10 Football Players Who Were Nearly One Club Men

Claudio Marchisio was often the overlooked cog in the Juventus machine, particularly from non-Italian viewers. Having played alongside the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, it was sometimes easy to forget about Il Principino.

The Juve faithful never forgot.

Described as a box-to-box midfielder, Marchisio was the perfect complement to the key playmakers around him. His hard-working and hard-tackling nature helped the Bianconeri to dominate the midfield as he won 14 domestic trophies, including seven consecutive Serie A titles.

Marchisio called time on his career at Juventus at the age of 32. Through a combination of persistent injuries and a failure to guarantee sufficient game time, Claudio Marchisio's 25-year stay at Juventus came to an end in 2018.

It took the Italian midfielder just a couple of weeks to find a new home in Russia with Zenit St. Petersburg, though he lasted just a single season, playing 15 games across three competitions before returning to the Juventus Stadium to announce his retirement.

He never found the guaranteed game-time he craved, so you have to ask: was it really worth it?

Regardless, Marchisio will always be considered a legend in Turin.