#1 Pablo Aimar: 2001-2006
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The silky Argentine is the only non-Spaniard player on our list. Pablo Aimar began his footballing journey in his homeland Argentine with River Plate and was an instant success at the club. Such were his performances that Valencia were more than willing to break the bank to sign him in January of 2001 for a fee believed to be in the region of €24 million and the player more than justified his price tag with his performances for the Los Che.
Rafa Benitez, the then Valencia manager was impressed by his abilities and immediately instated him in the first team and Aimar repaid his manager’s faith in him by putting in imperious performances to help his side reach the UEFA Champions League finals in 2001. However, it was only in his first full season at Valencia that the world of football witnessed the plethora of skills he possessed as he tore defences apart and helped his club win the La-Liga title despite the presence of heavyweights such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.
While he did win another La-Liga title and the UEFA Cup as well as UEFA Super cup in the 2003-04 season, cracks were beginning to appear between him and the management at Valencia and the player departed the club in 2005 as one of the best to have ever played for Valencia.
Singled out for praise by the legendary Diego Maradona and touted to be the player around whom he has developed his game around, Aimar is one of the best playmakers to have ever graced the game of football.
