AC Milan legends: the 10 greatest players of all time

10. Andrea Pirlo — the playmaker who invented a role

Discarded by Inter because he was deemed too slow, Andrea Pirlo joined Milan in 2001 and stayed for ten seasons, amassing over 400 appearances and scoring 41 goals. It was Carlo Ancelotti who intuited his potential, dropping him into the deep-lying playmaker role in front of the defence: a tactical move that changed Pirlo’s career and the history of modern midfield play.

With Milan he won 2 Scudetti (2004 and 2011), 2 Champions Leagues (2003 and 2007) and 1 Coppa Italia (2003). His ability to dictate the tempo with pinpoint passes and surgical free kicks made him one of the most admired Milan legends in the world. In the Athens 2007 final, his deflected shot off Inzaghi opened the scoring against Liverpool.

9. Frank Rijkaard — elegance at the service of the team

Frank Rijkaard wore the Rossoneri shirt from 1988 to 1993, totalling around 200 appearances. A midfielder of extraordinary tactical intelligence, he could play with equal ease in midfield or in defence. Alongside Gullit and Van Basten, he formed the legendary Dutch trio that, under the guidance of Arrigo Sacchi, redesigned European football.

With Milan he won 2 Scudetti (1992 and 1993) and 2 European Cups in succession (1989 and 1990). It was Rijkaard himself who scored the decisive goal in the 1990 final against Benfica in Vienna, from a through ball by Van Basten: a strike that delivered Milan’s second consecutive European title.

8. Ruud Gullit — the cyclone with dreadlocks

Ruud Gullit arrived in Milan in 1987 with the Ballon d’Or freshly won and left an indelible mark in around 170 appearances, scoring over 50 goals. Striker, attacking midfielder, central midfielder: Gullit could do everything with a disarming naturalness. His physical power combined with sublime technique made him one of the most complete players in football history.

In the 1989 Barcelona final he scored 2 of the 4 goals with which Milan demolished Steaua Bucharest. In Rossoneri colours he won 3 Scudetti (1988, 1992 and 1993) and 2 European Cups (1989 and 1990). Together with Van Basten and Rijkaard, he formed a trident that still represents the pinnacle of Dutch football exported to Italy.

7. Kaká — the last Ballon d’Or before the Messi-Ronaldo era

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, known to all as Kaká, arrived at Milan from São Paulo in 2003 at just 21 years of age. In 307 appearances he scored 104 goals, impressive numbers for an attacking midfielder. His explosiveness, his ability to accelerate with the ball at his feet and his vision of the game made him the best player on the planet in the 2006/07 season.

That season culminated with the Champions League triumph in Athens against Liverpool and the 2007 Ballon d’Or, the last awarded to a player not named Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo until 2018. In Rossoneri colours he also won the 2004 Scudetto. He returned to Milan in 2013 for one final season, welcomed back like a son coming home.

6. Andriy Shevchenko — the Ukrainian sniper

Andriy Shevchenko arrived from Dynamo Kyiv in 1999 and quickly became the most lethal striker in Serie A. In 322 appearances in the Rossoneri shirt he scored 175 goals, becoming the second-highest scorer ever in the club’s history. In Serie A he netted 127 goals in 226 matches, finishing as the league’s top scorer twice (2000 and 2004).

His most iconic moment remains the decisive penalty in the 2003 Champions League final at Old Trafford against Juventus: a shot into the top corner, Buffon beaten and the sixth Rossoneri European trophy secured. In 2004 he won the Ballon d’Or. After two seasons at Chelsea, he returned to Milan in 2008 for one last campaign. No foreign striker has scored more goals in Rossoneri history.

5. Gunnar Nordahl — the Swedish cannon

Gunnar Nordahl is the all-time top scorer in AC Milan’s history and nobody, seventy years on, has managed to surpass him. He arrived from Sweden in 1949, a fresh Olympic champion, and in Serie A he scored 210 goals in 257 matches: an average of almost a goal per game that remains an all-time record. He won the Serie A top scorer title five times (1950, 1951, 1953, 1954 and 1955), a feat no other Milan player has ever matched.

With Milan he won 2 Scudetti (1951 and 1955). Alongside his compatriots Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Gren, he formed the celebrated Gre-No-Li trio, one of the most devastating attacking lines Italian football has ever seen. Nordahl was a modern centre-forward before his time: an imposing physique, a lethal header and a supernatural instinct for goal.

4. Gianni Rivera — the Golden Boy

Gianni Rivera arrived at Milan from Alessandria in 1960 at just 16 years of age and remained in Rossoneri colours for 19 seasons, amassing 658 appearances and scoring 164 goals. He was the first Italian-born footballer to win the Ballon d’Or, in 1969, the same year he orchestrated the memorable 4-1 demolition of Ajax and Cruijff in the European Cup final in Madrid.

