7 Premier League greats we can’t believe have never won the League Cup
The Carling Cup, the Carabao Cup, the League Cup – whatever you might call it, you’ll be surprised at some of the names who haven’t won it.
Always the subject of debate as to how important a trophy it actually is – especially as the fixture calendar becomes more congested – top teams and players should always strive to win it, with it being the earliest someone can lift a trophy during the English season.
Regarded as an ‘easy’ trophy to win, the following seven players are rightly considered Premier League greats, but have shockingly never lifted the League Cup.
Harry Kane
Obviously.
Kane actually came agonisingly close to lifting the League Cup in 2021 – Manchester City beat Tottenham in the final, the latter of whom bizarrely sacked Jose Mourinho just days before their trip to Wembley.
He also finished as a runner-up in 2014-15 at the beginning of his career with Spurs. Now at Bayern Munich, it’s unlikely he’ll get his hands on it unless he decides to return to England.
Fernando Torres
Despite operating as one of the best strikers in the Premier League – and at one point in the world – during his peak years and playing for two of the Premier League’s traditional ‘big six’ Torres never got his hands on the League Cup.
The Spaniard scored goals for fun, but only actually scored six times in the League Cup during his time in England and never really got close to winning it, with his struggles at Chelsea well documented after joining from Liverpool.
Considering that he’s won the World Cup, the European Championship, the Champions League and the Europa League, we doubt that it keeps him up at night.
N’Golo Kante
This one feels a bit wrong. Leicester broke the mould completely when they won the Premier League in 2015-16 and Kante was integral to that.
When the secret that was his abilities was out, Chelsea moved quickly to secure his signature. He went on to win a glut of top honours with the Blues during his fantastic stay and had two brilliant chances of winning the League Cup, but came away with a runners-up medal twice.
Kante and Chelsea lost on penalties on both occasions; first to Manchester City in the same game where Kepa and Maurizio Sarri had it out in front of everyone in 2019, and against Liverpool in 2022.
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Erling Haaland
Now this one is a surprise, especially considering City used to hold the League Cup hostage. They’ve won it five times under Pep Guardiola, including four in a row from 2018 to 2021.
Haaland joined after that bizarre period of dominance over the League Cup came to an end, winning the continental treble in his first season.
We’re sure he’s absolutely gutted that he hasn’t lifted the mid-season trophy yet.
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Jamie Vardy
While Kante moved to Chelsea after Leicester’s Premier League success, Vardy stayed put from interest elsewhere – namely Arsenal.
He’s continued to cement his legacy as a Leicester legend and a Premier League legend in the process and helped them to an FA Cup in 2020-21, before sticking with the club following their relegation and helping them back to the top flight.
It feels a little weird to think that the Foxes never nabbed a League Cup during those glory years.
Robin van Persie
Like Torres, Van Persie had chances with two top-six clubs to get his hands on what is considered the easiest honour to capture, but never managed to do so.
Astoundingly, Arsenal never won a League Cup under Arlene Wenger, instead using up all their trophy goodwill on the Premier League and later the FA Cup.
The Dutchman finished as a League Cup runner-up with Arsenal in 2011 and won the Premier League with United in 2012-13, but that was as good as it got.
Thierry Henry
Arguably the greatest player in Premier League history, Henry won the league twice and the FA Cup twice, while also finishing a Champions League runner-up with Arsenal during his time with the Gunners.
There isn’t much he didn’t achieve, but one of those things was the League Cup, which he surprisingly never won. The big fraud.