7 Great Footballers who never played in the Premier League

Modified Sep 23, 2018 19:33 GMT

Juventus v FC Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Final — Andrea Pirlo never featured in the premier league

#3 Andres Iniesta

Barcelona v Real Sociedad - La Liga — Iniesta decided against a move to the Premier League quite a few times in his career

Iniesta, like Xavi, is a product of the fabled La Masia and made his professional debut for Barcelona in the 2002/03 season. He went on to feature in 16 seasons for Barcelona and played 674 games for the Spanish Giants, scoring 57 goals. He won 9 La Liga titles, 6 Copa Del Rey, 6 Supercopa de Espana, 3 FIFA Club World Cup, 2 UEFA Super Cup, and 4 UEFA Champions League. He also won the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Spain along with the 2008 and 2012 Euros.

He is considered one of the greatest midfielders of his generation and would have certainly won the Ballon d'Or, but he was unlucky to be in the era of Messi and Ronaldo. Iniesta ended his long association with the Catalans at the end of last season and joined Japanese Club Vissel Kobe in a 3-year deal.

Iniesta was tipped to be Moyes’ first signing at Manchester United, but the unrealistic move never materialized. After the end of his Barcelona career, Manchester City had come knocking, with a player cum Assistant Manager deal, but Iniesta opted against it. The Premier League is certainly poorer without the presence of the effervescent Spaniard.

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Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.