Lionel Messi, who has spent the whole of his professional career at Barcelona winning titles and playing fantastic football, should be the greatest player in the history of the club. However, according to Ranker’s the legendary status of the Argentine is placed third on the list.

Diego Maradona remains one of the greatest players to have kicked a football. There is no doubt or argument, but he spent only two years at the Catalan side. He started with Argentino Jrs. but it was at Boca Juniors that he made a name for himself. He moved to Europe where he played for Barca in 1982/83 and 1983/1984 seasons. Then he moved to Napoli to play in the Serie A where he was cemented a legend of the game. He also played for Sevilla before returning to play for Newell and Boca Juniors before retirement.

Maradona didn’t win as much titles as other players for Barcelona or score as much goals for the club or even in the league as a whole. There is no basis for him to be the club’s greatest player other than romanticizing the past.

On the list, Ronaldinho is second while Messi is third. Johan Cruff, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, Carles Puyol, Ronaldo Nazario, Neymar and Gerard Pique make the top ten.

Luis Suarez, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets, Samuel Eto’o, Rivaldo, David Villa, Ronald Koeman, Romario, Hristo Stoichkov, Victor Valdez, Michael Laudrup, Deco, Laszlo Kubala, Gheorge Hagi and Patrick Kluivert make the top 25 of the greatest Barcelona players.

In the latest review Stoichkov is ranked first, Cruff is second, Ronaldinho is third while Messi follows. Ideally the man who has won so much La Liga titles, scored over 700 goals, broken records that might never be equalled, remained consistent for 15 years at the top level for Barcelona should be the greatest player to have played for the club.