Even the best attacking midfielders in the world were deemed as luxury players not too long ago, seen as anachronistic throwbacks to a time of laissez-faire off-ball effort; expendable, if you want to really compete.
Things have turned 180 degrees with some of the best players in the world being given the license of a classic no.10 and deemed to be as essential as anyone else. Attacking midfielders have a vital role to play in the modern game, not just in their influence with the final pass but everything leading up to it: intensity off the ball, setting the tempo and dictating a game.
Playmakers are back in fashion, all right… so who are the best around?
How FourFourTwo's expert panel decided the best attacking midfielders in the world
In looking for the best AMs on Earth, FourFourTwo built an expert panel featuring the likes of European football expert Julien Laurens, Breaking the Lines' chief editor Zach Lowy, freelance analyst/scout Ben Mattinson and Scouted co-founders Phil Costa and Tom Curren, as we asked for their rankings of the best players in the world in their opinion right now.
We asked each expert for a top 10, distributed points accordingly and totted them up, while adding minimal additional points to players who shone in statistical metrics across Europe's top five leagues, such as Expected Assists per 90 (xA per 90), through balls and shot-creating actions.
While ‘attacking midfielder’ is a broad term that can used to describe any playmaker, trequartista or player ‘in the hole’, we asked our experts to compile a list of the best 10 midfielders in the world who are tasked with operating in a more advanced role – regardless of whether they play in a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, or any other formation – based on technical ability and form over the past 18 months.
26 players made the longlist, with judgment calls made for players who may fit into the best central midfielders in the world or the best defensive midfielders in the world. This was whittled down a top 10, with the five highest-rated beyond that receiving an honourable mention below. All values are courtesy of Transfermarkt and correct as of June 2025.
Along with our midfield rankings, we've looked at the best goalkeepers in the world, and focused both forward and backward from the centre of the park, producing lists of the best defenders (right-backs, centre-backs and left-backs) and attackers (right-wingers, left-wingers and strikers) in world football right now – while our list of the best players in the world right now looks at ability across the board.
The full list
10. Matheus Cunha
Club: Manchester United
Date of birth: May 27 1999 (26)
National team: Brazil
Value: €60.00m
Manchester United can do a lot worse than recruiting Matheus Cunha this summer, with the Brazilian known for his flair, creativity, and intelligent link-up play.
Comfortable as a striker or attacking midfielder, Cunha combines technical skill, close control, and agility to navigate tight spaces and unlock defences with his Brazilian flair. Cunha’s off-the-ball movement and ability to drop deep make him a key creator, while his dribbling and finishing add a direct threat.
But as much as he's a technical wizard, Wolves will certainly miss his fire: he's a player you want to go to war with, given the intensity he plays at… even if it spills over on occasion.
9. Scott McTominay
We’re not sure anyone foresaw the day when Scott McTominay would be emblazoned on murals in Naples alongside the Diego Maradona, yet here we are.
The Scotsman has played a more advanced role in midfield under Antonio Conte – similar to what he’s known for Scotland for years and it's resulted in a legendary season: McTominay's been a revelation in Italy, winning the league’s MVP award in his first season after helping Napoli win their second Scudetto in three years, and fourth overall.
While the 28-year-old helps defensively, he has excelled in the middle and final thirds. His big frame allows him to carry the ball from deep, and he has an impeccable ability to arrive in the box at the right time.
8. Xavi Simons
Club: RB Leipzig
Date of birth: April 21 2003 (22)
National team: Netherlands
Value: €70.00m
Still incredibly young in footballing terms, it feels like Xavi Simons has been teetering on the edge of entering the “elite” bracket of players for years.
Raised in La Masia, Simons had a short association with PSG before tearing it up in his homeland for PSV, providing 19 Eredivisie goals and eight assists.
Earning a move to RB Leipzig, he’s continued comfortably posting double figures for goal involvements in the Bundesliga; his next step to a European heavyweight seems only a matter of time.
Mixing technical ability with speed of both thought and movement, add in the Dutchman’s eye for goal, and you’ve got yourself a lethal combo.
7. Dani Olmo
Dani Olmo is that rare breed of Spanish talent who did the bulk of his most important development away from his home country… and it shows.
He spent years in Barcelona’s famed La Masia, but moved first to Croatia and then Germany to make his name in the senior game. The 27-year-old’s plan worked, putting himself in the shop window with RB Leipzig, and making his way back to where it all started with Barça.
It wasn’t quite the dreamy move it was first cracked up to be, beset by baffling registration issues, but as a show of just how talented Olmo is, he still managed to post 12 goals and seven assists amid the confusion.
Olmo did the most important development away from his home country – and it shows
Isaac Stacey Stronge
You can certainly tell that Olmo has had a varied footballing education: the movement of a Bundesliga veteran, the silkiness of a Spain international and the kind of grit to his game off the ball that shows he's had to get to the top the long way around.
It's understandable why Barcelona have looked to recreate Spain's unstoppable Euro 2024 frontline.
6. Rayan Cherki
Club: Manchester City
Date of birth: August 17 2003 (21)
National team: France
Value: €45.00m
Not many in European football, never mind world football, boast the remarkable technical ability Rayan Cherki possesses: we’ve all seen the ridiculous touch-and-finish compilations from his time with France’s Under-21 side that now seem to be gaining the attention of Didier Deschamps.
His summer move to England will be a huge test of character but having posted up terrific numbers in France since his breakthrough with Lyon, Cherki gives off huge Eric Cantona energy and we can’t wait to see his brilliance, trickery and sublime footwork here in the Premier League with Manchester City in the future.
