Saviola, 43, had the honour of playing for Spain’s biggest clubs and was even included in Pele’s FIFA 100 – a list featuring the Brazilian’s greatest living footballers – back in March 2004.

The now-retired forward featured alongside several of his South American counterparts, including 1978 World Cup winner Mario Kempes, legendary Brazilian forward Ronaldo Nazario (R9) and arguably the greatest of them all, Diego Maradona.

At the time, the Buenos Aires-born forward was playing for Barcelona and returned impressive stats of 19 goals and seven assists in 46 appearances for the Blaugrana in the 2003/04 campaign.

Little did he know that a diminutive Argentine called Messi would make his Barca debut in October of that year and change football forever.

Saviola played alongside Messi, 37, on 11 occasions for the La Liga outfit and the Argentina national team.

Aside from Messi, the 2004 Olympic gold medallist boasts an impressive list of former teammates, including Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Ronaldinho, but named another former Barcelona midfielder as the biggest ‘unsung hero’ he shared a pitch with.