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In the days before football in Europe became a far bigger commercial operation, squads of most clubs were not that big so 12-14 players did the job for most clubs throughout the season and across competitions.
As the number of substitutions that could be allowed in a single game was raised to three from 1, the squads got bigger as clubs needed players who could come in and change the game. This was how the 'squad player' became an important part of most of the major clubs in Europe.
They do not start many games throughout the course of the season but are instead used as substitutes when the games need to be changed or are added to the first eleven if a first choice player is unavailable.
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Naturally, bigger clubs with bigger budgets have a better quality of squad players and over the years, many of these players have proven to be an extremely important part of successful campaigns in the league or in Europe. Here is a look at 5 of the best ever squad players.
#5 Martin Keown (Arsenal 2003-04)
The former Arsenal central defender will go down in history as one of the best players in his position to have ever played in the Premier League and his second stint at the North London Club (1993-2004) was a particularly productive one.
That being said, Martin Keown was at the end of his career when Arsenal had their best season in their history till date, in 2003-04, when they went through the season unbeaten.
He was already 37 years old and was no longer a regular centre-back. Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure were the first choice center-backs on that side. However, his role as a squad player on that side is highly underrated and when either of the first choice defenders found themselves unavailable, Keown stepped in.
In total, he played in 10 of those league games and perhaps the most famous one was the game at Old Trafford in September of 2003 when Keown not only played well but became a part of Arsenal folklore by manhandling United forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy at the end of the game.
#4 Arjen Robben (Chelsea 2004-05)
It is quite hard to imagine Dutch star Arjen Robben as a 'squad player' but back in Jose Mourinho's first season at Chelsea in 2004-05, he was exactly that and the primary reason was that he was injured at different points of the season.
Chelsea had paid £18 million to PSV Eindhoven to bring Robben to Stamford Bridge and the 21-year-old was already one of the biggest talents in Europe, which is why there were high hopes about his impact on English football.
After recovering from an injury suffered in a pre-season game, Robben made his debut in the Premier League four months into the season but went on to play a major role in Chelsea's surge to the title.
Robben's talents as a wide player often proved to be a bit too much to handle for plenty of Premier League defenders and in a total of only 18 appearances in the league, he netted 7 times to make a telling contribution as largely a squad player. He started 14 games and came off the bench 4 times.
In the Champions League, he started 2 games and was substitute in 3 games, during the course of which he scored a solitary goal. Chelsea won the title at a canter and reached the semi-final of the Champions League but Robben wasn't a part of any of that since he had suffered another injury.
That being said, there is no doubt that he was a vital cog in the wheel for Chelsea's first title win in 55 years.
#3 Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich 2012-13)
The German striker had joined Bayern Munich in 2009 but lost his place to Mario Mandzukic in the 2012-13 season due to injuries and although it happened to be Mario Gomez's last season with the club, he performed superbly as an impact substitute that year.
The 2012-13 season remains the greatest in the history of Bayern Munich as the club went on to win the treble and as ever, for such achievements, the team needs quality players who can chip in at crunch moments. In Mario Gomez, they had the right player, who remained a squad player for most of the season.
Gomez returned to the squad in November that season and scored immediately in a 5-0 win for Bayern. Throughout the rest of the season, he only started 9 games in the league but it was his ability to score goals as a substitute that made him one of the most dangerous players in the Bundesliga that season.
He scored 11 goals in the league and ended up as the third highest scorer in the league. In the cup competition, (DFB-Pokal), Gomez was in his elements again as he came on with 13 minutes remaining in the semi-final against Vfl Wolfsburg and proceeded to score a hattrick in 6 frenetic minutes to complete a 6-1 rout. In the final of the same tournament, he scored two goals.
In the Champions league, Gomez started 2 games and made 5 substitute appearances for Bayern scoring 2 goals.
#2 Marco Asensio (Real Madrid 2016-17)
Real Madrid's Spanish attacking midfielder Marco Ascensio was regarded as one of their best signings in recent years since he was signed in 2014 and after spending two seasons on loan at Mallorca and Espanyol, he returned to the club at the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
During Real Madrid's double-winning season, Asensio proved to be a vital member of the squad and stepped up whenever he was called upon by manager Zinedine Zidane. In total, Ascensio played in 38 games across all competitions for the Spanish giants and scored 10 goals in total.
His outstanding skills as a midfielder and the ability to score crucial goals turned many a game in favour of Real Madrid as they completed a feat that had surprisingly eluded them given their glorious history.
In the Champions League, he played 8 out of the 13 games and scored thrice to provide an excellent attacking alternative for the team.
In the league, his returns were far more modest in the 23 games as he scored only thrice. However, there is no doubt that as far as squad players go, there have been very few players better than him.
#1 Ole Gunnar Solskjær (Manchester United1998-99)
Norwegian forward Ole Gunnar Solskjær is, without a doubt, the greatest squad played that has played for any club anywhere in Europe and during Manchester United's historic treble-winning season in 1998-99, he was directly responsible for helping the club in completing that achievement.
With Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole scoring for fun and Teddy Sheringham as the backup, Solskjær had to play much of the time as a substitute. He made only 17 starts across all competitions but also made 20 appearances as a substitute.
However, he was almost always proved to be an influential substitute as he went on to score 18 goals in the season and the most famous of them came in the Champions League Final at the Camp Nou against Bayern Munich.
After having equalized in added time, United clinched the game with a Solskjær goal in the dying moments of the game to win the trophy and complete the treble. There has never been a better squad player.
