Man City trio among eight overplayed stars for club and country

One ‘absolute dream of a player’ features among eight already flirting with the red zone with their nations as reliant on their ‘main men’ as much as their clubs…

The 2026/27 season has barely got in to its stride but already some players might be forgiven for feeling the effects of their importance.

Here are eight stars that – apparently – neither their club nor country can be without, listed in order of total minutes played…

Ruben Dias (Manchester City and Portugal) – 990 minutes
Jorge Jesus seems less arsed about Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence but he clearly appreciates a solid defensive base since he used the same centre-back pairing and goalkeeper through every minute of his first four games in charge of Portugal as the reigning Nations League champions started the defence of their crown with four straight wins.

That has meant no rest for Ruben Dias, who has also played every minute for Manchester City in the Premier League and Champions League so far, plus another 90 in the Community Shield.

Enzo Maresca may want to tread carefully with Dias since he has already spent two periods on the sidelines in 2026 with hamstring problems.

But the City boss also has bigger problems to consider right now.

Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United and Wales) – 990 minutes

The Leeds skipper hasn’t rested for a single minute this season, having played in all seven of his club’s Premier League and Carabao Cup games before going away with Wales and playing another full set of four matches with them.

Ampadu, though, seems to be benefitting from the momentum rather than feeling the strain.

“He’s unbelievable isn’t he? What an absolute dream of a player,” said ex-Wales star Nathan Blake in his role as BBC Wales pundit following the 1-0 defeat to Denmark on Sunday.

Blake is right – certainly outside West Yorkshire, Ampadu is perhaps one of the Premier League’s most underrated players. The only minutes the 26-year-old has missed in 2026 for Leeds were when he was suspended for one game at the very start of the year.

Daniel Farke just needs to hope he remains as robust as the season rolls on.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway) – 930 minutes
Stale Solbakken saw Haaland was knackered against Wales, prompting a ‘heart-to-heart chat’ between the coach and Norway’s greatest goalscorer.

“He plays in pretty much every game for his club,” said Solbakken. “He’s in the group that’s under the most pressure, precisely because he plays in every competition and is the ‘main man’.”

“We went through the various options available to us,” continued Solbakken, the conclusion apparently being that Haaland would carry on regardless despite having played in every minute possible in the Premier League, Champions League and Nations League this season.

All of which led to Haaland getting to 67 minutes before asking to be taken off in the defeat to Portugal. What prompted the limp was not clear but Enzo Maresca needs him to shake it off in time for Liverpool on Sunday.

MORE: Premier League XI injured in international break, feat. Liverpool, Man Utd, City duos

Marc Guehi (Manchester City and England) – 908 minutes
Maresca has also leaned heavily on Guehi, especially during his first two Premier League games in charge of City when the centre-back was asked to do a job in midfield.

That and news of City’s strife appeared to catch up with Guehi during England’s Nations League clash with Spain when he gifted the World Cup winners their opener and generally looked shaky throughout.

But Guehi went on to start the remaining three Nations League matches, all wins, with the Three Lions keeping clean sheets in all. No England player was given more minutes in the first four Nations League games.

In total, Guehi has played just 120 seconds more than…

Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool and Hungary) – 906 minutes
With five minutes fewer than Milos Kerkez (he’s on 834 minutes in total), the all-action midfielder has played the second-highest number of minutes for Liverpool this season owing to his Carabao Cup outing when Andoni Iraola needed him off the bench against Tottenham.

His wonder strike late on in the win over Spurs suggests it was a wise move, but it might all be catching up with Szoboszlai.

The Hungary captain played every minute in the Nations League before cramping up with 10 minutes remaining of the win over Georgia.

Prior to his late substitution, Szoboszlai had the most touches, the most shots and created the most chances in a deeper-lying role, but coach Marco Rossi admitted the midfielder was ‘very tired’.

Still, though, Szoboszlai was wheeled out again against Ukraine on Monday night before being given a breather for the final three minutes of a 2-1 win. Thanks boss.

Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford and Norway) – 900 minutes
The Norway centre-back has played every Premier League minute for Brentford so far this season and another 90 in the Carabao Cup too.

His club commitments have been sandwiched between a World Cup campaign in which he played five games and every minute for Norway in their Nations League fixtures.

Still, if Ajer had been given a night off against Portugal, he would not have blown his team-mates’ minds…

Kristoffer Ajer’s teammates couldn’t believe his spectacular goal 😲🇳🇴

#NationsLeague https://t.co/DvV7nOPAFN

— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) October 4, 2026

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands) – 900 minutes
News of Haaland’s potential absence is good news for Van Dijk – but the Liverpool captain may be dealing with fatigue issues of his own.

At 35, Van Dijk has played every minute of the four games Xavi has managed Netherlands through this international break, following an ever-present record in the Premier League and Champions League so far this term.

Van Dijk is unlikely to mind, though, since those four extra caps got him to 100, becoming the 11th Dutchman to achieve the feat.

Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest and Wales) – 889 minutes
Williams has showcased his versatility and robustness already this season for club and country by playing as a wing-back and a full-back on both flanks, all while sitting out only 11 of 900 possible minutes so far for Forest and Wales.

The 25-year-old, already on 60 caps, has impressed enough for critics to pan Liverpool for selling the academy graduate, with Steven Gerrard and James Collins in agreement that Williams would start for the Reds had he remained at Anfield.

Instead, he’s recently signed a new four-year at the City Ground as their reigning Player of the Season having also played the second-highest number of minutes of any Forest player last term.

Any clubs looking at Williams will appreciate his availability as much as his adaptability, assuming it doesn’t all catch up with him.