Top footballers who retired in 2017

#4 Xabi Alonso

As classy as it gets

Xabi Alonso was the kind of player that reinvented the role of a deep-lying playmaker. Be it putting in a shift and doing the dirty work or pinging 40 yards cross field balls and dictating the tempo, Alonso could do it all. And the most important part, he dominated the field wherever he went. Be it England, Spain or Germany.

Along with his achievements for Spain, Alonso has been a part of some special teams around Europe. The midfielder won three Bundesliga titles in a row with Bayern Munich, he won La Decima with Real Madrid a few years back and it was also the Spaniard who scored the third goal and the equaliser in the match dubbed as the 'Miracle of Istanbul' between Liverpool and AC Milan.

Alonso was one of the classiest players to ever play the game and he announced his retirement on Twitter in the same way as he played the game. He tweeted, "Lived it. Loved it. Farewell beautiful game." And that brought to an end a beautiful journey for a brilliant footballer.