Barcelona: 5 Underrated Players in Club History

When you think of Barcelona nowadays, superstars like Lionel Messi come to mind, but there have been some pretty underrated players to play for the Blaugrana, as well.

Barcelona is one of the most successful and prestigious clubs in the world game and players like Romário, Johan Cruyff, Andoni Zubizarreta and so forth all played their part in making the team what it is today.

Those players would be the first to point at some of their teammates who may not have had the same type of illustrious profile but were integral members of title-winning teams.

That's just what makes these players underrated. Their performances or importance goes unnoticed by the majority of the watching world, save for a few.

Here are some of the most underrated players in Barcelona history.

Sergio Busquets is a prime example of an underrated player on a fantastic Barcelona team. Forget the theatrics for a moment, yes I know its hard but try.

Bleacher Report's Xoel Cardenas gives some good examples as to why Busquets is Barcelona's most underrated player.

Busquets ousted Yaya Touré, a more physical and dominant presence that one would expect to be in a defensive midfield role, from his starting position and has become an integral part of the Barcelona setup.

Xavi, Lionel Mess, Andrés Iniesta and company may get the plaudits, but Busquets is possibly the most important piece in the squad.

Before Sergio Busquets came along, there was another lanky, tall (albeit robust) person manning the defensive midfield position for Barcelona.

Edmílson didn't have a long career at Barcelona by any means—four seasons marred by injury is all he had to give—but his impact in the 2005/06 double winning season cannot be understated.

The Brazilian manned the midfield alongside Xavi and Deco, allowing the two pint-sized playmakers to create for the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and another man who makes this list, Ludovic Giuly.

He picked up four titles during his time with the club and was very important for two of those three.

If Edmilson was only really important for one of his seasons at Barcelona, Ludovic Giuly played a major role during his whole tenure at Barcelona until he was replaced by a guy named Lionel Messi.

The little Frenchman had good pace, could dribble well and was decent in front of goal, as well.

His double digit tally in his debut season helped the club to the 2004/05 La Liga title and it was his lone goal in the Champions League semifinal that got the club to the final (via Uefa.com)

Giovanni van Bronckhorst brought a wealth of experience to Barcelona when he joined the club in 2003, but he was still one of the most underrated players in the squad.

Van Bronckhorst's technical capabilities and defensive solidity made him a constant selection on the left side of defense for Barcelona, while players like Juliano Belleti and Gianluca Zambrotta provided more attacking threats down the right.

He picked up five titles with the club while playing with the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Carles Puyol.

Seydou Keita was probably considered an odd signing for Barcelona when he joined in 2008, especially after only playing one season in La Liga.

Despite never being a regular starter for the recent edition of Barcelona, Keita was an important member of the squad. He provided a physical presence in midfield, and an occasional goal threat as well, and was a great team player.

The Malian player picked up 14 trophies with the Blaugrana and had enough technical capabilities to stand out and enough physical attributes to make a difference.