If you ask most people what they know about footballers they will list the obvious perks of their profession. These include hefty weekly wages, luxurious vacations, expensive cars, huge mansions and of course, dating attractive women. Footballers are known for attracting women like how their governing body FIFA attracts scandals. These women range from models to singers to actresses and going out with them is sure to make one the envy of the town, not to mention the team. It’s almost like there’s a caveat in their contracts with the stipulation that you must have a hot girlfriend/wife or both if you play for a certain team that rhymes with Kelsy.

Some women grow up aspiring to date footballers. A shopping trip here and a haircut there, they will do whatever it takes to improve their appearance and make themselves stand out. They then frequent the players’ favourite haunts in the hope that one of them will take notice. This tactics have worked for some while others have been left lamenting over their wasted efforts. Their motivations are usually varied however. Some date them to raise their profile in order for their careers to flourish, others just want fame, fortune and the luxury of not having to work for a living while some genuinely do it for love. The reality is that some of these footballers are just a bunch of players (excuse the pun) looking for a good time and nothing more.

This however, has not deterred some women from dating more than one. It could be a coincidence or some may just have a thing for footballers. Thus, players often find themselves seeing another’s ex. The conclusion is that women love footballers and footballers love women. Here is a list of the times footballers found themselves in such a situation.

15. Wayne Rooney/Mario Balotelli – Jenny Thompson

The term ‘dating’ is used loosely on this occasion. Thompson first came to the public eye after it was revealed that she had a couple of liaisons with Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney while working as an escort. This all went down while Rooney’s wife was pregnant with their firstborn son.

She again was in the spotlight when Mario Balotelli’s team outed their affair in a bid to apparently avoid being blackmailed. This ultimately led to Balotelli’s breakup with then girlfriend Raffaella Fico. It’s safe to say miss Thompson hasn’t exactly endeared herself to the public.

14. Sergio Ramos/Alexis Ruano/Sergio Sanchez -Elisabeth Reyes

Reyes is a model and occasional moderator who just happens to be a former Miss Spain. Thus it was probably no surprise that she went on to bag Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos. She and Ramos dated for about a year then broke up.

She then went on to date Getafe defender Alexis Ruano but this was also not meant to be.

She ended up with yet another footballer in the form of Sergio Sanchez who plays for Panathinaikos. He ended up being the one as things led to the altar. It is said that third time’s a charm.

13. Mesut Ozil/Matteo Ferrari – Aida Yespica

Yespica is a model who once took part in the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant. She is also known as the alleged reason Real Madrid shipped Mesut Ozil off to Arsenal. Apparently, the German international kept flying from Spain to Milan every free chance he got in order to see her. This is thought to have led to a dip in his form prompting Madrid to sell him as they felt he was not concentrating enough on his career.

Before Ozil came into the picture, she had dated the impressively named Matteo Ferrari for about two years and they have a son together.

12. Ryan Giggs/Jermain Defoe – Imogen Thomas

Thomas is a model who was previously crowned Miss Wales. She also participated in the reality television programme Big Brother. She had an alleged affair with former Manchester United player and current assistant manager Ryan Giggs. Giggs had obtained a gagging order to keep his identity from being released when the story broke out but this did not work as the ban could not extend to media that was not from the UK.

She had previously dated Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe for a few months. She claimed the reason for their breakup was that she was a homebody while he liked to go out a lot.

11. Jamie O’Hara/Jermain Defoe/Marcus Bent/Teddy Sheringham – Danielle Lloyd

Danielle Lloyd is a glamour model and a former Miss England and Miss Great Britain. She dated current Stevenage manager Teddy Sheringham between 2006 and 2007. Sheringham was actually a judge in the Miss Great Britain contest Danielle took part in and people believed this to be the reason she won it.

She then briefly dated Marcus Bent back in 2007 and later on that year started dating Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe, whose previous girlfriend was actually her friend. The friendship was obviously gone after that.

In 2009 she started dating Fulham player Jamie O’Hara. They got married in 2012 but Danielle filed for divorce in 2014 amid claims that her husband had been unfaithful.

10. Cristiano Ronaldo/Marcus Bent – Gemma Atkinson

Atkinson is a glamour model who dated Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo in the early stages of 2007 while he was still making a name for himself at Manchester United. Like most of his previous relationships, this one only lasted for some months.

Prior to Ronaldo, she had dated former Everton striker Marcus Bent. After he briefly dated Danielle Lloyd, he got back together with Atkinson and they got engaged. They broke up shorty after and in a subsequent interview, Bent said he did not like the media attention he got from dating her and Lloyd.

Atkinson is currently focused on her acting career so who knows whether she’ll snap up another footballer.

9. Christian Vieri/Reginaldo – Elisabetta Canalis

Canalis is an Italian model and actress who started her career as a dancer. She dated former Inter Milan striker and Italy international Christian Vieri for around four years. They broke up in 2004. She went on to have a brief relationship with Brazilian footballer and current free agent Reginaldo Ferreira da Silva in 2008.

