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As an ever-evolving sport, it makes sense that the greats of football past would eventually be supplanted by their successors in football present, but that isn’t always the case. For example, David de Gea is a fantastic goalkeeper, but would Manchester United fans say that he’s now surpassed the great Dane Peter Schmeichel? The likelihood is they wouldn’t.
The levels of greatness attained by the world’s best players – despite the existence of statistics – are largely subjective and so where some fans would suggest that their modern-day favourites could never surpass club legends, others would probably say that those legends simply wouldn’t be able to make it into the modern-day starting line-up due to the presence of a great successor.
Here are five of those legends.
#5 Teddy Sheringham at Tottenham Hotspur – due to Harry Kane
While he wasn’t the greatest out-and-out goalscorer in Premier League history, Teddy Sheringham clearly had a knack for finding the back of the net. Sheringham spent a total of fourteen seasons in the Premier League and scored 147 goals there, an impressive haul by anyone’s standards.
97 of those goals were scored for Tottenham Hotspur over a period of seven seasons, making him Spurs’ record Premier League scorer. That was so until this past weekend– when Spurs sharpshooter Harry Kane surpassed him by scoring his 98th EPL goal for the club.
The most remarkable thing about Kane? He’s done it over a much quicker period of time than Sheringham. Teddy’s time at Spurs was split into two halves – one lasting five seasons and the other, almost a decade later, lasting two.
His first five saw him hit 76 goals, but Kane has already hit the 98 mark in four and a half seasons. He’s not only the best goalscorer Spurs have ever had in the Premier League era, he’s also one of the best goalscorers in Premier League history, too. And he shows no sign of slowing down.
An argument could be made that Sheringham would make it into the current Spurs side as a foil for Kane, but we’ve seen on numerous occasions that Kane is better as a lone striker, backed up by attacking midfielders like Heung Min Son and Dele Alli.
Some might argue that Sheringham was a better team player, as over his first five Spurs seasons he assisted in 37 goals, while Kane has just 13 to his name. But then Teddy played for most of his Spurs career in a striking partnership, so more assists would always be expected.
For all of his greatness – he’s certainly Tottenham’s second-best striker in the Premier League era, better than the likes of Jurgen Klinsmann and Jermain Defoe – Sheringham simply wouldn’t get anywhere near the current Spurs side with Kane around.
#4 Michael Essien at Chelsea – due to N’Golo Kante
Most observers credit another Chelsea player – Claude Makelele – as the man who really brought the holding midfield position into vogue during his time at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho, but it could be argued too that while Makelele was the original, Michael Essien was actually the best; an upgrade on Makelele who could also be used as a powerful box-to-box midfielder as well as simply a holding one.
At his peak, there were few midfielders better than Essien. The Ghanaian international had a tremendously tough tackle and was renowned for being a truly fearsome opponent.
Chelsea fans would consider him a Blues legend – but if he came around today he wouldn’t get into their current starting line-up. Why? Because the position has seen another upgrade in the form of Frenchman N’Golo Kante.
Kante was signed in the summer of 2016 after an incredible season with Leicester City – he helped the side win the Premier League in an all-time shocker and held the records for the most tackles and most interceptions across the season.
He cost Chelsea £32m, but that proved to be a bargain when he helped the Blues win the Premier League – becoming only the second player to win back-to-back titles with two different clubs – and he was named Player of the Season for 2016/17.
Kante is just as fearsome a holding midfielder as Essien was in his prime – if anything, he’s a more reliable tackler, not getting himself into hot water as much as Essien did with his hard-tackling style – but he’s better with his distribution, setting up many goals after stealing the ball away from the opposition.
He’s Chelsea’s key man and he represents the ultimate evolution in the holding midfield position.
#3 Raul at Real Madrid – due to Cristiano Ronaldo
In terms of club legends, they don’t come much bigger than Raul at Real Madrid. Born in the capital, Raul joined Los Blancos as a boy and then worked his way through the youth ranks to break into Real’s first-team squad in the 1994/95 season – at just 17 years old.
From there he spent sixteen seasons at the Bernabeu, writing himself into their history books in the process. He broke the record for most appearances (741), most goals in La Liga (228), most goals overall (323) and won six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues.
Unfortunately for the great man, he’s firmly been surpassed at this point in basically everything but longevity by perhaps the one man capable of doing so – Cristiano Ronaldo.
