The 5 greatest players in Real Madrid history
1. Alfredo Di Stefano
Widely renowned as the Godfather of Real Madrid, the Argentine set the precedent for future players with his trophy-laden career at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 1950s and 60s.
Di Stefano arrived in 1953 from Colombian side FC Millionarios after a transfer tug-of-war with Barcelona. The Catalans believed they had clinched his signature, but after something of a mixup, it emerged he would be moving to Madrid instead. It could hardly have happened at a more politically charged era either, with dictator General Franco still ruling Spain from the capital, ostracising Barcelona in the North.
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On the pitch, Di Stefano played a huge part in bringing the success to make Real the best club in the 1900s. The European Cup’s inception was in 1956, and Real won the first five, dominating the continent and the world for five years.
All in all, Di Stefano became the top scorer in the club’s history with 308 in 396 appearances, a record which stood until 2009. He was an honorary board member in his later years, helping present new stars when they signed for the club before he died in 2014 aged 88.
Perhaps that was a subconscious move to help the new players to understand the pressures of representing the club and his achievements. in some cases, one in particular, it worked, but more on that later.
Di Stefano is someone those of a certain generation maintain is one of the greatest soccer players of all time. In reality, it is hard to disagree, but he has been forgotten somewhat with the level in the modern-day. He’ll never ever be forgotten by the Madridistas, though.