Juan Roman Riquelme put in the best performance I’d ever seen – I always watched out for him in his career

Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy has played against his fair share of flair players but was left blown away by Joan Roman Riquelme.

Riquelme is widely considered one of the best attacking midfielders to have played the game and amassed more than 440 appearances in his professional career that took him to Barcelona, Boca Juniors and to 51 caps for his country, Argentina.

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In his role as a traditional No.10, Riquelme bamboozled the opposition with a remarkable ability to breeze past players and could slice open a backline with a perfectly-weighted pass.

And while he played in a World Cup, it was his display against England at a youth tournament that had Murphy telling talkSPORT about the ‘best performance I’d ever seen’.

The pair lined up opposite each other at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia and he and his Young Lions teammates – who included Jamie Carragher, Kieron Dyer and Michael Owen – had ‘heard about a couple of players’ to watch out for prior to the tournament, with Riquelme being one of them.

“Until that age, as I’ve gone in pro football and played against the best, but that was the one best performance I’d ever seen to that point in my career,” Murphy told talkSPORT’s The Shortlist.

“I’d never been on the same pitch as someone who could slow the game down, speed it up, pass his way, dribble his way. Big lad as well.

“They beat us 2-1, but it could have been 10-1. He was absolutely incredible.

“From that day, I watched him every time I could, looked for him all the time. I’m amazed he didn’t do more.”

Argentina’s squad at the tournament featured some big names alongside Riquelme, such as Esteban Cambiasso, Walter Samuel and Pablo Aimar.

Argentina went on to win the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Uruguay in the final.

Although Riquelme is regarded as one of football’s great playmakers, his club career didn’t quite reflect someone with that reputation.

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He began his career at Boca Juniors in Argentina before moving to Barcelona in 2002 for an estimated £9million.

However, a reluctance from then-Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal to play Riquelme in his preferred No.10 role, coupled with the trauma from his brother’s kidnapping, ultimately led to his exit from the club after one season.

Barcelona’s capture of Ronaldinho prompted Riquelme’s switch to Villarreal on a two-year loan deal.

His form markedly improved as he was nominated for FIFA’s World Player of the Year in 2005 after a campaign in which he scored 15 goals in 35 appearances.

But Riquelme’s time in Europe lasted just four-and-a-half years as he returned to Boca in 2017 amid internal turmoil at Villarreal.

It is worth pondering whether a player in the mould of Riquelme would have had the same success in football now.

Such is the nature of modern football that the archetypal attacking midfielder, like Riquelme was, has slowly been phased out of football as managers prefer midfielders who have a more all-round game.

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Former England international Darren Bent suggested as much, describing the traditional No.10 as a ‘dying breed’ as managers ‘look for the midfield player that can run’.

Murphy somewhat agreed and responded: “The problem is, there’s not many players who do what he does. Who can glide past people and manipulate the ball. There’s not many of them.”

Riquelme retired from football in January 2015 and is now the president of Argentinian giants Boca Juniors, his boyhood club where he made 292 appearances.