Seven legendary footballers whose clubs have discarded the jersey number that these star players played with

In this article, let’s take a look at seven legendary footballers that clubs respected so much that they scrapped their jersey numbers after they left.

Diego Armando Maradona – SSC Naples (#10)

Diego Maradona is regarded as one of the best footballers to ever grace football lawns. After seven years in Naples, he has become the epitome of God for the club there. He wore the azure jersey with the number 10 from 1984 to 1991 and made a great club out of a mediocre Italian club.

Napoli won a total of five trophies during his time at the club, and in the 1986/1987 season he even helped the club win the Italian Scudetto for the first time in its history. Although he left Napoli unwillingly after having to serve a 15-month ban for a positive drug test, the Italian club showed their gratitude to their hero by removing his jersey number in honour of the Argentine football icon.

Pelé – New York Cosmos (#10)

Another football legend who ‘battled’ with Maradona for the status of the greatest football icon of the twentieth century was Brazilian magician Pelé. The Brazilian spent most of his career at Brazil’s FC Santos, where he became an absolute legend.

However, for the last two years of his active career, he transferred to the New York Cosmos, where he increased the popularity of not only the club, but the entire sport in the United States in an enormous way. Pelé played a total of 107 games for the club, scoring 64 goals. This was enough for the club to discard the number 10, which had been associated with the ball wizard throughout his career, after his retirement.

Javier Zanetti – Inter Milan (#4)

One of the most admired full-backs in history, Javier Zanetti became a cornerstone of Inter Milan at the turn of the century. The Argentine spent 19 years at Milan’s San Siro and experienced plenty of success with the club.

‘Il Capitano’ was the captain of the Nerazzurri from 1999 to 2014, according to his nickname, and after his retirement the club announced that no player at the club would wear the number 4 jersey anymore as a tribute for his services.

Roberto Baggio – Brescia Calcio(#10)

Roberto Baggio, known for his famous hairstyle as the “Divine Braid”, is considered one of the best Italian players of all time. In Serie A, he switched between most of the most famous clubs, but towards the end of his career he donned the jersey of the less famous Brescia.

And it was the club from Lombardy who showed the iconic striker the utmost respect after his football career ended. The Italian forward is still the darling of the city whenever he comes here.

Ferenc Puskás – Honvéd Budapest (#10)

The best Hungarian footballer of all time, Ferenc Puskás played for Honvéd Budapest from 1943-1956 and scored over 300 goals in 341 games. He became the top scorer in the Hungarian league four times and also scored the most goals in all of Europe in 1948.

Before leaving to join the star-studded Real Madrid, the club from the Hungarian capital honoured him by discarding the number 10 on the jersey he wore. After leaving for the Spanish club, his star shone even brighter and he is widely regarded as one of the best cannonballers in football history.

Paolo Maldini – AC Milan (#3)

Paolo Maldini, one of the best defenders of all time, has linked his entire career with AC Milan. The Italian stopper has enjoyed plenty of success with the team in Rossoneri colours, including five Champions League titles, a feat few footballers in the world can boast.

Few have earned the honour of having his number emblazoned on their jersey quite like the legendary defender. Although the number 3 has been officially scrapped, Maldini has the right to reintroduce it. That is if any of his sons play for AC Milan in the future.

Johan Cruyff – Ajax Amsterdam (#14)

Cruyff was not only one of the best footballers of all time, but his contribution to the game even after his retirement was immense. The phenomenon of the sport owes a lot to the Dutch magician who reinvented football in many ways.

Cruyff joined Ajax when he was just 10 years old. The legendary striker left an incredible mark behind him, first as a player and then as a manager. During his playing career, he won the Eredivisie title 8 times and the European Cup 3 times. Even after his playing career, Cruyff’s love affair with Ajax continued and he returned to manage the team for three years in the 1980s. His iconic number 14 jersey was retired by the Amsterdam club in 2007.

Source: Sportskeeda, Twitter