#3 Michael Laudrup
An elegant attacking-midfielder, Laudrup joined Barcelona in 1989 after winning Serie A with Juventus. Alongside the likes of Pep Guardiola, Ronald Koeman and the aforementioned Hristo Stoichkov, his Barcelona team ruled Europe. Unfortunately, when the Blaugrana signed Romario, Laudrup was the one who had to make way.
The Dane then went on to join arch-rivals Real Madrid and revived the club, becoming the first person to win La Liga 5 times in a row with 2 different clubs (4 times with Barcelona between 1990/91 – 1993/94 and once with Real Madrid during 1994/95).
His individual value shone through during the biggest match of them all, the El Clasico. Only the previous year, Laudrup had starred as Barca smashed Real 5-0. A season on, the score was reversed in favour of the Los Blancos, with Laudrup the chief perpetrator once again.
He bowed out of the game after a domestic double at Ajax and his genius was well recognised amongst his peers, with Real Madrid legend Raul labelling him as the best player he’s ever played with and Iniesta called him the best in history.
He also led Swansea as manager to their first ever major trophy, winning the League Cup in 2013 and is now managing Al Rayyan in Qatar.
(Video Courtesy: peterk87 YouTube Channel)
