Top 10 Midfielders

jonjoward1998
Jul 30, 2025
6 min read

The role of a midfielder has definitely changed over the years as there are now type of midfielders like defensive or attacking midfielders instead of the all-round midfielder.

This is down to changes in formations as a lot of teams these days play a 4-3-3, which requires a defensive midfielders, or 4-2-3-1, which requires an attacking midfielder behind the striker, instead of 4-4-2 which is what a lot of teams used to use before and maybe during the early years of the modern era.

The role of a midfielder began to change overseas and it wasn't until the foreign managers came to England where the role changed there as now almost every team in England plays with one or two defensive midfielders or an attacking midfielder behind the striker.

When I look back at the list, I can't believe I left off two of the greatest players to play the position in Kaka and Andrea Pirlo. Kaka is a former Ballon D'or winner whereas Pirlo was a fine passer of the ball and one of the finest the game has ever seen.

Those two are not the only big names to miss out though. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and even Patrick Vieira didn't make the list.

We've been very lucky enough to see so many great midfield players over the years, but not all of them will make it onto a top 10 list.

Now here is the list:

Andres Iniesta

Toni Kroos

Xavi

Zinedine Zidane

Kevin De Bruyne

Luka Modric

Sergio Busquets

Bastian Schweinsteiger

N'Golo Kante

David Silva

N'Golo Kante

Kante must be the fittest player I have ever seen because of the energy he has and the amount of ground he covers.

His incredible work rate off the ball and ability to make make countless interventions pretty much anywhere on the pitch played a key role in both titles winning sides he was part of at Leicester and Chelsea, and also for France when they won the 2018 World Cup.

He was one of if not the best defensive midfielder when he was in his prime because of his tenacity and incredible energy off the ball.

There's even a saying which says: 71% of the world is covered with water, the rest is covered by N'Golo Kante.

David Silva

Silva was an absolute magician on his day as he could glide past players effortlessly, play almost any kind of pass from almost anywhere on the pitch, and could do almost anything with the ball at his feet.

He took Man City onto another level when he arrived there and he went on to play a key part of their success during the early to mid years of their Abu-Dhabi ownership.

He also played a major role for Spain during their dominant period by helping them win the 2010 World Cup, and the 2008 and 2012 Euros.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Schwensteiger was an all-round top class midfielder on his day and he was so good that he could play both centrally and out wide.

His shots were so powerful that keepers would struggle to hold on to the ball and his crosses were tough for any defender to block.

He also had bags of energy that enabled him to run from box-to-box in getting back to help his team out defensively, and getting forward to support his team at the other end.

He was a major part of every success he achieved at Bayern Munich and was also a key part of the Germany side that won the World Cup in 2014.

Luka Modric

Modric is incredibly still playing at the age of 39 and he still plays like a world class midfielder.

His call carrying skills have been and still are second to none as is his ability to run games from midfield and create chances out of nothing.

He showed a lot of promise when he was at Spurs, but it was at Real Madrid where he went onto that world-class level and won everything on offer including four La Liga titles and six Champions League's.

He also won the Ballon D'or in 2018 where he ended the Messi-Ronaldo dominance of the award.

Kevin De Bruyne

De Bruyne has easily been the best midfielder in Europe for the last six to eight years due to his incredible vision to pick out any kind of pass from almost anywhere on the pitch, and his ability to run games from midfield.

He took Man City onto a different level when he arrived there and especially after Pep arrived as it was Pep who helped him move onto that world class level.

He was instrumental in every success he achieved at City due to his creativity and ability to run games from midfield as he won everything on offer including six Premier League titles and the Champions League.

He moved to Napoli over the summer and I'm sure that he's going to make a big impact over there as he's still very much got it at the age of 34.

Sergio Busquets

Busquets is one of the greatest defensive midfielders to play game and definitely the greatest of the modern era as he could sniff out danger out of possession, whilst in possession he could dictate play in midfield due to his vision and passing range.

But despite that, I feel that he's underrated in that he hasn't always been given the credit he's deserved. Not as much as his former Barca counterparts Xavi and Iniesta.

He was an integral part of every success he achieved for both Barca and Spain, for whom he won everything on offer including multiple La Liga's and Champions League's with Barca, and both the Euros and World Cup with Spain.

Toni Kroos

Kroos is one of the finest passers of the ball the game has ever seen as he can pick out almost any kind of pass from almost anywhere on the pitch due to his incredible vision.

He's also arguably the greatest set piece taker in the game as his deliveries from both corners and free kicks are difficult for any keeper or defender to keep out.

He won everything on offer at club level including six Champions League's and he was also an integral part of the Germany side that won the World Cup in 2014.

I'm surprised that he retired last year because I watched him at the Euros for Germany and thought to myself, how is he retiring when he can still control the flow of the game from midfield and play incredible passes through the thirds.

Andres Iniesta

Iniesta is one of the greatest midfielders of his generation and was one of the best in his position right throughout his career, even when he was in his twilight years.

He was both a brilliant passer and carrier of the ball on his day as he always knew when to play the right pass and what type of pass to play, and could do almost anything with the ball at his feet.

He was an integral of every success he achieved with both Barcelona and Spain for whom he won everything including multiple La Liga titles with Barca, and two Euros and a World Cup with Spain.

Xavi

It's hard to separate Xavi and Iniesta as they're both similar kind of player and two great individuals. But Xavi just edges it as he could control the flow of a game from midfield whereas Iniesta was a great ball carrier.

Xavi is one of the finest passers of the ball the game has ever seen due to his incredible vision and range of passing.

He ran the show from midfield many times throughout his career because of his ability to dictate play in that area of the pitch alongside his ability to pick out any kind of pass.

He won everything on offer in the game for both club and country including multiple La Liga's and Champions League's with Barcelona, and two Euros and a World Cup with Spain.

He was an integral part of every success he achieved with both Barca and Spain.

Zinedine Zidane

Zidane had to be my no.1 because of how technically gifted a player he was on his day.

He could do pretty much anything with the ball at his feet as he had an incredible first touch, was agile, and had many tricks up his sleeve due to how skilful he was.

He truly was an incredible player to watch on his day because of the abilities he had and we haven't seen many players like him ever since.

He was a major part of the France sides that won the World Cup in 1998 and the Euros in 2000, the latter of which he was named player of the tournament.

He was also an integral part of the Real Madrid side that won the Champions League in 2002, where he scored that incredible volley in the final against Bayer Leverkusen which is one of the greatest goals scored in a Champions League final.

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