Ranking the 75 best players in Real Madrid history
70. Clarence Seedorf
Clarence Seedorf was only a Madridista from 1996 to 1999, but the eventual Milan legend certainly made his presence felt with the Merengue club. The Dutch icon scored 15 goals from midfield and was key in both a LaLiga and Champions League title. Why is such a legendary player so low? Because he only really had two important seasons with the club. So why is he on the list at all? Because he’s Clarence “freaking” Seedorf, and Madridistas are proud to say he won one of his three career UCL titles with the club.
69. Laurie Cunningham
A trailblazer for Black footballers in the United Kingdom during the 70’s, Laurie Cunningham created more history as a Real Madrid star, making a big move from West Brom, where he was a club legend, to Los Blancos in 1979. Cunningham was brilliant in his first two seasons, but he found life more frustrating later on due to injuries and, needing to be loaned and unable to play for Madrid due to a rule limiting the club from having too many players from outside Spain.
Even so, Cunningham has a special place in Real’s history. His quality was obvious, even getting an ovation from the Camp Nou! With better luck, Cunningham could have been one of the top 30 players in the history of this legendary club.
68. Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman has become an annoyance for Madridistas recently due to his negative comments about the club, but the man who scored a banger in a Champions League Final triumph over Valencia was one hell of a player. McManaman was important as a role player for Real during the Galacticos era, doing his best to work hard and stabilize an unbalanced, star-studded squad. He would win two league titles and two Champions Leagues at Real, honors he never achieved anywhere else.
67. Ricardo Gallego
The first “Redondo”, Ricardo Gallego played for Real Madrid from 1980 to 1989 as a hard-working, versatile midfielder and sweeper. He won back-to-back UEFA cups in 1984/85 and 1985/86, as well as four straight LaLiga titles during that period.
66. Vinícius Jr.
What? A 21-year-old on the list of the greatest Real Madrid players ever? Yes, Vinícius Jr.’s contributions to the club are already bigger than the others before him on this list, as great as the likes of Ángel Di María and Gonzalo Higuaín were for a few years.
Vini did things in the 2021/22 season that even players several spots higher on the list have not accomplished, so him being ranked 66 is indeed accounting for his youth and the fact that he will assuredly rise higher.
Let’s look at the facts. Vini was one of the best players in the world in 2021/22, scoring 17 goals with 10 assists in LaLiga, establishing himself as a top Ballon d’Or candidate, and scoring the match-winning goal in the Champions League Final. Even before that, he scored a decisive goal in El Clásico that eventually led to a LaLiga title in an emphatic bounce-back from an awful 2018/19 season. Vini is already in hallowed ground and only rising.