With Milan he won 3 Scudetti (1962, 1968 and 1979), 2 European Cups (1963 and 1969), 2 Cup Winners’ Cups (1968 and 1973), 3 Coppe Italia and 1 Intercontinental Cup (1969). Rivera was a pure attacking midfielder, blessed with a vision of the game second to none and an innate elegance: the nickname “Golden Boy” was bestowed upon him by the international press when he was just 18 years old. He remains one of the most beloved Milan legends of all time.

3. Marco van Basten — the Swan of Utrecht

If there is one player who embodies footballing perfection, it is Marco van Basten. He arrived at Milan from Ajax in 1987 and in just 201 appearances scored 124 goals, including 90 in Serie A in a mere 147 matches. Extraordinary numbers, made even more incredible by the fact that his career was cut short by a persistent ankle injury: his last match was the 1993 Champions League final against Marseille, at just 28 years of age. After two years of recovery attempts, he was forced into definitive retirement in 1995, aged 30.

Van Basten won 3 Ballons d’Or (1988, 1989 and 1992), a record that places him among the most decorated players in history. With Milan he won 4 Scudetti (1988, 1992, 1993 and 1994) and 2 European Cups (1989 and 1990). In the 1989 Barcelona final he scored a brace that demolished Steaua. Those who saw him play have no doubt: Van Basten had everything — technique, power, acrobatics and a finishing ability that bordered on art.

2. Franco Baresi — the Kaiser of Milan

Franco Baresi is AC Milan. Twenty years with a single shirt, from 1977 to 1997, for a total of over 700 appearances. A sweeper by trade, he reinvented the position with a reading of the game that was decades ahead of his contemporaries. Milan retired his number 6 shirt: nobody will ever wear it again.

With Milan he won 6 Scudetti (1979, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996), 3 European Cups (1989, 1990 and 1994) and 4 Italian Super Cups. He was the captain of Sacchi’s and Capello’s Milan, the silent leader who commanded the defence with a single glance. He finished runner-up for the 1989 Ballon d’Or, behind Van Basten, and was included in the FIFA 100, the list of the greatest living footballers compiled by Pelé.

His most epic moment did not come in Rossoneri colours but with Italy: in the 1994 World Cup final, he played the entire match against Brazil just 25 days after a meniscus operation. A superhuman performance that tells you everything Baresi was: iron will, crystalline talent and a love for the shirt that knew no limits.

1. Paolo Maldini — the eternal captain

Paolo Maldini is the greatest player in AC Milan’s history. This is not an opinion: the numbers, the trophies and the 25 years spent wearing the same shirt, from 1985 to 2009, speak for themselves. With over 900 appearances in all competitions — including 647 in Serie A — he holds the all-time appearance record in the club’s history. Milan retired his number 3 shirt, forever.

His trophy cabinet is without equal: 7 Scudetti, 5 Champions Leagues (1989, 1990, 1994, 2003 and 2007), 5 UEFA Super Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups, 1 Coppa Italia and 1 FIFA Club World Cup. In total, 26 trophies won with Milan — a haul that no other player in the club’s history has ever matched.

Maldini lifted the Champions League in 2003 at Old Trafford, forty years after his father Cesare had done the same at Wembley in 1963. A perfect circle within the noblest dynasty in Italian football. In 2007, at the age of 38, he lifted it again in Athens. A complete defender — left-back first, then centre-back — he was as elegant as an aristocrat and as tough as steel. He played at the highest level for three decades, spanning the eras of Sacchi, Capello and Ancelotti without ever losing an inch of class.

Honourable mentions

A top 10 is by definition unfair and leaves out champions who would deserve to be included. Alessandro Costacurta, with over 660 appearances and 5 Champions Leagues won alongside Maldini and Baresi. Clarence Seedorf, the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs (Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan). Filippo Inzaghi, whose 2 goals in the 2007 final against Liverpool exorcised the ghost of Istanbul. Nils Liedholm, Nordahl’s teammate in the Gre-No-Li trio, with 12 seasons in Rossoneri colours. Cesare Maldini, the captain who lifted the first European Cup in 1963 and the father of the greatest of them all.

A history written by champions

This ranking of AC Milan legends tells much more than ten individual careers. It tells the story of a club that has been able to attract and develop the finest talents of every era: from the Swedes of the 1950s to the Dutch of the 1980s, from the Golden Boy Rivera to the Brazilian genius of Kaká. Every generation has had its heroes and every hero has left their mark on the history of world football.

From Nordahl to Maldini, from Rivera to Shevchenko, the Rossoneri thread has never been broken. These 10 greatest AC Milan players represent the very best that football has ever offered: 8 Ballons d’Or, hundreds of trophies and thousands of unforgettable nights under the lights of San Siro. Because being a Milan fan is not just about supporting a team: it is about belonging to a story that never ends.