Have you ever heard of Telmo Zarra? We hadn't either, but that's the name of the man that holds the record Messi is chasing to become the highest all-time scorer in La Liga. Who was this goal-scoring machine? Was he as good as Messi?
As Promised, I dived into the history books to tell you more about the current La Liga all-time scorer, who is likely to be replaced by Lionel Messi soon.
Zarra was a Spanish Basque forward born on 20 January 1921. He spent the majority of his career at Athletic Bilbao from 1940 to 1955 and scored 335 goals for the club.
Messi has already broken Zarra's record for most goals for a single club in Spain and the Argentine is likely to overtake Zarra's La Liga record of 251 goals.
Zarra was on the level of Messi and Ronaldo as he scored at will. He held the record for most goals in a season with 38 goals for 61 years, beaten by Ronaldo in the 2010/11 season with 40, and bettered by Messi with 50 in 2011/12.
The 20-time Spain international has won the trophy for the best La Liga goal-scorer six times and also holds the record for most goals in the Copa del Rey - with 81.
Zarra left Atheltic Bilbao in 1955 after 15 years and one La Liga, title as well as five Copa del Rey's and many goal-scoring records to finish his career in Spain's second division.
Unfortunately, Zarra passed away aged 85 following a heart attack on 24 February 2006. However, the 'Zarra trophy' for the highest-scoring Spaniard in La Liga is awarded in his memory.
I hope you enjoyed reading more about Messi's predecessor and goal-scoring machine Telmo Zarra.
Do you think it will take another 60 years to break Messi's record or will it stay for longer and perhaps never be broken?
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Cheers,
David
