25. Virgil van Dijk
A modern-day Anfield icon, Virgil van Dijk will eventually call time on his career knowing he can look back on a pair of Premier League titles and a Champions League win as a senior player at a club that demands success but hasn’t always been able to achieve it in his lifetime.
Van Dijk matured into a leader by deed, attitude and example, shaping a formidable persona as an immovable object on the pitch. His raw will to win and his meticulously developed defensive abilities made him one of the world’s best and most imposing central defenders and, for a while, the collectively appointed best player in the Premier League.
Now 34, the Reds defender has also become an imposing captain for the Netherlands, for whom he has played more than 85 times since 2018. If the best ability is availability, Van Dijk is a fine example for Liverpool too.
In six of the last seven full Premier League seasons, he’s played more than 30 times. Luckily for Liverpool, availability is only the start of his contribution.
24. Vitinha
When Vitinha was revealed to have been voted into third place in the 2025 Ballon d’Or, supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers might have cast an accusing eye in the direction of Fosun International and superagent Jorge Mendes.
The midfielder had a loan spell at Wolves in 2020/21, one of many Portuguese players to have appeared at Molineux, a strategy that doesn’t seem to have done the club itself much good. Wolves were firmly in Vitinha’s rear-view mirror when he joined Paris Saint-Germain from Porto in 2022 and began his ascent to Champions League glory.
The 25-year-old was no bit-part player in Luis Enrique’s team of European champions; he was their lifeblood. Vitinha is a dynamic, technical and creative central midfielder, attack-minded and progressive with every touch. He makes the whole game look as if it comes to him naturally.
He is in control of his own abilities and the tempo of the match, a genuinely special player in a devastatingly effective side.
23. Cole Palmer
Widely regarded as one of the most natural talents to emerge from Manchester City’s academy in recent years, Cole Palmer made a handful of appearances for City’s first team before he upped sticks and moved to Chelsea in 2023.
Injury grumbles aside, Palmer has been an unqualified transfer success for the London club. Chelsea were in poor shape when the Wythenshawe boy arrived in the capital but he’s contributed as much as anyone in their improved fortunes under head coach Enzo Maresca, another former Manchester City man.
Palmer is ostensibly an attacking midfielder but is also one of the Premier League’s most efficient and most instinctive goalscorers, oozing confidence even in high-pressure situations. His coolness from the penalty spot became a trademark in every sense of the word, and he emerged as a key player for England too.
Indeed, Palmer already has a European Championship final goal to his name. He’s a big player for big moments and it’s no coincidence that he’s been so heavily involved as Chelsea have begun to turn the chaotic transfer strategy of BlueCo’s early days into tangible success in the form of trophies. Palmer is a Europa Conference League winner on the continental stage and a Club World Cup champion too. Domestic honours will be high on his hit list.
22. Trent Alexander-Arnold
The relationship between Trent Alexander-Arnold and the Liverpool supporters who were behind him for so many years didn’t get the ending it deserved. Alexander-Arnold played for Liverpool for 21 years, joining the junior ranks at six years of age and playing more than 350 first team matches.
His move to Real Madrid and the furore around his departure shouldn’t be allowed to take away from his achievements. Alexander-Arnold won the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League – twice – with his boyhood club. With his contract at an end, he decided to test himself somewhere else and left as a champion and a pariah.
Alexander-Arnold is unlike any other footballer. He sometimes looks like one of the world’s best in-possession right-backs, and he strikes the ball as well as anyone. His strengths being so much more pronounced with the ball than in genuine defensive situations has tempted a manager or two to play him in midfield.
His attributes are better accentuated in his more natural position. He helped to redefine it, after all.
21. Michael Olise
With Wilfried Zaha advancing in years and Eberechi Eze permanently in the Premier League spotlight, it can be easy to forget that Michael Olise is perhaps a better example of Crystal Palace’s approach than either of them.
