- Paul Merson was asked to name the best footballer in the history of the Premier League
- Merson almost chose Thierry Henry, but ultimately put him in second place
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The Premier League has seen some incredible players since its inception in 1992.
Among the list of great footballers to have graced the English top division over the past 32 years are five Ballon d’Or winners: Ruud Gullit, George Weah, Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric.
Manchester City’s current stars, playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and Liverpool striker Mo Salah, are also widely regarded as world-class players.
But former Arsenal great Paul Merson recently chose none of the above names when asked to pick the best player in Premier League history.
Merson didn’t even mention fellow Gunners legend Thierry Henry, the club’s all-time record goalscorer with 228 goals in 337 games. According to Merson, Henry is only the second-best player the Premier League has ever seen.
Paul Merson was recently asked to name the best player in Premier League history
Pundit Merson has not selected former Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo
Merson said Thierry Henry is the second-best player the Premier League has ever seen
Merson’s number 1 is another ex-Arsenal striker in the form of Dutch dynamo Dennis Bergkamp.
Merson explained his decision and told Jeff Stelling on the Football’s best podcast: ‘I picked Thierry Henry as number 2. You could easily make a case for him as number one, in my opinion. Easy.
‘He’s the only player I’ve ever seen in the Premier League who looks like a 20-year-old playing in the Under 12s.
‘[But as No 1] I chose a player who is by a million miles the best player I have ever played with. I didn’t think a professional footballer could be so good. [It’s] Dennis Bergkamp.
‘He was incredible. I had a good brain, I could see things on a football field. I had good vision. But I had never seen anything like him.
‘He had eyes in the back of his head. He was as cool as ice. If you ask everyone who played with him, all the strikers wanted to play with him.
‘If you talk to Thierry Henry… he would say Dennis Bergkamp. Ian Wright [would say] Dennis Bergkamp.
“If you ran, he would find you. He just had everything.”
In Merson’s eyes, the Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp is the greatest player in the Premier League
Star strikers Bergkamp and Henry were teammates at Arsenal between 1999 and 2006
Bergkamp won the Premier League trophy three times with Arsenal: in 1998, 2002 and 2004
Bergkamp spent eleven seasons at Arsenal between 1995 and 2006, having previously played for Ajax and Inter Milan.
He played 315 league games for the Gunners, scoring 87 goals and providing 94 assists.
Bergkamp scored 120 goals in 423 Arsenal games in all competitions.
He won ten trophies with the north London club, including three Premier League titles.