4) Alberto Gilardino
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You wouldn't expect Alberto Gilardino to be a World Cup Champion, a Champions League winner and the holder of an Olympic medal. In fact, most people would do a double take upon hearing that ‘Gila' is in the list of the top 10 all time Serie A goalscorers, while only being bettered by Francesco Totti in the active players with the most Serie A goals.
Gilardino is the embodiment of why the most ardent Serie A fans love Italian football. Nowhere else in the world can a player with his modest skill-set rise to the pinnacle of world football based on a supreme adherence to tactics coached into him by Italian coaches, resulting in a nose for goal that has reaped rewards in Serie A 188 times.
Level with Italian legend Alessandro del Piero in the goalscoring charts, Empoli are the latest club to offer Gilardino the chance to score 17 goals and equal the number of Serie A goals scored by Roberto Baggio (205). Having saved Palermo from relegation with a crucial goal on the last day of the 2015/16 season, I wouldn't bet against Gilardino still continuing for many, many years to come.
