The best European players doesn't simply mean the best who play in Europe. Many of the greatest talents in world football ply their trade on the continent despite being from elsewhere: Neymar, Lionel Messi and Mo Salah to name but three.
FFT loves that the best and brightest from across the globe choose to play their football here, but this list is a celebration of those who are actually from Europe. You won't find any Brazilians or Argentines here, but among the nations represented are Germany, Poland, Croatia, Portugal and even England.
So without further ado...
10. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
A tenth-straight Meisterschale has confirmed the German as the most successful Bundesliga player in history.
At 32, he remains pivotal to Bayern’s domination, leading the way in the assists charts and pulling defences to shreds with his wonderfully awkward movement. He has now teed-up a team-mate more than 160 times in his league career – the second most creative player in Bundesliga history, Franck Ribery, finished his career on 103. Muller may never be caught.
9. Ruben Dias (Man City)
Last season’s Player of the Year has been at his towering best again this term, marshalling the Premier League’s stingiest defence with abnormal composure.
His partner appears to change on a monthly basis, but Dias is an ever-present in Pep Guardiola's first team. The Portuguese pops up with the occasional vital goal, too – taking up the mantle from legendary Man City defender Vincent Kompany in more ways than one.
8. Harry Kane (Tottenham)
A sluggish start to the season – Kane scored once in his opening 15 Premier League appearances – has given way to the usual flurry of goals and assists in recent months. The England captain is arguably the best No.9 and No.10 in England’s top-flight, and few in world football can match him for all-round attacking threat.
7. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Football’s Benjamin Button. At 36, the scurrying Croatian remains central to everything Real Madrid do in possession, and is the one man you’d want on the ball when your team is desperate for a goal in the final throes of a game. His outside-of-the-boot tie-winning assist for Rodrygo against Chelsea in their recent quarter-final showdown has been described as the greatest in Champions League history.
6. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
The Liverpool centre-back has turned the Reds into a winning machine in recent seasons, and the difference in results when he plays and when he’s sidelined tell their own story. Jurgen Klopp’s side have never lost a home Premier League match with him in the starting XI – when he’s been sidelined, they’ve lost a third of their games at Anfield. The best defender in the world by a distance.
5. Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
Injuries and the rumour mill have taken their toll on the big Norwegian this season but, even still, Haaland’s goalscoring record remains otherworldly.
The 21-year-old scored 11 goals in his first eight Bundesliga appearances of the season and has kept up an impressive record since. The Borussia Dortmund star looks destined to move to a bigger club this summer – whoever signs him will instantly be considered favourites for next season’s Champions League.
4. Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Still the Premier League’s gold standard for passing, vision, long-range shooting and leadership. De Bruyne is still a world class creative midfielder capable of dictating play from deep or finishing moves further forward. His single-mindedness and workrate often decide games at the highest level and, even for all their riches, City are a far more beatable, far less feared, prospect when he’s missing through injury.
And that’s the only reason he’s ever missing.
3. Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
The World Cup-winner looks likely to depart PSG this summer with more than 165 goals, 80 assists and five league titles under his arm… and all at the age of 23.
Real Madrid have been touted as the probable destination; a team with the grandeur to match his remarkable talent. Do so, and Los Blancos may even have a young talent on their hands capable of emulating the astonishing feats of Cristiano Ronaldo.
2. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
The Polish striker has now passed the 30-goal mark for a third straight Bundesliga season, and has scored at least 20 every year since the 2014/15 campaign. The 33-year-old has scored more than 300 goals in Germany’s top-flight and now has the all-time record, held by Gerd Muller (365), in his sights. If he stays in the Bundesliga for another two seasons, he could achieve something nobody thought could be done.
1. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
He was always good, but he may never have been quite this good before. At 34, the Frenchman could be forgiven for winding down his career in MLS. Instead, he’s turned into a one-man battleship, plundering European cities before returning to Spain, trail of destruction in his wake.
Hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea have consigned two of the most star-studded squads on the continent to the smouldering wreckage already this season and he may yet inspire Real to a 14th Champions League title. It would be his fifth European triumph, taking him up to joint-second in the individual charts.
Not only a great goalscorer, but a model performer for any aspiring footballer; few players work as hard off the ball and therefore deserve the big moments when they arrive.
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