One to watch, you can bet on that.
5. Cole Palmer
Manchester City will surely still be kicking themselves that in a time of need for fresh blood, Cole Palmer felt better obliged to seek pastures new in the capital.
City’s loss was merely Chelsea’s gain and the England international has developed into becoming one of Europe’s best over the course of the last 18-24 months: the Blues work better with Palmer’s displays and his numbers really do speak to themselves.
Remarkable footwork, with a tall frame to boast too, Palmer more often than not, finishes with such conviction, that he almost makes the game of football look far too easy for a man so utterly nonchalant in his way of life.
A care-free mantra that is often so rare to see in the modern game.
4. Bruno Fernandes
Club: Manchester United
Date of birth: September 8 1994 (30)
National team: Portugal
Value: €50.00m
Manchester United’s best signing post-Sir Alex Ferguson continues to drag his team through the mud when it comes to delivering when needed on the big stage.
His performance in the Red Devils run to the Europa League final speaks for themselves, especially at a time when Ruben Amorim needed goals, and fast. Bruno is as hard working as they come, and he is arguably the best creator of chances in Europe, and has been for quite some years.
To lose him to Saudi Arabia would have been a crying shame, because despite his often annoying antics to his game, he makes the Premier League better and is often a magical midfield metronome that can also be described as magnificent in all aspects of his game.
He's been one of the best Premier League players of the 2020s and his continued brilliance even in United's demise is proof of his class.
3. Jamal Musiala
Club: Bayern Munich
Date of birth: February 26 2003 (22)
National team: Germany
Value: €140.00m
Jamal Musiala certainly delivers in output for a no.10 and with a team built around him, he has the efficiency that Vincent Kompany demands.
But to judge him purely on numbers alone is no fun at all – and Musiala is one of the most exciting players to watch in the world.
He draws defenders like a magnet and has this almost unique ability to shift his body in one movement to bypass them. He’s nicknamed Bambi for his leggy dribbling style and there’s a grace about watching him that you rarely feel in this ultra-physical era of the game – that combined his ball-striking ability, mean that he’s almost constantly double-marked.
Musiala is the jewel that Bayern is built around and he’s still, crazily, just 22 years old.
2. Jude Bellingham
Club: Real Madrid
Date of birth: June 29 2003 (22)
National team: England
Value: €180.00m
Sometimes, you watch a teenager play football and just know that they're destined to own the game for their adult life.
That Jude Bellingham went from being a box-to-box midfielder at Borussia Dortmund to being Real Madrid’s top scorer in his first season at the Bernabeu shows exactly the kind of player that he is.
The Stourbridge Madridista is cut from the same cloth as Steven Gerrard. It’s not a coincidence that he scores so many goals late on in games, nor is it that he’s just as capable in more of a no.8 role, should Kylian Mbappe hog the spaces he wants to burst into: Bellingham is a do-all footballer whose incredible personality is matched by his complete skillset.
It’s not a coincidence that Bellingham scores so many goals late on in games
Mark White
England have had players with phenomenal engines; they’ve had great finishers, good passers and larger-than-life characters capable of grabbing team-mates by the scruff of their necks.
But what makes Bellingham special – truly head-and-shoulders above perhaps anyone – is the combination of such gifts from quite such a tender age.
1. Florian Wirtz
A move to Liverpool is just the start.
Florian Wirtz has long been touted as arguably the most exciting player that Germany have produced since the days of Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos.
He’s fascinating to watch and a very modern German star, with the ability to shift gears in a matter of seconds and dribble through defenders like they’re training cones, combined with a degree of flair and vision. He’s far more than just hype, too: that Bayer Leverkusen Double of 2024 simply doesn’t happen without him.
If Wirtz doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or, I’ll eat my Lederhosen.
Ed McCambridge
“Alongside Jamal Musiala, he’s considered the jewel in Germany’s footballing crown and already a guaranteed starter for the Nationalmannschaft,” says FourFourTwo's German football expert, Ed McCambridge.
“A generational talent of rare intelligence and technical ability, if he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or, I’ll eat my Lederhosen.”
Honourable mentions
These five players only just missed out on a shot in our top 10…
FAQs
Who is the greatest attacking midfielder of all time?
It depends on your interpretation of the position. Lionel Messi is ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest players of all time – though he spent much of his career as a right-winger – with Diego Maradona at no.3 and Johan Cruyff at no.5.
Who is the greatest attacking midfielder in Premier League history?
Kevin De Bruyne takes the title for FourFourTwo: the Manchester City legend was ranked at no.6 in our list of the greatest Premier League players ever.
Who is the most expensive attacking midfielder of all time?
Neymar cost Paris Saint-Germain £198 million when he signed in 2017 to become the most expensive player ever in world football.
What is the difference between a no.10 and an attacking midfielder?
An attacking midfielder is a position on the pitch, whereas a no.10 is a role. A no.10 is a creative role that relates to the shirt number, but it is possible to play a more defence-minded player in a more advanced role and ask them to counterpress higher up the pitch.
What is the main role for an attacking midfielder?
An attacking midfielder primarily operates in the space between the midfield and the forwards, tasked with creating goal-scoring opportunities, providing assists, and often scoring goals themselves. They are the creative hub of the team's attack.
What is the difference between a central midfielder and an attacking midfielder?
A central midfielder plays deeper and has more balanced defensive and offensive duties across the midfield. An attacking midfielder plays further forward, often just behind the striker(s), with a stronger emphasis on creating and scoring goals.
