10 modern day greats whose jersey numbers should be retired

#1 Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

"Pass it like Xavi"

He has made Barcelona what it is today. Many rate his as the best midfielder to ever play the game. Xavi has lifted more trophies than anyone else, ever (25). During his career, he made 767 appearances for Barcelona and scored 85 goals.

Xavi's abilities to exploit spaces, vision, precision passing and exceptional ball control made him a legendary midfielder. He used to control the pace of the game and dictated play better than any footballer in the world. Xavi's passing accuracy throughout his career was close to a stunning 90%.

He gave an altogether new meaning to the No.6 shirt, and position, and dominated the game for over a decade. Sir Alex Ferguson once said,"It wasn't really Messi who was the problem. It was Xavi and Iniesta. They can keep the ball all night long.”