XI, given the World Cup he just had. Let’s see how the next couple of years go. A couple of Scudetti and he’ll be miles ahead of Alexander-Arnold. For this XI, though, he’s slotting in on the left. Who else are we gonna go with? *checks notes* Atletico Marbella’s Sam Beard or VfR Aalen’s Reece Hannam. Yeah, maybe not. DM: Tyler Morton There has been some talk of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid being interested in Adam Wharton. Should that come to pass, he’d be a lock for this midfield. English football has traditionally failed to produce continental-style tempo-setters, and that remains the case, but Merseyside’s very own Morton has thrived adapting to Ligue 1 football at Lyon. “The manager has given me the reins to play my football and I’m loving it,” Morton told the BBC. “There’s no better position than number six, getting on the ball constantly, finding passes between the lines and using my brain to dictate games. Paulo Fonseca’s an incredible manager. He’s helped me so much. I’ve discovered things I didn’t even know I had as a footballer.” CM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek The former Chelsea midfielder has won just one England cap since 2018, and having now turned 30, another international call-up looks increasingly unlikely. Yet there was a time not so long ago when Loftus-Cheek was enjoying something of a renaissance at the San Siro and putting himself firmly in the Three Lions picture. England are understandably looking towards the next generation in midfield, but a fully fit Loftus-Cheek remains a hugely capable and dynamic No.8. CM: Jude Bellingham FWR: Tyrhys Dolan One to be filed alongside Setford in being a bit of an outlier in contrast to some of the world-class stars elsewhere on this teamsheet. That’s no disrespect to Dolan, who is a perfectly serviceable La Liga winger, but he’s not quite at the level of most of the other names on this list. But right-sided attackers were a bit lacking, and so the Manchester-born Espanyol winger makes it in. FWL: Anthony Gordon Barcelona went over thirty years without an English footballer. Not since the days of Mark Hughes and Gary Lineker did an English footballer wear the iconic blue and garnet colours, and then they recruited two in two summers. The reigning La Liga champions took the eyebrow-raising decision to sign Anthony Gordon for double the fee it would’ve taken to make Marcus Rashford’s loan permanent. That’s a show of faith (and reminder of Rashford’s sky-high wages). It’ll be fascinating to see how Gordon gets on in Catalunya. With Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres both gone, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him occasionally pressed into service as an emergency centre-forward. ST: Harry Kane READ NEXT: Ranking the 10 highest-paid English footballers: Kane, Bellingham, Saka… TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every English club to have played European football?