3. Ferenc Puskas
Ferenc Puskas joined Real Madrid as a 31-year-old after serving a two-year ban from UEFA that didn’t allow him to play in Europe. At 31 years of age, he wasn’t the most ideal transfer to be sought after by Real Madrid. However, he surprised the football community with his talent and prolific finishing skills, and his magical use of the left foot.
In his very first La Liga season, he scored four hat-tricks. That was just the start of blessed footballing folklore. At times it seemed like Puskas only dealt in hat-tricks, he scored loads of them. He scored 20 or more goals in each of his first six seasons in the Spanish league and won the Pichichi four times: in 1960, 1961, 1963, and 1964 scoring 25, 28, 26, and 21 goals, respectively. He helped Real win La Liga five times in a row between 1961 and 1965 and the Copa del Generalísimo in 1962.
His record in totality is 242 goals in 262 games for Real Madrid. Only Cristiano Ronaldo so far has succeeded to overcome this fine ratio. If there was ever one word to describe Puskas, it was consistency. It is no wonder that he also has a FIFA award named after him. The year’s most beautiful/best goal gets awarded the Puskas Award!
Puskas, considered an out-of-favor star when his transfer was finalized in 1958 retired at the age of 39 in 1965 after having an outstanding Real Madrid career. He was blessed with a magical left foot and was definitely one of the best left-footed players to play for the Royal White FC. He deservedly featured in the top position on our list of best No.10’s in Real Madrid’s history.