The trio of Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Luka Modric has ruled European football for the better part of the last 10 years. Although Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde have emerged as world-class talents in their own right, those three remain entrenched in Carlo Ancelotti’s XI. And for good reason. They are untouchable in their quality.
Modric and Kroos, in particular, have been pulling the strings over the last few seasons. There are so many matches where they make the difference, and we have seen that time after time this year in the Champions League. Look no further than Modric’s tie-saving trivela assist against Chelsea in the quarterfinal.
But where do Modric and Kroos rank among the best midfielders on the planet right now? Here is a top 10 list of the best current midfielders, with the Real Madrid duo making it high on the list…and one of their former teammates also getting a nod!
10. Manchester City DM Rodri
We begin with the underappreciated Rodri. It sneaks up on you, but the man scored seven goals in the Premier League this season, including a few bangers. The former Atletico Madrid rival is absolutely one of the best midfielders in the world, completing nearly 92 percent of his passes as the anchor of another one of the best midfielders there is in Manchester.
9. Lazio CM Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
The 27-year-old Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is entering the prime of his career, and he has now surpassed Nicolo Barella as the best midfielder in Serie A. Since Juventus seem to be set to sign Paul Pogba, SMS might stay with the club he loves for another year. Milinkovic-Savic can do it all in the Lazio midfield and has become quite the inspirational figure. He never stops working for the team in all phases and had a jaw-dropping 11 goals and 11 assists for Lazio this season.
8. Chelsea CM Mateo Kovacic
Chelsea were one of the best teams in world football this season. After all, they took Real Madrid to their absolute limit in the Champions League and actually outplayed them for much of the two legs. And the best player on the Blues? Mateo Kovacic.
Last season, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho rightfully got all the shine, but this year, it was the press-resistant former Real Madrid player who got his due.
Luka Modric’s Croatian compatriot, Kovacic has magic feet of his own. The physically strong 28-year-old “only” had two goals and five assists in the Premier League, but he did so much to help make his Chelsea teammates look better. And with a more prolific front line, who knows what Kovacic’s basic stats would have looked like?
It jumps out, though, that the midfielder completed two dribbles per game in the Champions League with a pass completion percentage just under 90. He is a rare talent.
7. Manchester City AM Bernardo Silva
There is a reason why many Real Madrid fans want the team to pursue Bernardo Silva as a long-term Luka Modric successor and see if he would be willing to push Manchester City into selling him for a new challenge.
Silva is a left-footed right winger by trade, but the forward has been even better in the midfield this season for Pep Guardiola’s side. Speaking of pushing Real to the limit in the Champions League, Silva was fantastic as City were just edged out by the Merengues on the big stage.
Another player in the prime of his carer, the 27-year-old Silva had eight goals and four assists in the Premier League with an additional three goals and three assists in the Champions League. His creativity, end product in the final third, and work ethic make him one of the most dangerous midfielders in the world. And it feels like he has only scratched the surface.
6. PSG CM Marco Verratti
Since Ligue 1 is usually very uninteresting to the average football fan – PSG didn’t have a great season, yet they still won the league by 15 points over rivals Marseille – Marco Verratti is especially easy to overlook. He isn’t one of the superstars scoring goals or grabbing headlines off the pitch; he is the composer in midfield who is the reason why players like Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Lionel Messi can rack up goals and assists.
It is not easy to outplay the Real Madrid midfield, but that is exactly what Marco Verratti did in the first leg at the Parc des Princes. Granted, Carlo Ancelotti corrected things so that his world-class players performed better at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Verratti deserves a lot of respect for his performance at home.
A world-class midfielder who has been at the top of his game for years, Verratti is one of those players who you kind of feel for from a sporting perspective. Because outside of the purgatory of PSG, he’d be a much more celebrated midfield general.