For as much as Real Madrid fans adored Raul, most of them would probably admit instantly that against Ronaldo, Raul simply wouldn’t have a chance in hell of getting into today’s Real side.
Sure, Ronaldo hasn’t won as many league titles, but only because of the power of the late 2000’s Barcelona side. He’s won as many Champions League trophies, but he’s also done so much more.
Raul’s goalscoring records have been smashed by the Portuguese superstar – it took Raul sixteen seasons to reach the magical 323 number, but Ronaldo now has 289 in La Liga and a ridiculous 422 overall – in just nine and a half seasons.
He’s somehow scored more goals than he’s played games for the club. Oh, and he’s also won the Ballon d’Or four times while playing for Madrid – something Raul never quite managed to do.
Raul might pull the heartstrings for Real fans as he was a local boy who came good, and clearly had more of an overall connection with Los Blancos than Ronaldo. But in terms of the bigger picture, he doesn’t come close. Raul is one of Madrid’s legends – Ronaldo is not only a Madrid legend, but he’s also become a legend of the game, too.
#2 Gianfranco Zola at Chelsea – due to Eden Hazard
If there’s one Premier League era player revered at Chelsea more than any other – from before the Abramovich takeover that made the Blues one of Europe’s most powerful clubs and before all the league titles and the huge success – it’s Gianfranco Zola.
The diminutive Italian spent seven seasons at Stamford Bridge and became a legend there due to his silky skills, spectacular goals, and most importantly for his vision and creativity – his ability to find a teammate to set up a goalscoring opportunity. He won five major trophies with Chelsea and was named their Player of the Year on two occasions.
A lot of longtime Chelsea fans might argue that of all the pre-Abramovich era greats – the likes of Vialli, Gullit, Petrescu et al – the only one that would make today’s starting line-up would be Zola. Unfortunately, that probably isn’t true.
Why? Because in terms of a goalscoring, for a creative attacking midfielder capable of taking on any team in the world, Chelsea now have someone even better than the Italian legend in the form of Eden Hazard. Just look at the stats.
Both men have spent around the same time at Stamford Bridge – Zola had seven seasons there while Hazard is currently in the midst of his sixth.
Zola scored an impressive 59 Premier League goals during his time at Chelsea, but Hazard has already topped that figure, scoring 63 in essentially a season and a half less than Zola. Assists? Zola created 22 Premier League goals, a great figure, but again Hazard comes out ahead – 37 assists for Chelsea since joining them.
Could you argue that Hazard is playing in a better Chelsea team? Perhaps, but then the overall strength of the Premier League is better now, too. And you can’t even argue that Zola was capable of more individual magic, as Hazard has proven his abilities there time and again now.
Despite an inconsistent 2015/16, the stats don’t lie – Hazard has surpassed the Italian.
#1 Radamel Falcao at Atletico Madrid – due to Antoine Griezmann
If there was one player who represented Diego Simeone’s revolution at Atletico Madrid more than any other, a lot of fans would point to Radamel Falcao. The Colombian international was a revelation up front for Atleti over a period of two seasons and earned the nickname ‘El Tigre’ for his ferocious striking style in front of goal.
His goalscoring record for Atletico was simply fantastic – 52 league goals over two seasons – and their fans were broken when he was sold to Monaco for around £51m in the summer of 2013.
They needn’t have worried, though. For a season, Diego Costa took over Falcao’s striking mantle at the Vicente Calderon, but he was then sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2014. Falcao’s true replacement – and the reason why even at his peak, he probably wouldn’t make today’s Atleti team – was signed in the summer of 2014 from Real Sociedad. His name? Antoine Griezmann.
It took Griezmann just over two seasons to surpass Falcao as the man who’d scored the most goals for Atletico under Diego Simeone, and he’s since gone on to rack up 65 league goals and 91 overall.
But unlike Falcao – a pure striker if there ever was one – Griezmann offers so much more as Atleti’s key attacking outlet. He’s scored goals with both feet, with his head, and from the penalty spot, and he’s often played from the right wing rather than an out-and-out striker.
You could argue that Falcao at his peak could probably play alongside Griezmann at Atletico – as Diego Costa and Fernando Torres are both doing now – but who knows how the styles of the two players would mesh? And in all honesty, for as good as Falcao was for Atletico, their fans would probably all take Griezmann over him at this stage.
