The 10 players with the greatest first touch in football ft. Berbatov and Ronaldinho | OneFootball

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There are a select few players in world football – past and present - that could give you a masterclass in perfecting a first touch and former Manchester United man Dimitar Berbatov is one of them.

Despite his 258-goal career, the Bulgarian centre-forward was best known for his innate ability to pluck a ball out of the air.

Most impressively, it was beyond effortless.

It was almost like a party trick and there were not many better at performing it than Berbatov himself.

Now, the 42-year-old has taken to Instagram to share his knowledge, claiming all you need is two objects to improve your first touch: a ball and a wall.

“Alright people. Another summer and another ball and a wall challenge. Go out there, find yourself a ball, find yourself a wall, and you’re ready to go.”

Berbatov then proceeds to give an in-depth lesson on how to enhance your first touch and his voice-over provides substance to his actions, detailing why and how he did certain things.

The former United striker has been praised by many for posting his tutorial to a wider audience, with former teammate Gary Neville even commenting: “Beautiful post this for any young footballer!”

Best of all, you can receive it for free on his Instagram page, which you can find above.

But before you endulge in Berbatov's class in mastery, let's take a look at the top 10 first-touchers in the history of football.

10 Riyad Mahrez

Former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez arguably possesses one of the best first touches in modern football and has now moved to the Middle East to showcase his expertise in this department.

No touch of his seem to be the same, though all our done so acutely and with such poise.

What’s so special is ability to set himself up in a sense that, in turn, could lead to a goal-scoring opportunity.

There’s no doubt that his first touch was an attribute to thank for his long-term importance on Pep Guardiola’s teams.

9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic

A lot of football’s aspects come fairly simply to the towering Swede and a pinpoint first touch was one of them.

In regard to being a focal point who is able to hold the ball up thanks to his pristine touch, you can end your pursuit now. Ibra – at the peak of his powers – was the go-to guy.

Whether it was a drilled ball on the floor and one rifled to his midriff, you’d be unwise to bet against the journeyman being able to control it and be already looking for his next port of call, which would often be the overlapping wide men who had just played the pass.

8 Andres Iniesta

Whether it was a short or a long pass, you could guarantee that Andres Iniesta would be able to keep it in close proximity.

Watching from home it may look easy, but that’s because he – alongside many others – made it look so, but for the majority of players, it would be cause for concern.

Iniesta would always offer his teammates an outlet, whether he was in a sticky situation or not and his sheer understanding of how football works attests to his unfailing first touch.

MADRID, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 14: Andres Iniesta of Spain lines-up before the International friendly match between Argentina and Spain at the Vicente Calderon stadium on November 14, 2009 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

7 Mesut Ozil

The silky German certainly dazzled during his stint in England – that’s when he could be bothered, however.

Likened to a wizard on his day, Ozil’s first few games for Arsenal made it apparent that the Premier League was about to be spellbound by his first touch ability.

Ozil is truly blessed with outstanding technique and has attributed this to a training regime which involved juggling with medicine balls. We know, mental!

6 Neymar

Why do it normally when you can add in a bit of flair?

Not only does Neymar have one of the best first touches in the game right now, but it’s the audacity in which he performs them that see him so high up this list. Being able to bring the ball down so close-knit to his body is an invaluable trait to have, especially when sprucing into attacks at the speeds he and his teammates tend to do.

It’s the reason defenders struggle to get the ball off him.

5 Zinedine Zidane

The epitome of cool this man was, especially when tasked with a right-footed first touch.

Known as one of the greatest midfields of mankind, his ability to manipulate a ball was second to none, especially given the following action was equally out-of-this-world.

Zidane was one of those players you could put your full-blown trust into when it came to operating with their feet, and his high in-game intelligence to match was a match made in footballing heaven.

4 Dimitar Berbatov

Not typically known as a potent killer in front of goal, his exquisite technique was what piqued interest during his days at Bayer Leverkusen.

The long-ball approach in the Premier League was where he thrived the most, however, as his first touch capabilities were on full show. The former Bulgarian international’s ability to bring the ball under control instantly was one of the best in the entire division.

Cool, calm, and collected. And just remember - you are able to learn from one of the best through his Instagram tutorial.

3 Lionel Messi

There is a long list of football-type things that Messi is known for. His artistic dribbling, his cool nature in front of goal, his subtle passing ability.

An underrated aspect may be his quick feet and effortless control of the football. It’s just pure magic, but this has become a regularity if you are an avid Messi watcher.

It’s almost as if the ball was glued to his feet and the pictures of Messi in complete control despite being surrounded by countless opposition paints a thousand pictures. Teammates could – and still can – trust the gifted Argentinian as he would often transform nothing into something out with a delicate touch.

Messi is always one step ahead.

2 Dennis Bergkamp

Often hailed as a genius when receiving a pass, Dennis Bergkamp could latch on to any sort of pass and bring it down under copious amounts of pressure.

And his influence on Arsene Wenger and the Premier League era in general all boils down to that goal against Newcastle United, where the Dutchman’s sweet touch mesmerised those watching.

You can relive the moment below…

1 Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho’s first touch is best described not with words, but instead with the historic video below, which will certainly prevail the test of time.

And while you may recognise it from your formative years as a football fan, there’s no doubt that – with age – it goes one step further to reach the upper echelon of ‘impressive’.

Time after time, the fearless Brazilian thumps the ball across the upright and receives it perfectly before repeating the same action. It's a first touch in its finest form.

It broke the Internet at the time, and it makes sense. He is the sole reason that so many love the game of football. There will only be one footballer ever like Ronaldinho.