10 greatest Barcelona players of the 21st century 

#5 Carles Puyol

Carles Puyol

Carles Puyol was a bonafide one-club man, joining the Barcelona academy in 1995 and rose through the ranks until he made his bow for the senior team in 1999.

This was close to not happening, as just a year earlier, Barcelona had accepted an offer from Malaga for Puyol's transfer but despite being behind Frank de Boer and Michael Reiziger in the pecking order for the right-back spot, the youngster elected not to make the move.

The reason for this was that his friend and teammate Xavi had just made his senior debut and Puyol chose to bide his time and in hindsight, this proved to be an excellent decision for all parties involved.

From the moment he put on the first-team colours, Puyol's leadership and commitment were never in question and he won many fans for his tenacity and rugged defending, while his never-say-die attitude ensured that he always wore his heart on his sleeve.

The former Spain international started as a right-back but was converted to a central defender later on in his career, partnering Gerard Pique at the heart of defence for most of Barcelona's glorious era.

He was chosen as team captain in 2004 and in this capacity, he skippered the Blaugrana to their finest hour, lifting all six trophies contested in 2009, while he was also successful with Spain at the international level.

Despite not being the tallest of players (he stood at just 5 ft 10'), Puyol made up for this with his physicality and is constantly regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Injuries saw him play a diminished role towards the end of his career before announcing his retirement in 2014.

Puyol made a total of 593 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood club, winning 21 major trophies (all as captain), while also starring in exactly a century of matches for Spain.

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