The CIES Football Observatory has analysed and ranked the leading players from some 60 major leagues around the world during the last season.
They have based the listings on six areas of competence:- aerial play, ground defence, distribution, take on, chance creation, and finishing.
Not surprisingly players from Premier League winners Liverpool feature heavily (in particular the likes of Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk) as well as players from Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.
- Centre Backs – Liverpool’s mainstay in defence Virgil van Dijk comes out top with Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni in second. The evergreen Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica and Argentina) is rated sixth.
- Full Backs – Again a Liverpool player leads this list – Trent Alexander-Arnold (though soon to be at Real Madrid), while the only South American to achieve the top ten is Dodo Cordeiro of Fiorentina and Brazil.
- Defensive midfielders – Barcelona’s talent Pedri tops this list, and Federico Valverde (Real Madrid and Uruguay), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea and Argentina), and Ederson Dos Santos (Atalanta and Brazil) are all in the leading ten.
- Attacking midfielders – Soon to be at Liverpool, Florian Wirtz leads this compilation that is dominated by British talent (Palmer, Bellingham, McTominay, and Gibbs-White) and is without any South Americans among the leaders.
- Wingers – It’s not a big shock that the EPL Player of the Season, Mohamed Salah heads this category though he is closely followed by Barca’s precocious Lamine Yamal. Brazil’s Raphinha also features alongside yet another Liverpool player, Colombian Luis Diaz, and Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil)
- Centre Forwards – Kylian Mbappe comes out top ahead of a couple of other prolific scorers in Viktor Gyokeres and Harry Kane with the Argentine pair Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Lautaro Martinez (Inter) also among the leaders.
Analysis – Mark Pilkington.