10 Best One-Club Men In Football History
9. Franco Baresi
One-half of perhaps the best centre-back partnership in football history (stay tuned for the other-half...), Franco Baresi's defensive ability and innovation is incomparable to anyone. A legend of AC Milan, who retired the number six shirt after the Italian's final game, Baresi spent the entirety of his two-decade long career at the San Siro.
Despite his small stature, the 5'10" Baresi still stood leaps above most (in defensive ability, not height), if not all defenders of his generation, and despite attention from some of Europe's biggest clubs, always maintained his loyalty to Milan's tifosi. The Travagliato-born defender racked up an incredible list of accomplishments between his 1977 debut and 1997 Rossoneri farewell. Alongside three UEFA Champions League titles and six Serie A trophies, as an individual player, Baresi became the Ballon d'Or runner up in 1989 and was named AC Milan's player of the century in 1999 - not a bad way for your commitment to a club to be recognised is it?
Not many defenders have the ability to produce perfect tackles and create attacks from defence quite like Baresi. With incredible playmaking sense and leadership traits, Baresi was always the perfect fit for a club renowned for its defensive idols. Although after being the 1989/90 Coppa Italia top scorer, maybe he'd have been just as legendary as a forward...