You may have heard recently about the clamour for Liverpool to re-sign Steven Gerrard so he could win the Premier League. Reds' fans were only slightly tongue-in-cheek with the suggestion, but plenty of us have imagined how a prime Stevie G would have slotted into the current XI. That got one Liverpool supporter - @PrimeOxlade - on Twitter asking fellow football fans to name two players of different eras for their respective clubs whom they wish had played together. The user in question's take was Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold.The thought of the young England full-back pinging balls from the right flank into the feet of one of the greatest Premier League midfielders of all time is enough to get Kopites reaching for a time machine.
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It wasn't long before other fans began weighing in with their own idealised duos.
Here are some of the best:
Barcelona
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
It almost doesn't bear thinking about. The GOAT alongside a would-be-GOAT-but-for-injuries (it doesn't have the same ring to it, granted). It was a great pity that the legendary Brazilian only spent a year at Camp Nou, scoring 34 goals in 37 games. The fact he's still so revered, despite later playing for Real Madrid, tells you all you need to know.
Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard
OK, so Hazard hasn't hit the ground running at Real. At the start of the season, the Belgian was finding Madrid's lacklustre attack a problem as it's only in recent months they've really gained any momentum. Had he been lining up behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Los Blancos could have been an even greater force in La Liga as well as in the Champions League.
Zinedine Zidane and Luka Modric
Though the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner is well acquainted enough with Zizou as a manager, ponder for a moment the outrageous touches we'd see from the pair had they graced the Bernabéu's turf at the same time.
Liverpool
Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres
To the uninitiated, it might seem like Liverpool's current attack could never have been matched. When he was fit, Suarez benefited from a peak Daniel Sturridge - but just imagine him alongside Torres at his very best. Two of Liverpool's greatest ever strikers, without question.
Manchester United
Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo
It's a different story at Manchester United. Marcus Rashford is arguably one of the few of the current crop who would have graced a classic Fergie team and there would have been no need to fling him out on the wing either, with Ronaldo running alongside him up top.
PSG
Neymar and Ronaldinho
This pairing could also apply to Barcelona. Samba sauce, left, right and centre.
Chelsea
Eden Hazard and Arjen Robben
What a throwback, not only to the Dutchman sporting a full head of hair but to the thought of him running at defences alongside one of Chelsea's greatest playmakers. It felt like Hazard was something of a one-man band by the time he left Stamford Bridge but he wouldn't have been in the era of Robben and co.
Tottenham
Harry Kane and Gareth Bale
Technically speaking, they did overlap for one game but Kane did not break into the first team on a regular basis until Bale had left for Real Madrid. In January, it very nearly appeared that they would be reunited.
Borussia Dortmund
Ousmane Dembele and Jadon Sancho
Frankly, given how things have worked out for him at Barcelona, Dembele might wish he'd stayed at Dortmund too. It's unlikely Sancho will be there for much longer, though, as he is looking increasingly certain to return to England this summer.
Arsenal
Thierry Henry and Mesut Ozil
Naturally, we're talking Ozil *on his day*. Back when the former German international was dishing out assists like they were going out of fashion, even a legend like Henry would have prospered all the more thanks to his service.
If only some of these eras had coincided.
Honourable mentions also go to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal, Dimitar Berbatov and Mousa Dembele at Tottenham, and Carlos Tevez and Dimitri Payet at West Ham.