The criteria in the original post seem really tough. I mean if having one Handanovic level team mate is enough to possibly rule you out, there are hardly going to be anyone to pick, especially not players that are seen by most as among the very best in their positions as usually you have to be playing with a big team to get that kind of collective benefit of the doubt. Zico at Udinese is one of the only ones i can think of that comes close to that kind of gap between him and the rest while also recognised as undisputably one of the best in the world in his position.
Bulgaria for instance in '94 had Balakov in midfield who was a monster himself until the late 90s and the puppet master of the team. Letchkov who was a lazy career underachiever, but a great technician and in strong form around then and a few other good players like Kostadinov, Hubchev, Ivanov and the injury prone Yordanov.
Maybe Lajos Detari, the last great Hungarian talent moving to Olympiacos for a world record fee in the late 80s could fit as far as one player absolutely leagues ahead of the rest of his teammates, but he wasn't a world star. I don't think they were even the best team in Greece at the time and here was someone with the talent to at least potentially become one of the best midfielders in the world taking the money over career route. He scored about 30 goals in 60 games from midfield then eventually turned up in Serie A about three stone overweight, so fits well the whale bit too. Underachieving legend.
Dragan Stojkovic in the J-league with Nagoya Grampus became an all-time league legend with a team that was previously mid-table. Debatable if he was still a top player by then though, he'd been mostly injured for years before going there, maybe around 95 and 96 he was still elite. Some others that played in the J-league actually during their prime could fit like Leonardo at Kashima Antlers, but he at least had one or two good teammates like Jorginho.
Khoren Oganesyan at Ararat Yerevan during the late 70s-mid 80s was a terrific creative midfielder and NT regular with an excellent scoring rate in the defensive serie A like ussr league while the rest of his team were relegation or mid-table at best level, someone who really was carrying a team with little help at times. Hardly a world star though, he was doubted and slow to be trusted even domestically in the NT, likely in large part because of the amount of those that question any player at a smaller team. Maybe would be best known to English fans for running the show during the '84 2-0 friendly win at Wembley, a few months after that his career got cut short while still at his peak due to match fixing allegations.