Thomas Partey

being done by Keita behind then, allowing Barca to dominate the midfield areas so that Xavi and Andres Iniesta could also weave their magic.

Keita won three LaLiga titles and two UEFA Champions League trophies in his four years at the Camp Nou, as well as two FIFA Club World Cup wins.

He had arrived at the club from Sevilla, where he had a single, excellent campaign in the 2007/08 season that persuaded Barca to make their move.

He left in 2012 for Chinese Super League side Dalian Aerbin, but returned for another six months in LaLiga with Valencia in the second half of the 2013/14 campaign.

That was always going to be a short-term deal, but Keita did enough to win a move to

Nationality: Ghana

Position: Midfielder

LaLiga clubs: Atletico Madrid

LaLiga games/goals: 149/15

Partey is the only one on our list that is still active in LaLiga, but he has emerged as one of the world’s most sought-after midfielders in recent years and is a star man with Atletico Madrid.

The 26-year-old Ghana international is primarily a defensive midfielder, but does play further forward at times and chips in with goals to go with steel in the centre of the park.

He is a typical box-to-box midfielder with a huge engine and was a key man when Atletico knocked Liverpool out of the UEFA Champions League just before the break to the season for the coronavirus pandemic.

Partey was scouted by Atletico from