The London-born France international played most of his academy football at Chelsea in between short spells at Arsenal and Manchester City before Palace picked him up from Reading in 2021. He was the perfect Palace signing: a player with elite youth pedigree re-emerging as an obvious talent in men’s football at an EFL club, snapped up and improved, then sold on for a big profit to fulfil his destiny at one of the world’s foremost football clubs.
In Olise’s case, that’s Bayern Munich. He’s been a brilliant signing for them too. Olise, 24, is a creative passer in attacking areas but also an athlete, as if he was built to stand out at the top end of the Bundesliga.
He scored 20 times in 55 appearances in all competitions in his first season in Germany – and his first in the Champions League – and is showing no signs of slowing down either figuratively or literally.
20. Julian Alvarez
As he approaches his peak years, Argentina striker Julian Alvarez can already be proud of what he’s achieved in his career.
After six years on the books of Buenos Aires titans River Plate, the 25-year-old moved to the Premier League and signed for Manchester City, winning the treble in his first full season and contributing to those three trophies in no small way. Alvarez was already a World Cup winner by then, scoring twice in Argentina’s semi-final win over Croatia in Qatar in December 2022. It was typical of his impact.
It would be lazy to dismiss Alvarez as a poacher – his work ethic without the ball alone disproves it – but he is a top-level goalscorer in addition to the all-round game of the modern forward.
He left City in the summer of 2024 when Atletico Madrid paid a massive reported fee of more than £80 million to tempt City to allow him to move to the Spanish capital. His scoring rate in Madrid has taken him to a whole new level and he was named in La Liga’s Team of the Season in his first year in Spain.
19. Joao Neves
One of Paris Saint-Germain's best signings of the past few years, there were European rivals out there a little cautious to take a chance on a diminutive midfielder from outside Europe's top five leagues.
All the signs were that he would take time to develop, after all. Neves has continued his magnificent form from Benfica, however.
The battery in Luis Enrique's midfield, Neves has also formed an excellent partnership with Vitinha for club and country. The pair of them will be high in the pecking order to take the national side's captaincy one day when Cristiano Ronaldo steps aside.
The 21-year-old is tenacious and technical in equal part, with the heart of a lion and composure on the ball. Despite already being one of the best midfielders in the world, he could well grow into the PSG midfield to become this decade's Marco Verratti and come to define the Parc Des Princes for a new generation.
18. Jamal Musiala
Chelsea have infamously let some of the greatest players of a generation slip through their fingers – Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah being the obvious ones – but Jamal Musiala will sting like few others.
‘Bambi’ is the kind of footballer that gets fans off seats, with his mazy dribbling style and typically German awareness. He's a highly intelligent playmaker who makes others around him look good – not just in his assists but the space he creates for his team-mates.
But really, there was never a chance that the 22-year-old wouldn't return home to Germany, where he was born, to take the no.10 shirt at the Allianz Arena and become the jewel in Die Mannschaft's attack. He is simply fulfilling a destiny and developing into one of the most exciting attackers on Earth all the while.
Chelsea's loss is as much England's – imagine him alongside his mate Jude Bellingham for the Three Lions…
17. Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah was 25 when he earned his move to Liverpool. It had been a solid career up until that point – but compare him to players like Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Gareth Bale, who had struck 300 career goals, won a Ballon d'Or, or broken the all-time transfer record, respectively, by the same age.
Well, Salah has since forced himself into conversations comparing his abilities with each of them, as proof of what he's achieved in the last eight years.
2024/25 might well go down as his last truly elite season and perhaps his defining campaign as a footballer. He was Liverpool's leading scorer in every season since signing, but without the likes of Sadio Mane or Bobby Firmino by his side, last term was the time of the Egyptian King, as he broke the record for the most goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League season (a whopping 47).
He is a modern-day legend. Don't bet that he's totally finished at the top-level either – this is a man who has come to revel in surprising those who doubt him.
16. Declan Rice
There were a few who wondered why Arsenal would spend such a huge amount of money on Declan Rice – who was essentially ‘just’ a ball-winning midfielder. Those kinds of fees are generally reserved for more creative types.
