Premier League attacking midfielders have been ranked, with Kevin De Bruyne named the 'GOAT' while Thiago Alcantara is labelled a 'Disaster' signing.
SPORTbible's TierMaker ranking assesses the current attacking centre mids in England's top flight - and reigning PFA Player of the Year De Bruyne is one of the best ever in his playmaking style. His 20 assists last season is a record for a Premier League midfielder.
Assists and goals are something Liverpool's Thiago has a total of zero of after 14 league games. He's certainly not solely to blame for his side's remarkable struggles (he didn't go around injuring every first-choice centre-back, after all).
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However the more silky, attack-minded Thiago was meant to give Liverpool a different option from Jurgen Klopp's usual hard-running midfielders. It is an experiment which is so far failing spectacularly.
Just below KDB - but still clearly 'World Class' - is Bruno Fernandes who's revitalised Manchester United's midfield since joining in January 2020. Jack Grealish's consistent brilliance also sees the Aston Villa man join illustrious international stars, such as James Rodriguez and Bernardo Silva.
Liverpool's Gini Wijnaldum may be a controversial choice as an outright attacking midfielder, but he does boast 21 goals in 70 games for Holland (plus 114 goals at club level).
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'Rising Star' contains the likes of Phil Foden - the Manchester City ace who is already rocketing his way to world-class status at age 20. Plus Arsenal hot prospect Emile Smith Rowe, as well as the likes of James Maddison, Tanguy Ndombele and Pablo Fornals (older, more experienced players - but still improving rapidly).
Leeds United's Mateusz Klich leads the 'Underrated' gang and is joined by the widely mocked Jesse Lingard, who's showing he's still got plenty to give at West Ham. Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister and West Brom's Matheus Pereira are impressing for struggling teams.
'Overrated' contains the likes of Chelsea's £70 million signing Kai Havertz and Arsenal loanee Martin Odegaard.
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Neither player deserve to be written off on any level. But it's clear their careers haven't lived up to the astonishing hype that was put (perhaps unfairly) on their shoulders.
Dele Alli is tricky to place as he clearly has talent, as he's shown in flashes recently. But his patchy form stretches way back before the Jose Mourinho era, and it seems an age ago that he was one of the first names on the team sheet for Tottenham and England.
The full TierMaker ranking of attacking midfielders is below.
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GOAT: Kevin De Bruyne
World Class: Bruno Fernandes, Jack Grealish, James Rodriguez, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Georginio Wijnaldum
Rising Star: Phil Foden, James Maddison, Emile Smith Rowe, Eberechi Eze, Pablo Fornals, Conor Gallagher, Tanguy Ndombele
Underrated: Mateusz Klich, Takumi Minamino, Jesse Lingard, Giovani Lo Celso, Miguel Almiron, Alexis Mac Allister, John McGinn, Matheus Pereira
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Overrated: Kai Havertz, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Ross Barkley, Martin Odegaard, Dele Alli, Erik Lamela
Poor: Jonjo Shelvey, Alex Iwobi, Filip Krovinovic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Percy Tau
Disaster: Thiago Alcantara
Do you agree with the placings or have we got this completely wrong? Let us know in the comments.
All imagery: PA Images/TierMaker
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Premier League