Top 10 best one-club men in football
The growth of football in the last couple of decades has been exponential and that is reflected in many aspects, one of the most notable being economic. Transfer fees, contracts, agent commissions, etc., have reached very high levels which have resulted, among other things, in players changing teams more frequently.In other times, players spent their careers between one, two or three clubs, something that is becoming less and less common and what has become normal is for players to move from one team to another every one, two or three years. That is why it is striking that a player, especially recently, spends his entire career in the same club, the famous one-club men.
Ryan Giggs - Manchester United
The Welshman Ryan Giggs was born in Cardiff but moved to Manchester at the age of 6 because his father played on a rugby team in the city. Curiously, Giggs had a spell in Manchester City's youth teams before moving to United when he turned 14. Wales was part of the Red Devils' famous '92 generation, in his case debuting in 1990 and remaining active until 2014, playing 963 matches for United, becoming the player with the most appearances in the club's history.At the beginning of his career, he was a fast and skilled left winger who evolved into a center midfielder, a change that allowed him to prolong his career a little longer.
Carles Puyol - FC Barcelona
Carles Puyol was a flagship and captain of FC Barcelona for a long time, being part of the club's transition from an irregular team in the late 90s and early 2000s to what would be the Catalan club's best historical era. Puyol arrived at Barcelona at the age of 17 from his hometown team, Pobla de Segur, joining the C team. At the age of 20 he was on the verge of being sold to Málaga, however he decided to stay at Barcelona seeing that other youth players teams like Xavi, were being considered for the first team by manager Louis Van Gaal. Puyol would play 593 matches in 15 years with the Catalan club's shirt, being the sixth with the most appearances.Lev Yashin - Dynamo Moscow
He is highly recognized as one of the best goalkeepers in history and possibly the greatest legend of Soviet football. Funny enough, Yashin debuted in 1950 with Dynamo Moscow in a friendly match where he conceded a silly goal that kept him away from the starting eleven until 1953 (he only made a couple of appearances in that period).Today he has a statue in front of the Dynamo Stadium, after 358 matches in 20 years, where the legend of the Black Spider was born, due to his reflexes and his completely black uniform.
Franco Baresi - AC Milan
The Italian was one of the best defenders in history, having played 20 years as a professional for AC Milan and 719 matches for the Rossoneri, being the second player with the most appearances for the club.Baresi trained in the youth teams of the Milan team and would remain there until his professional retirement in 1997. Even after his retirement as a player, he had a brief period as a manager where he was also with AC Milan's Primavera team.
Ricardo Bochini - Independiente
Like many young football players, Bochini started playing for his hometown team, Belgrano de Zarate, and at the age of 15 he went to try out for several teams in Buenos Aires such as San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors.However, he was finally accepted by Independiente de Avellaneda, where he would spend the next 20 years of his career as a football pleasure and leading the club to its best historical era, winning titles at the national and international level. Bochini played 718 matches with the Independiente shirt, being the second player with the most games in the history of Argentine football.
Sandro Mazzola - Inter Milan
He is the son of Valentino Mazzola, a former Torino player who died in the Superga air disaster, although Sandro soon managed to make a name for himself at Inter Milan, being part of Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter. Mazzola scored 161 goals in 568 matches for Inter and is the fourth player with the most appearances in the history of the Milan club.Jack Charlton - Leeds United
Jack is the older brother of Bobby Charlton, a Manchester United legend, curiously, rivals of Leeds, the team where Jack would spend his entire career as a football player. Charlton would play 762 matches for Leeds over 21 years, where he had all kinds of experiences with the club, from relegations to winning the First Division. The Englishman was also part of the England national team that became world champion in 1966.
Paolo Maldini - AC Milan
He is considered one of the best defenders in the history of football, having played mostly as a center back and left back (curiously, his preferred foot being the right one). Paolo is the son of Cesare, an AC Milan player during the 50s and 60s, and from there began his relationship with the Milan club where he played in the youth teams before making his debut in 1984, beginning a 25-year professional career.Maldini is the player with the most appearances in the history of AC Milan, having played 902 matches, leading the club's best era where they won, among other things, 5 European Cups and 7 Serie A.
Manolo Sanchis - Real Madrid
Something particular happens at Real Madrid since few of their players, even if they spent a large part of their career at the club, retire there, that is why there are not many one-club men in the white club and one of those few is Manolo Sanchis. Like Maldini, he is the son of a former Real Madrid player, Manuel Sanchis, European champion with the club in 1966. Manolo was part of the famous Quinta del Buitre, that generation of young football players from Castilla that appeared in the 80s at Real Madrid. Sanchis was with the white club from 1983 until his retirement in 2001, playing 710 matches for the club, becoming the third player with the most appearances for Real Madrid.
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