Few could have foreseen just how Rice would come to pay back all £105 million and more in such a short space of time, however, developing his game to become one of the most complete footballers in the world anywhere on the pitch. It's not just those free-kicks against Real Madrid – it's the astounding consistency with which he dazzles every week.
Rice is the very definition of an all-action midfielder, capable of carrying the club on his back in the harder times and leading from the front when things are going Arsenal's way. He's been the major catalyst in their step up to competing for honours and he's now one of the first names on the team-sheet for club and country.
Now to add a major title to his cabinet…
15. Gabriel
It's hard to pinpoint the moment that Gabriel solidified into one of the world's most fearsome defenders – but missing out on Brazil's 2022 World Cup squad was almost certainly a catalyst.
When he joined Arsenal was a little rash, with his eagerness to show aggression needing to be tamed: and watching Piero Hincapie step into his shoes to replace him during an injury recently, it's like being granted a time machine to see what Gabriel would've looked like without his learning curve.
Seeing Gabriel missing from Mikel Arteta's backline also serves to remind us just how quietly important the Brazilian has become. The threat reduced from set-pieces, David Raya a little more exposed.
His evolution to one of the best on the planet was one that few saw coming – and has been a catalyst to Arsenal's improvement as a team.
14. Gianluigi Donnarumma
A few short years ago, goalkeeping looked to be heading in a very specific direction, with ball-players favoured by top sides and traditional shot-stopping overlooked by bosses at the very top.
That's not to say that Gianluigi Donnarumma is not good with his feet, while the Italian himself has been turfed out by an elite manager who wanted a keeper with better passing prowess.
But it's a welcome turn of events that perhaps the greatest goalkeeper on Earth is a traditional goalkeeper who specialises in keeping the ball out of the net – and not one whose primary job is to start play from the back. Donnarumma was heralded as the next Buffon from an incredibly early age and has managed to develop into a brick wall.
He was a primary reason for PSG winning the Treble (that superhuman performance against Arsenal) and for Pep Guardiola to overlook his ability with his feet, you know he must be good.
13. William Saliba
Sometimes, it's easy to forget that William Saliba is just 24 years old. He plays with a maturity and wisdom that suggests he's long into his 30s and has been doing this for decades.
Like many of his countrymen before him, the centre-back transformed Arsenal almost immediately upon coming into the team. His first season proper in English football saw the Gunners step up from top four contenders to title competitors, with their eventual bid for the Premier League derailed by a back injury to Saliba.
And since then, he's only improved. Saliba is adored by Gooners for his strength, his composure and his presence at the back, but he's an incredibly well-rounded defender, able to receive from higher up the pitch, with fantastic anticipation and brilliant timing.
If he remains at Arsenal for a while, he will become a legend – and that's no mean feat, given the defenders who have played in North London.
12. Jude Bellingham
He may never have played at the top level of English football, and perhaps that's shaped Jude Bellingham.
The move to Borussia Dortmund was a masterstroke for his development, with the midfielder fast becoming the club's best player – and the Galactico transfer was inevitable. But it's a career path that virtually no one in the England set-up has ever had, and it shows.
Bellingham's game revolves around a confidence and an intelligence that few English players have ever had. He manifests goals as much as he creates them, always finding pockets of space when needed, and he's such a complete player that he's an influence wherever he finds himself on the field.
What he's achieved at 22 simply isn't normal.
11. Achraf Hakimi
Is it any wonder that a footballer who has played for Real Madrid, Dortmund, Inter and PSG is the best in the world in his position?
Perhaps not. Add in the fact that he captained an African nation to a first-ever World Cup semi-final and scored for PSG in their first-ever Champions League win – then look at the talent that each have had over the years – and you'll start to see why Achraf Hakimi is a special case.
The Moroccan is the archetypal example of how full-backs have become key weapons in modern football. He's not just a defender, he's setting the tactical standards for how a right-back can be an attacking weapon, ghosting into areas that forwards usually find themselves in, using his incredible engine to be in two places at once.
Hakimi is one of PSG's most important signings ever: an intelligent, physical anomaly whose rise to the top of the game has shocked absolutely no one.
