With a population of just under NINE MILLION people, the British capital is a hotbed for top level footballers. However, whilst most English talent stay in the UK, several players from London in particular have gone abroad to ply their trade elsewhere in Europe.
To be more specific, many have ended up in the Italian Serie A of which some don't even represent the England national team; here is a summary of the seven best London born footballers currently playing in Italy.
Ademola Lookman - Born in Wandsworth
The 2024 'African Men's Footballer of the Year' started in the youth setup at Charlton Athletic before spending the early stages of his career by hopping clubs from Everton to RB Leipzig, Fulham and Leicester City.
He then moved to Serie A in the summer of 2022 by joining Atalanta and immediately hit the ground running with 21 goal involvements in his first season as La Dea finished in 5th place and qualified for the Europa League.
The following season was also excellent for the then 26 year-old striker as he notched up 27 goal involvements across all competitions leading Atalanta to a 4th place finish in Serie A and UEFA Champions League qualification.
However, most notable was his incredible hattrick in the Europa League final as La Dea smashed an unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen side to register the club's first major title in over 60 years.
Despite winning a FIFA U-20 World Cup for England, Lookman chose to represent Nigeria through his parent's heritage as he appeared for the Super Eagles 30 times including an incredible run to the 2024 AFCON final.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek - Born in Lewisham
Raised in south-east London, Loftus-Cheek joined Chelsea at the age of eight before going through the age groups and eventually making 103 senior appearances for the Blues.
Then in the summer of 2023 he moved to AC Milan where in the past 18 months he has been a consistent presence across all competitions in the Rossoneri midfield as the club finished runners up in Serie A last season.
Loftus-Cheek has represented England throughout the youth stages before making his full England debut in 2017 and appearing for the Three Lions during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Tammy Abraham - Born in Camberwell
Abraham also joined Chelsea at the age of eight before making his way through the youth set up and towards a senior debut in 2016.
Despite winning the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup in 2021, he made a £34 million move to Serie A and linked up with José Mourinho's AS Roma in that same summer.
Having traded the English capital for the Italian one, Abraham ended his first campaign abroad by winning the UEFA Europa Conference League in its inaugural season.
After spearheading the Giallorossi's front line for two years, Abraham lost the 2023 Europa League final before an ACL injury at the end of the that season ruled him out for the majority of the following campaign before he joined AC Milan on loan in the summer of 2024.
Born in South London to Nigerian parents, Abraham represented England form U18 to U21 before making a senior debut in November 2017.
Samuel Iling-Junior - Born in Islington
Iling-Junior also joined Chelsea at the age of eight but after spending a decade in the youth set-up he chose to move to Juventus in the summer of 2020 without making a single senior appearance for the Blues.
He spent his first season in Turin playing for the reserves, he then stepped up to a Serie A debut in October 2022 but after another season of failing to nail down a spot in the line-up; he made a permanent move to Aston Villa in relation to a swap deal with Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz.
However, Iling-Junior didn't immediately return to the UK as his new employers loaned him straight back to Serie A club Bologna on a season long deal where the skilled winger has so far struggled for game time.
The former Cobham youngster has represented England at every age group from Under 15 to Under 21 but much like his Chelsea career is yet to make to a senior appearance for the Three Lions.
Jordan Zemura - Born in Lambeth
Zemura started out at QPR and Charlton Athletic before moving to Bournemouth where he made a senior debut in 2021 and followed it up with another 54 across two seasons before his contract expired in 2023.
The highly rated left-back then moved on a free to Udinese where he has served as dependable squad player ever since.
Zemura never represented England at youth levels instead choosing to play for the country where his parents where born with 16 appearances for Zimbabwe including two at the 2022 African Cup of Nations.
Brooke Norton-Cuffy - Born in Pimlico
Initially starting out at Chelsea, Norton-Cuffy settled in at Arsenal's academy but after four different loan spells and no senior appearances for the Gunners, he made the move to Serie A club Genoa in the summer of 2024 where he is yet to make a start in any competition.
Omari Forson - Born in Hammersmith
Having spent time at the youth set-ups of Tottenham and West Ham, Forson settled in at Manchester United and worked his way up to a Premier League debut in 2024; despite this, the talented winger moved on a free the same summer to Italian club Monza where he is yet to make a start.
Honorary Mention - Fikayo Tomori
As Tomori was born in the Canadian city of Calgary, he doesn't directly qualify for this article but considering he moved to the British Capital before his first birthday he is in every sense a Londoner.
Tomori like many others started out at Chelsea's academy before making a handful of loan moves around England until eventually leaving the Blues to join AC Milan in 2021 and signing permanently that same summer.
He has since been a been a key figure in the Rossoneri defence leading the club to a long-awaited Serie A title in 2022 alongside being runners up to rivals Inter Milan in 2021 and 2024.