She however stole the headlines the next year after she started dating Hollywood actor George Clooney but they broke up after two years together. She got married last year and gave birth to her daughter this September. Being with someone who’s away from the limelight seems to be going well for her.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo/Sergio Ramos – Nereida Gallardo

Ramos allegedly hooked up with Nereida Gallardo after meeting her at a Madrid nightclub back in 2007. This isn’t particularly hard to believe as he previously had a reputation for being a bit of a playboy.

She is also said to have met Ronaldo at a nightclub in Mallorca in early 2008. The pair dated for some months and were even pictured having a jolly good time on vacation. This was not a common occurrence as Ronaldo is rarely pictured with his many rumoured girlfriends. You can’t help but wonder if things would have been awkward among the three of them if Ronaldo had still been with her when he moved to Real Madrid.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo/Jermaine Pennant – Alice Goodwin

Alice Goodwin is as you might have guessed, a glamour model. She was rumoured to have hooked up with Ronaldo back in 2009. As is mostly the case with Ronaldo’s other hookups, this remains unconfirmed as he usually never responds to such allegations. She became linked to former Arsenal player Jermaine Pennant and they got married last year.

Pennant is well known for his alcohol related misdemeanors as he has been charged with drunk driving more times than Ronaldo has scored for his teams. This behaviour is in stark contrast to Ronaldo’s teetotalism. She clearly couldn’t have picked them more different.

6. Mario Balotelli/Cheikhou Kouyate – Fanny Neguesha

Neguesha was Balotelli’s Irina Shayk, meaning the girl we thought would put an end to the playboy ways and make the guy want to settle down eventually. This certainly seemed to be happening when they got engaged right before last year’s FIFA World Cup. He couldn’t stop gushing about how happy he was that she’d said yes. However, they broke up just a few months later.

This year, rumours began swirling about a relationship with West Ham player Cheikhou Kouyate after she shared photos of them on Instagram, and was spotted shopping with him in Milan. Since Super Mario is back at AC Milan, perhaps he would have given them some shopping tips had he bumped into them. Just as long as there’s no mention of camouflage.

5. Kevin-Prince Boateng/Christian Vieri – Melissa Satta

Satta is a television presenter and model who has been featured on Sports Illustrated. She dated retired Italian player Christian Vieri from 2006 to 2011. She started dating Schalke player Kevin-Prince Boateng in the latter stages of 2011 and they got engaged the following year. They have a son together. Satta certainly knows how to get tongues wagging. While Boateng was still playing for AC Milan, she blamed his injury woes on the fact that they were engaging in a lot of bedroom activity. Considering his recurring muscle injuries that season, Milan’s hierarchy weren’t particularly thrilled by this revelation.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo/Blerim Dzemaili – Alessia Tedeschi

Alessia Tedeschi is an Italian model and actress who was rumoured to have dated Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year following his breakup with longtime girlfriend Irina Shayk. Ronaldo reportedly personally invited her to Madrid to watch last season’s Champions League semi final match between Real Madrid and Juventus. This was perhaps corroborated by the fact that she posted a shot from Madrid’s stadium before the match had taken place. She was also at the Monaco Grand Prix which Cristiano had also attended.

Previously, she was linked to Swiss footballer Blerim Dzemaili who plays as a midfielder for Genoa.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo/Mario Balotelli – Raffaella Fico

Fico is believed to have dated Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

However, it’s her tumultuous relationship with Don Juan Mario Balotelli that was more public. They started dating in late 2011 and broke up a few months later due to Balotelli’s infidelity. Shortly after their breakup, she announced her pregnancy provoking the ire of Balotelli who refused to acknowledge that the child was his. During her pregnancy, they briefly reunited but then separated again. Balotelli insisted on carrying out a DNA test and only then did he admit to being the father. They’ve learnt to coexist nowadays which must be a relief after all the back and forth that had gone on previously.

2. Samir Nasri/Freddie Ljungberg/Keiran Richardson/DarrenBent/Jermaine Pennant – Anara Atanes

Atanes dated former Arsenal player Freddie Ljungberg for a while and their relationship was plagued with allegations of her cheating on him with Keiran Richardson. This came after she and Richardson were spotted together at a dinner for his then club Manchester United.

She is also rumoured to have dated Darren Bent and Jermaine Pennant.

She is currently dating former Arsenal and now Manchester City player Samir Nasri. After Nasri was left out of the French squad for the 2014 World Cup by France coach Didier Deschamps, she took to Twitter to protest. Here, she proceeded to insult both Deschamps and France. Here’s to hoping Manchester City never exclude him from the squad list.

1. Karim Benzema/Axel Witsel – Analicia Chavez

Chavez is a model of Portuguese and Cape Verdean descent. She dated Axel Witsel who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Belgium national team. They broke up not too long ago after about three years together and she then moved on to Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema.

Her relationship with Benzema came to light after she posted a series of photos and videos of them together on Instagram. One video showed Benzema miming the lyrics to a song about hooking up with someone else’s wife. Let’s just hope Witsel didn’t come across it.