10. Bukayo Saka
When Bukayo Saka first broke into Arsenal's team, plenty of the media interest in the Ealing youngster centred around his sunny demeanour and his excellent exam results at school. The winger is now 24 – but it's still fitting to speak of his intelligence.
England has rarely ever produced an attacker this clever. He doesn't need speed, power or a box of tricks: he just has the smarts to generate a yard of separation from just about any full-back and produce a final ball of stunning quality. Whether it's an inherent understanding of the game or instinct, he does it time and again.
In six years since his Premier League debut, Saka's game has developed like none of his other contemporaries, either. While others refine their skills to become specialists, the Arsenal no.7 is still a Jack of all trades, improving his finishing, passing, his positional sense, set-pieces and his weaker foot over time.
He looked like a pacy winger at one stage, and now Saka could well become a midfield creator. He's a truly special footballer and a leader for the Gunners, too.
9. Nuno Mendes
Mendes signed for Paris Saint-Germain during a star-studded summer in which Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Gini Wijnaldum and a certain Lionel Messi also joined the club. Along with fellow full-back Achraf Hakimi, he's outshone every single one of those big names in the French capital.
Arguably, he's been the best signing of the entire lot, given that he cost almost half what Hakimi did and he's had a similar impact. Whether it's been for Ruben Amorim as a teenager or Luis Enrique in the last 18 months, he's been hugely reliable.
Because while Hakimi is celebrated for what he provides in attack, Mendes is an all-rounder like no other in his position in Europe right now: he's locked up the very best wingers on Earth, one by one, and still had time to contribute further up – in both legs, for example, against Aston Villa last season.
The Portuguese is still just 23, too, surprising us with new facets to his game like a free-kick against Lille earlier this season. There hasn't been a left-back this good in a long time.
8. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
It goes without saying that you have to be special for Napoli fans to give you a nickname that references Diego Maradona. Even if calling him ‘Kvarajon’ or ‘Kvarabaly’ wouldn't have had the same ring to it.
So it was a bold move to abandon Italy. Antonio Conte's side were on course for the Scudetto – which they won, of course – but in leaving midseason, not only did Khvicha Kvaratskhelia show his lofty ambitions, he followed through on them with a Treble.
The Georgian is certainly unique, though, with Gianfranco Zola comparing him to George Best of all players. He has a combination of power and elegance so rarely seen in football, able to blast past defenders and tease a ball beyond goalkeepers – and in that sense, he's a perfect partner for the likes of Dembele and Doue, who offer similar grace despite their intensity.
At just 24, where will he be in another couple of years' time?
7. Pedri
It's a true miracle of Barcelona that Pedri didn't come through their academy. The perfect midfielder for their football received no La Masia education, landing in their laps from Las Palmas, a ready-baked gem.
Injuries threatened to cut his career before it had even begun, but Pedri has bounced back to become arguably the most irreplaceable figure in any midfield in Europe. He does more than create: he lets the game flow through him, with most Barça or Spain goals owing something to his movement or positioning, even if he didn't get the final assist or finish.
At 23 years old, Pedro Gonzalez Lopez has racked up around 300 senior appearances in football, yet he plays like he's seen 3,000: a veteran in a youngster's body, with a reading of the game that many will never learn.
In an era in which physicality is king – Pedri himself is no slouch, just to clarify – it's satisfying to see that even the top level has a place for a ‘typically Barcelona’ controller… even if they didn't produce him themselves.
6. Raphinha
What a few years it's been for Raphinha. Few had him on their radar at 22 as a potential world-beater, but the man's mentality knows no limits.
It was clear in his trajectory. The Brazilian followed a lineage of Rennes' finest before taking the Premier League by storm: but though he wasn't exactly surrounded by superstars at Leeds United, he saved the club from relegation and earned the dream move to Barcelona.
Raphinha's career hasn't been a linear rise, however, as evidenced by his struggles early on in Catalonia – but that resilience has defined him and in the past 18 months, the 29-year-old has discovered something close to his final form on the left wing under Hansi Flick, playing with confidence and bombast to deliver 34 goals in all competitions last season and six in his first 10 La Liga games of this.
