Lionel Messi

© Offside

Appearances: 637
Goals: 552
Trophies: 9x La Liga, 6x Copa del Rey, 7x Supercopa de Espana, 4x Champions League, 3x UEFA Super Cup, 3x FIFA Club World Cup

As good as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and others have been for Barcelona, there has never been any doubt that the star of the show is Lionel Messi - a man regarded by many to be the greatest player the world has ever seen.

The list of records and statistics Messi has obliterated is far too long to list here - indeed by now the number of goalscoring milestones he does not hold must be shorter than the number he does.

Even a quick rundown of Messi's most impressive highlights is extensive, be it his ludicrous 91 goals in 2012, 73 goals in 2011-12, a run of scoring in 21 successive matches, winning the Ballon d'Or five times or the European Golden Shoe five times.

Messi has always been more interested in team awards than individual accolades, though, and he matches Iniesta as the most decorated player in Barcelona's history - a record he will surely break in the coming years.

Indeed, the fact that Messi is still just 30 is a frightening prospect considering he is already 300 goals clear of the next highest scorer in the club's history and just 130 appearances short of Xavi's record.

The Argentine has changed football entirely since his debut in 2004, scoring at least 40 goals in each of his last nine seasons, and there is surely no better example of loyalty, consistency and quality at the very highest level in football history, yet alone simply Barcelona's history.