Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard’s entire career was a bittersweet experience. He chose to remain loyal to his childhood club Liverpool and notably turned down offers from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.
He led Liverpool to their greatest achievement in the 21st century by putting in a man of the match performance against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final. The following year, he fought injury to score two screamers to help Liverpool lift the FA Cup as well.
However, in the years that followed, Gerrard came agonisingly close to lifting the ever elusive league title twice and the second time around, his slip against Chelsea cost Liverpool their maiden Premier League title. Despite this, he always holds a special place in the heart of Liverpool fans.
Gerrard played 710 times for Liverpool while scoring 186 goals and was capped 114 times by England for whom he scored 21 times. He captained Liverpool between 2003 & 2015 and captained England between 2010 & 2014.
The Englishman left for MLS club LA Galaxy in 2015 and retired at the end of the 2016 MLS season. He is already working as an Under-18 coach with Liverpool.