There's something rewarding about players reaching the top when they weren't necessarily thought of as destined for greatness. Raphinha has had his doubters – though those who spotted his talent always knew he was capable of brilliance. It's nice to see him fulfilling potential.
5. Kylian Mbappe
After shaking off early doubts of whether he was suited to Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe has answered doubters in the only way he knows how.
It's not in the 70-odd goals in his first 80-odd games, either: when Mbappe gets the ball at his feet at the Bernabeu, there's an electricity akin to the greats before him, like Zidane or Ronaldo (first and second). You just know that he's capable of the unthinkable at any given moment.
He leads the line in a unique way, offering blistering pace, power without any backlift and swagger ripped right from the Thierry Henry playbook. He'll be France's all-time scorer before long and at just 26, he's already netted over 400 goals from across the frontline.
The Frenchman is yet to deliver his defining moment in a white shirt, but surely only time will tell.
4. Ousmane Dembele
Ousmane Dembele has undergone one hell of a glow-up since his return to France.
He was breathtaking at Borussia Dortmund, stop-start at Barcelona – but Paris Saint-Germain have really let him loose for this to truly be his team, drifting across the frontline, using his two-footedness like he's never really gotten to and combining with other superstars.
Perhaps the most incredible thing about the Frenchman's development, however, is just how good he's gotten out of possession. Leading the press for Les Parisiens has never been anyone's favourite job – but it's a primary reason for the Treble last term.
It's been a joy to see him finally living up to the early hype and that monster transfer fee that he once commanded. Dembele is one of the most deserving Ballon d'Or stories of recent times and his peak may only just be beginning.
3. Harry Kane
One of football's greatest travesties is when a player doesn't receive the respect they deserve, due to a lack of silverware. Harry Kane is putting that right these days, getting his flowers in a Bayern side that he's netted for 114 times in his first 120 games.
Those are numbers that rank alongside any footballer's first three years anywhere in history – and yet you can't judge Kane purely on his stats. When Jamal Musiala picked up an injury for Bayern, the England captain took on even more responsibility, dropping deeper to dictate games for Vincent Kompany's side, while still converting with the same aplomb.
That Kane does the job of two players while keeping his head down is admirable, and perhaps the reason that every manager he's ever worked with would put him in their all-time XI. The striker has deftness and devastation in his arsenal, and he does so without so much as a whiff of showing everyone how good he is.
He deserves something with England next, as the Three Lions' all-time scorer, best player for almost a decade and surely an all-timer by now.
2. Erling Haaland
Too often with Erling Haaland, we point to his statistical ridiculousness, throwing huge numbers at the wall to prove just how good he is.
We rarely talk about how the Norwegian makes us feel, perhaps because he himself is icy in demeanour. Yet the records are merely a by-product of a phenomenon who may well be the very model of a centre-forward, in any era.
He is efficiency personified: Haaland takes as few touches as it takes, from receiving the goal to smashing into the net. He has speed, height and strength in spades and yet his finest attribute is a mentality built for the top of the game. He doesn't mind if he doesn't touch the ball, if he's told to press high and hard, or if he's taken off to save his legs for midweek.
Haaland is not as complete as some contemporaries – but he's flawless, nonetheless. He is an era-defining talent, with numbers to match.
1. Lamine Yamal
Has a teenager ever been this good at football? It's a legitimate question, with only Pele to compare, really.
Because while Lionel Messi was always destined for big things, he didn't hit his stride with quite the ferocity that Yamal has. Yes, the Barcelona winger may have come a lot closer to his potential a lot sooner than Messi – but that performance against Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals felt like an entire team fighting one 17-year-old for a place in the final – and the kid almost triumphed.
Yamal is creative and explosive, a bolt of electricity in an era criticised for a lack of spark. The Spaniard is a guiding light for club and country, and 150 senior games down, he's head and shoulders above any rivals already.
One hopes that he will only grow with time, too. To call him a wonderkid is to downplay what he's doing in the present.
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