For the majority of football fans, Lionel Messi is and will always be the greatest footballer of all time.
The winter of 2022 saw the diminutive forward guide his country to World Cup glory out in Qatar, cementing himself as a class above his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Following two seasons with Paris Saint Germain, Messi decided to take his talents to Miami for the twilight of his career, where he has reunited with his former Barcelona team-mates, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez.
Of course, Messi will always be remember best for his Barcelona days, where he set record after record. Back in 2011, the year Messi and Guardiola lifted the Champions League at Wembley when they beat Manchester United 3-1, the Argentine managed to score a whopping 59 goals – while also producing 36 assists.
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Setting up such an incredible amount of goals saw Messi become the record holder for the most number of assists in a calendar year, a feat which looked insurmountable – until ex-Southampton forward Dusan Tadic, who turned 36 this week, did just that while at Ajax.
The Serbian international arrived in the Premier League back in 2014, joining Southampton from FC Twente. Initially he shone under Ronald Koeman, as the club appeared to be going from strength to strength, finishing sixth and seventh.
(Image: Getty Images)
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But his last two seasons, under Claude Puel, Mauricio Pellegrino and then Mark Hughes – who left him out of the team – saw Tadic move to Ajax, with the outcast declaring he had grown “tired of everything” playing for the Saints, who were “getting worse and worse”.
He helped the Dutch giants almost reach the Champions League final in his first season under Erik ten Hag. However, arguably his greatest individual feat was breaking Messi’s assist record in 2021, with Tadic finishing the year with an astonishing 38. The all-important assist that saw Tadic break the record came during a shock 2-1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar.
(Image: Getty)
The then Dutch champions were trailing 1-0 in the contest when Tadic played in former West Ham forward Sebastien Haller for the equaliser. However, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop AZ, who netted the winner eight minutes from time thanks to a goal from Zakaria Aboukhlal.
Since his spell with Southampton, Tadic played for Ajax for five seasons, scoring 105 goals in 241 games. He now plays his football in Turkey, starring for Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.