CIES is correct about Real Madrid’s best player of 2021’s first 3 months
Who has been the player of the year so far for Real Madrid? 2021 is only three months young, but with fixtures in multiple competitions over the course of these three months, there is enough of a sample size to make an informed selection. But when it comes to singling out one player, that can often be difficult for Madridistas.
The CIES Football Observatory does a great job of giving fans objective, statistically-based analysis on the best players in the world, and they recently named the best player on every team in Europe’s top five leagues thus far.
And for Real Madrid, there were two clear candidates at the top that come as no surprise to most of us: striker Karim Benzema and center midfielder Toni Kroos.
Who came out on top? Kroos. And if you’ve been reading this blog, you’d know that I feel the same way about Kroos being Real’s best for the full 2020-2021 season.
Toni Kroos was rated as Real Madrid’s best player so far
Benzema received a healthy 85.3 rating, which means only 12 clubs in ALL of Europe had a better player than him. Robert Lewandowski and Andre Silva were the only other No. 9’s ahead of him.
As for Kroos, he received an 87.6 grade, meaning six clubs had a player rated higher. Among them were La Liga’s usual superstar Lionel Messi (ranked first, obviously) and Real Betis’ underrated magician Nabil Fekir.
Kroos is having a remarkable season as a passer, and he fully deserves this rating. I’m actually surprised he isn’t higher, considering Chelsea‘s Jorginho ranked third, even ahead of Ruben Dias and Cristiano Ronaldo. Don’t get me wrong, Jorginho is an amazing player and deserves more recognition (there are so many fans who criticize him that just don’t get midfield play), but it was a surprise to see him a few places ahead of Kroos and in third overall.
Looking at the full list, there are a couple of reported Real Madrid transfer targets in Jadon Sancho, Moussa Diaby, and Harry Kane. There are also underrated transfer targets represented that I’ve picked out in pieces, such as Raphinha of Leeds, Stuttgart’s Borna Sosa, Celta’s Renato Tapia, and Bryan Gil. Unfortunately, I did not see any loanees, though if Martin Odegaard had more minutes, he probably would have made it for Arsenal over Granit Xhaka.
Next. The best Real Madrid player to wear every kit number. dark
Hopefully, when CIES releases a full ranking at the end of the year of best players, Kroos and Benzema will remain highly-ranked and joined by a few of their teammates. And maybe even a certain Galactico.