90. Eric Cantona
"I am not a man," Eric Cantona claimed in the movie, Looking For Eric, in which he played a version of himself appearing in front of a Manchester United fan to offer advice. "I am Cantona."
One word that meant so much: and meant far more than simply being a mortal. The very image of that collar-popped Frenchman, of his fire and flamboyance, conjures memories of grandeur. He played football like he was the main character – and King Eric's legacy is almost unmatched.
He made the Premier League what it is today and he did so with undisputed genius. Arguably, he was also the catalyst for Manchester United to become the preeminent force in England for two decades. Not bad for a £1m fee, Fergie reckons.
Career highlight: Making the very first Premier League season his stage, to snatch Manchester United a title from former club Leeds.
89. Roberto Carlos
The diminutive Brazilian spent 11 seasons flying down the left flank at the Bernabeu, helping Real Madrid to three Champions League titles.
His attacking ability originally earned him a call-up to the national team aged 18, when he was playing for Uniao Sao Joao. He followed that by joining one of Palmeiras’s best-ever teams and then Inter, before Real Madrid came calling.
There he became a cult hero for carrying a smile almost as big as those monster thighs which allowed him to fire the ball towards goal at 105mph. No wonder goalkeepers (and fans in the stands) feared him.
Career highlight: The 2002 World Cup winner could defy the laws of physics. Striking the ball with his three outside toes, a free-kick that was apparently heading to the corner flag curved back and hit the net in a 1-1 draw against France at the 1997 Tournoi.
88. Kevin De Bruyne
On pure footballing ability alone, you'd be hard-pressed to find another player in the history of the sport who possessed such unerring accuracy when whipping the ball onto a sixpence. David Beckham, perhaps. But the argument stops there.
Kevin De Bruyne arrived at Manchester City in 2015 to great furore as a Chelsea reject - a decade on he has comfortably put those doubts to bed. Dominating in a star-studded Pep Guardiola side isn't easy, but the Belgian is usually the orchestrator behind whatever masterplan the Catalan boss has conjured up.
The centurion, treble-winning fourmidable will go down as Manchester City's greatest-ever player when he comes to leave the club, which is no mean feat considering the abundance of talent their Abu Dhabi owners have brought to the club in recent times.
Career highlight: Driving Manchester City on in the 2022/23 season as they won a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble. Erling Haaland's goalscoring prowess stole the headlines, but many wouldn't have been possible without De Bruyne.
87. Dennis Bergkamp
He may have been Dutch, but Bergkamp’s biggest impact was arguably made on English football. Arriving to the Premier League as one of its first wave of foreign imports back in the unreconstructed early 1990s, Bergkamp immediately demonstrated a suaveness and detached innovation that was alien to the culture he’d come into.
The former Arsenal forward had the star quality and an icy mean streak that immediately endeared him, but also showed that a hardened winning mentality and sumptuously refined technique need not be mutually exclusive.
Career highlight: His goals against Newcastle and in the World Cup against Argentina were his masterworks, and both are well-documented. But perhaps the moment that best defines him is an assist: for Freddie Ljungberg against Juventus, in a 3-1 win at Highbury in 2001.
86. Allan Simonsen
A hard-working, fiercely committed centre-forward with a knack for important goals, Simonsen is recognised as one of the most important Danish footballers of all time and enjoyed a splendid three-year spell at Barcelona.
Yet his most impressive exploits came in Germany, where he helped Borussia Monchengladbach to three consecutive Bundesliga titles in the mid-'70s. He’s also the only footballer to have scored in the European Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup finals.
Career highlight: Winning the Ballon d’Or in 1977, beating Kevin Keegan and Michel Platini in the process, and becoming the first Danish player to take the honour.
85. Luis Figo
One of the most idolised and despised players in history – even by the same set of fans at different points in his timeline.
Luis Figo was the archetype of what a Galactico should be, so it shouldn't be a surprise that Real Madrid moved heaven, Earth and the laws of nature to acquire him. Deft, delicate and graceful, while capable of unpredictability – as England found out from his long-range stunner at Euro 2000 – Figo was a player of brilliance and consistency.
Career highlight: Landing the 2002 Champions League alongside his star-studded mates against Bayern Munich. See: paying big money for your rivals' players works.
84. George Weah
So far, Africa's only Ballon d'Or recipient, George Weah spent four years as president of Liberia. He's always led from the front.
King George was a tornado of a footballer and one of the most thrilling footballers in full pelt ever to play the game. He could take on swathes of defenders and blast past them with electric pace, while his finishing, technical ability and creativity were all superb. He lit up Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, winning titles and plaudits a plenty to become one of the most influential and beloved African footballers ever to play the game.
Career highlight: A fabulous solo goal against Verona in which Weah barely looked like he was breaking a sweat while frolicking through the entire opposition backline. It typified his class, bluster and frightening individual ability: do you know how difficult that was to do in 1990s Italy?
83. Sandro Mazzola
A one-club man with Inter, Mazzola was key to Helenio Herrera’s Grande Inter side. Renowned for their tough-nut catenaccio tactics, and their ability to score from lightning-fast counter-attacks, Mazzola’s tactical nous from midfield brought him goals aplenty, and a raft of silverware as Inter became Italy’s team of the 1960s.
Sandro won four Serie A titles, the 1964 European Cup Final and added the 1968 European Championship with Italy.
Career highlight: “I played against your father. You did him proud, and I want to give you my shirt,” Ferenc Puskas told Mazzola after Sandro scored twice in Inter’s victory over Real Madrid in the 1964 European Cup Final.
82. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
He may be a divisive figure, but Zlatan's talent is unquestionable. A prolific goalscorer, the Swede hit double figure goal tallies in 19 seasons and received 11 Ballon d'Or nominations over the course of his career, which included league title wins in four different countries.
Acrobatic pieces of skills, and even goals, became customary when watching Ibrahmovic, with his taekwondo background enabling the 6ft 5in giant to defy the realms of possibility. His constant references to himself in the third person often seem somewhat impossible, too...
Career highlight: Scoring one of the greatest goals of all time against England in 2012. Running away from goal and 35 yards out, Zlatan knew that goalkeeper Joe Hart was way out of his goal as he produced a stunning bicycle kick to win the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award.
81. Mohamed Salah
Still going strong, Mohamed Salah just seems to keep getting better and better. The Liverpool forward has shone at Anfield since moving in 2017, silencing the critics with dominant display after frightening performance.
Posting ludicrous numbers on a consistent basis, where Salah once relied on his pace and power to humilate defenders has transitioned into a more technical, skilful focus. Offer him a yard of space and he will devastate, get too tight and his strong frame will simply roll you before still finding the back of the net. Each outcome is largely unstoppable.
Career highlight: A year after being stretchered off against Real Madrid, Salah returned in the 2019 Champions League final with redemption on his mind. He duly delivered, scoring a penalty after just two minutes as the Reds went on to lift the trophy.