5. Real Madrid CM Toni Kroos
Though the premier midfield general is Toni Kroos. It feels cheap ranking him fifth, because he is in the top three when at his absolute best. It’s just that there are a pair of fellow Bayern Munich ballers who have been a touch above Kroos this season. That has a bit to do with the flow of games under Carlo Ancelotti, who is not really enabling Kroos to control the midfield as much.
Even so, Kroos is still locked in as one of the best five midfielders in the world, even over other standouts like Bernardo Silva and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Kroos is the world’s best passer. He completes 94 percent of his passes in the Champions League and about 95 percent of his passes in LaLiga. Those are unheard of numbers, yet Kroos has done it year after year since coming to the Spanish capital from Bavaria.
4. Liverpool CM Thiago
Real Madrid fans may get annoyed with how Liverpool fans praise Thiago Alcantara, especially since the kind words for Toni Kroos are so rare from the mainstream media; Kroos is far too disrespected by them.
But we have to be honest. Thiago is that damn good. What separates him from so many other players is that not only is he able to control matches, but he is also an elite defensive presence. He has helped Liverpool reach a new level, and they can credit coming so close to Manchester City in the Premier League and reaching the Champions League Final again with Thiago’s class in midfield. It took him a bit of time to get 100 percent settled, but he has definitely fit right in.
Remember this, too. Thiago was in Kroos’ position for a long time at Bayern. He was better than just about every other midfielder, yet nobody would talk about him because they were so fixated on Lionel Messi and the Premier League.
3. Bayern Munich DM Kimmich
After being slowed by long COVID-19 and learning his lesson about the importance of getting vaccinated, Joshua Kimmich resumed his world-class level in the Bayern midfield. Though Bayern ended up cruising to the Bundesliga title, they did not like the way they played, and they were embarrassed by Villarreal in the Champions League. Even so, Kimmich was the one standing out and doing his best to raise the games of those around him, like he always does.
Kimmich’s defensive quality in the midfield is a sight to behold, but that is no surprise, given he was a world-class right back. The 27-year-old, whom Real Madrid would love to have the chance to sign one day, quietly had a whopping 11 assists despite being such a defensive stalwart.
Like Thiago before him in the Bayern midfield, Kimmich is very easy to underrate. He had to do a LOT of running and covering for a less organized Bayern this season in the second half of the campaign, yet he still averaged nearly three key passes per game in the league and two interceptions per game in the Champions League. Kimmich is such a unique talent.
2. Real Madrid CM Luka Modric
What a season it has been for Luka Modric. At 36 years old, the Croatian magician is still in a class of his own as an all-around midfielder. He can dominate anyone for 90 minutes, providing moments of attacking brilliance that nobody else can match – again, may I remind you of that trivela against Chelsea – while making all the big tackles defensively. Just ask Kevin de Bruyne what happened when he went one-on-one with Modric chasing him in the next Champions League round.
Modric finished the LaLiga season with eight assists and a pass completion percentage of 90, and he is currently on four assists in the Champions League. The passing accuracy combined with the assists really stand out and show how great he is as both a playmaker and someone who can retain possession. And we don’t even need to discuss his press resistance.
Every football fan has to show their respect to Modric. What he does in the big games is unthinkable, and his year-to-year consistency is legendary. I loath the “he has a seat at the table” conversations, because as far as midfield greatness concerns, he’s at one of the heads of the table.
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1. Manchester City CM Kevin de Bruyne
But even so, if we are talking about the absolute best current midfielder, Kevin de Bruyne has to edge him at No. 1. We are talking about a cerebral assassin in the midfield whose end product is so cutthroat that his statistics read like a striker’s. Hell, there are praised strikers who do not even match de Bruyne’s 15 goals and 8 assists in the Premier League.
De Bruyne averages nearly three key passes per game in the Premier League. He is football’s top playmaker right now, and yet he can still “get his” as a scorer, thanks to his impeccable technical quality. No goalkeeper is spared, as de Bruyne is capable from scoring at any angle and from just about any distance.