Alfredo Di Stefano

The one who eluded capture. Di Stefano, arguably the best player in football history, never played for Barcelona, and the Catalans are still bitter about it.

When Di Stefano left Colombian team Millonarios in 1953, after mesmerising the Madrid defence on a tour of Europe, the two clubs fought for his signature.

Following a lengthy legal battle, the Spanish football federation concluded that Di Stefano's contract should be split between the two clubs, with Di Stefano playing for each side in alternate seasons. He'd already trained with Barca and played in a few friendly games with them.

However, Madrid was the first to sign him, and after a lacklustre first few outings, Barcelona agreed to sell the remainder of his contract. He scored a hat-trick against them four days later.

Di Stefano had reinvented Real Madrid after 396 games, 308 goals, eight league crowns, and five European Cups. They had never won a league title before he arrived, but by the time he departed, they were the most powerful club on the planet.

Barcelona fans continue to believe in a Francoist plot to this day. In Madrid, Di Stefano is unrivalled to this day.

Javier Saviola

Saviola, an Argentine forward who arrived from River Plate to considerable fanfare in 2001, scored consistently for three seasons at Barca before falling out of favour.

After very good loan spells at Monaco and Sevilla, he returned to Barcelona for a year before leaving for Real Madrid when his contract expired in 2007.

At the Bernabeu, things did not go as planned. He struggled to break into the first-team squad, and his stint in Spain came to an end when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar arrived from Ajax in 2009.

He moved to Benfica then returned to Malaga for a season before going on to Olympiacos, Verona, and River Plate.