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Liverpool football club is part of Europe's football royalty and over the course of it's glittering history, the club has been represented by some of the world's best players.
The club not only bought outstanding talents but developed them as well in its youth ranks and many of them went on to become giants of the game. Some of the club's most celebrated players played in the 1970s and 1980s, when the club won everything in sight and enjoyed a period of unprecedented success, that has not been replicated in English football since.
That success was built by players who took the club to new heights and have since become some of the most influential footballers not only in Liverpool's history but perhaps even in the English game.
Here is a look at 5 of the most influential ones.
#5 John Barnes
He is often regarded as perhaps the most mesmerising and naturally gifted footballer to have ever represented Liverpool and England.
The Jamaica-born John Barnes arrived in England at the age of 12 and made a name for himself as a teenage sensation at Watford in the 1980s. In 1987, England's most dominant club came calling and over the next decade, the left-winger became one of Europe's best attackers.
His intelligence, dribbling skills, power and pace made Barnes a very tough player to play against and in addition to that, he could make the perfect final pass and score goals as well. He scored 84 goals in all competitions for Liverpool over the course of 314 games and won the First Division titles, as well as the FA Cup twice.
Barnes defined an era in the glorious history of one of England's greatest clubs and he remains a gold standard for the club as far as left-wingers are concerned.
#4 Graeme Souness
For those who watched him play, Graeme Souness was the embodiment of what came to be known as the 'midfield general' and it was during his stint at Liverpool from 1978 to 1984 that the club enjoyed the most successful period in its history.
He went on to become the captain of the club in the early 1980s and the Scot is still regarded as one of the finest central midfielders to have ever played in England. Souness had the ability to control games from midfield, take himself into goal scoring positions, break up play and cover great distances throughout the course of a game.
He joined Liverpool in 1978 and over the next seasons, helped the club win 5 First Division titles, 3 League Cups and most importantly, 3 European Cups. Souness went on to manage the club in 1991 but the three-year spell that ended in 1994 was not as fruitful as Liverpool only won 1 FA Cup in that period.
#3 Ian Rush
The legendary Welshman is considered one of the greatest strikers in the English game and over the course of his two separate spells at Liverpool, Ian Rush played for the club for 16 years.
Rush joined the club in 1980 and over the next six years, plundered goals for the club almost at will. In only 182 appearances across all competitions, he scored 109 goals and helped the club win 4 league titles, 1 FA Cup, 3 league cup titles and 1 European Cup.
After a spell at Juventus, he returned to Liverpool on loan in 1986 and scored 30 goals in 42 games. In 1988, Rush returned to Liverpool permanently and over the next 8 seasons, scored 90 goals in 245 appearances.
In his second spell, he won the league once, however, no striker has had such an influence on the success of a club as Rush and according to Liverpool fan poll, he stands 3rd (out of 100) in the ranking of 'Players who shook the Kop'.
#2 Steven Gerrard
His was a career that every child dreams of. Steven Gerrard grew up in Merseyside and by the time he was 9-years-old, he had joined the Liverpool Academy. He signed his senior contract with the club when he was only 17 years and made his first appearance a year later.
For 17 years, from 1998 to 2015, the midfielder became the embodiment of the club and in addition to that, there was the small matter of him being one of the world's best midfielders for much of his career. His driving runs from midfield, set-piece technique, hard tackling, running and long-range pile drivers made him an absolute dynamite of a player.
What made him so influential at Liverpool, however, was not only the vital goals that he got for the club, but also the fact that he stayed with the club for the entirety of his career. He scored 120 goals in 504 appearances for the club and many of them were famous goals. For instance, the header that sparked Liverpool's dramatic comeback from being 0-3 down in the UEFA Champions League final in 2005 against AC Milan.
Although a league title eluded him, he won 2 FA Cup titles, one Champions League title, three League Cups and one UEFA Cup title.
Nowadays, he is the coach of the youth team at Liverpool and his influence at the club could stretch into a few more decades.
#1 Kenny Dalglish
The man known simply as 'King Kenny' among Liverpool fans is without a shred of a doubt the most influential footballer in the history of the club.
Scotsman Kenny Dalglish joined Liverpool in 1977 following a stellar career at Scottish club Celtic and over the following 13 years, he became one of the most decorated players in the history of the club.
Dalglish's goal-scoring exploits have become legendary and according to many defenders of the era, he was the toughest striker to play against. He scored 118 goals in 355 appearances for the club and was the star of the show on most occasions. He helped the club win six league titles, three European Cups, four League Cup titles, two FA Cups and a solitary UEFA Super Cup.
In 1985, his career took a new turn, as he was made player-manager at Liverpool and more success followed. He resigned from the job in 1991 and by the time he was finished, he had engineered three more league title wins and two FA Cup triumphs for the club.
His influence goes far beyond the pitch and the dugout, though. Following the tragic Hillsborough disaster of 1989 in which 96 Liverpool fans died, Dalglish personally attended most of the funerals and helped to create awareness about the tragedy in his own way.
He is not only an influential footballer in Liverpool's history but a man who is an institution in himself.
