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All of EPL, Serie A and LaLiga have their fair share of followers and it can be said without any doubt that those three are the biggest leagues in the world. Most of the famous players in the world usually have played in one or more of these leagues.
Each of those leagues have their own traits and specialties. While the EPL is more physical and direct, Serie A is more defensive and tactical and the La Liga is more skillful and entertaining.
There are some players who have played in one league throughout their careers. Players like Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos et al have played in one football league only.
However, some players have had the experience of playing in two different football leagues. Still, only a chosen few have had the privilege of playing and being successful in each of the three big leagues.
Recently, Cristiano Ronaldo has made a move to Juventus after having been supremely successful with Manchester United (EPL) and Real Madrid (LaLiga). Ronaldo’s move propels us to take a look at three other famous players who have successfully played in the thee big leagues.
#1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic has had the privilege of playing in a multitude of clubs in his career. He has played for all Serie A giants: Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan. Zlatan started with Juve and scored 26 goals in 92 matches for them.
He was an able ally for the likes of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet. Zlatan then moved to Inter and spent 4 seasons with them. He scored 66 goals in 117 matches for Inter while playing with the likes of Adriano and Julio Cruz. He also won three Serie A titles with Inter.
Ibra’s big and strong physique was ideal for the defensive ordeal of Serie A, but he made a switch to Barcelona and spent a season there before moving to Milan on loan. He won a LaLiga title with Barca and scored 22 goals in 46 matches for them.
Ibra played with the likes of Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta and adjusted himself well with the passing football of Barca. He scored 56 goals for Milan in 85 matches and then made a switch to EPL when Jose Mourinho signed him for Manchester United. Ibra repaid the faith with 29 goals in 53 matches for United in the only season he played for them. His goals won United the Europa Cup and he also was a part of the FA cup winning team.
#2 Thierry Henry
Henry went to Juventus as a World Cup winner in 1998 and spent a season there before being signed by Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal. Henry played in 19 matches for Juve and scored three goals.
Moreover, he used this experience as a learning curve as he got to play with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero, Paolo Montero and Pavel Nedved in the brilliant Juve side under Marcelo Lippi.
Henry became a star at Arsenal and spent eight glorious seasons there. He was transformed into a striker from a winger and scored 226 goals in 369 matches for Arsenal. He also won the EPL title three times and a Champions League runners-up medal with Arsenal.
He also formed a deadly striking partnership with Dennis Bergkamp and those two tormented the defenses of the opposition clubs consistently.
In 2007, Henry made a switch to LaLiga to spend three seasons with FC Barcelona. He won the UEFA Champions League with Barca in 2009 and scored 49 goals in 121 matches for them.
Henry formed a front three with Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o and those three helped Barca win a historic treble. Henry had to play as a winger for Barca and he wonderfully adopted his new role. He made a very brief comeback to Arsenal in 2012 before drawing the curtains on his illustrious career.
#3 Laurent Blanc
Laurent Blanc was one of the best center-backs in the world in his prime and played for Napoli in 34 matches at the beginning of his career. He then made a move to Barcelona and spent a season there.
Those were the dark days of Barca as Real Madrid were the more dominant side in Spain. However, Blanc played 38 matches for them and managed to win the UEFA Cup Winners Cup for them.
Sir Alex Ferguson signed Blanc for Manchester United in 1999 and Blanc played for the club till 2001. He formed a brilliant partnership with Jaap Stam at the heart of United’s defence. They complemented each other as Blanc was more of a sweeper with good distribution skills and Stam was the ideal man-marker.
Blanc won the Premier League title for United in 2000-01 and played 75 matches for the club. He then moved to Inter Milan in 2001 and played for them till 2004. AC Milan were the dominant side in Italian football at that time and as a result, Blanc could not win any silverware for Inter. However, he had the aggressive Walter Samuel as his defensive partner at Inter and the pair played with merit. Blanc played in 85 matches for Inter and scored 6 goals.
