#4 Filippo Inzaghi
Dubbed by Sir Alex Ferguson as someone who must have been ‘born offside’, Filippo Inzaghi made an impression on the greatest names in the game – plus, he was a considerable great himself.
When he looked at a Rorschach blot, he saw the offside flag, but every time he did he learned how to navigate a way around them. He flirted with the fringes of the game, lived on the edges of the laws and eked out space for himself there as a truly unconventional, yet successful marksman.
In all, he netted 370 league goals and thrived in a league that has traditionally favoured defensive frugality over offensive flair – but it was the way he did it, by maximising his chances and bulldozing through some staunch rearguards that really see him held in high regard by so many (though he is equally derided by others).
He stayed in Italy for his entire career, playing for AC Milan, Parma and Juventus, among others. The boot-shaped nation was his home, but it’s easy to imagine that he could have thrived magnificently in Spain.
An arguably less physically demanding game there, Inzaghi’s lithe frame and accurate eye for goal could have seen him soar equally as high in his prime – all we can do now is fantasize about how that move would have transpired.
