Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembele and GOAL's top 50 players of the 2024-25 European season - ranked

David de Gea has had a pretty unique couple of years. Released by Manchester United at the end of the 2022-23 season after the Red Devils performed a U-turn in offering him a new contract, De Gea then spent a year out of the game as it looked increasingly likely that he would be forced into retirement before reaching his mid-30s.

That was until Fiorentina offered the Spain international the chance to resume his career in Florence last summer, and De Gea has grasped the opportunity with both hands. The 34-year-old kept 11 clean sheets in Serie A and conceded just 38 goals in 35 league games as he routinely pulled off magnificent saves for Raffaele Palladino's side. Perhaps United are regretting letting him leave after all...

Pau Cubarsi won't turn 19 until January, and yet he is already a veteran of 80 appearances for the Barcelona first team after a season in which he locked down a place at the heart of the Blaugrana's backline following his emergence from La Masia midway through the previous campaign.

One of Europe's best ball-playing centre-backs, Cubarsi has had to get to grips with Hansi Flick's high line in Catalunya, but has showed few signs of being uncomfortable during a series of displays that bely is relative lack of experience. Surely a cornerstone for both Barca and Spain over the next decade or so, the winners' medals he picked up in La Liga and the Copa del Rey will be the first of many.

Moises Caicedo may have struggled to live up to his £115 million ($147m) price tag during his first year at Chelsea, but the Ecuadorian has shown exactly why the Blues were willing pay Brighton such a fee during his sophomore season in west London.

No player won possession back more times over the course of the Premier League season than Caicedo, while he also provided some key goals and assists along the way as Enzo Maresca's side secured a return to the Champions League after two seasons away. Him being voted Chelsea's Player and Player's Player of the Season was a perfect illustration of Caicedo's impact in 2024-25.

One of the most underrated signings of the past two seasons, Yann Sommer has again shown himself to be one of the world's best goalkeepers over the course of his second season at Inter. The former Switzerland shot-stopper has kept 21 clean sheets in 48 games across all competitions, leading to him conceding less than a goal each game, on average.

Sommer saved his best performance of the season for the second leg of Inter's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, when despite conceding three goals, he was arguably the difference between the two teams as he produced a series of fine saves at San Siro, including a remarkable stop to deny Lamine Yamal an almost-certain goal in extra-time.

One of the more underrated members of Paris Saint-Germain's all-conquering side, Willian Pacho has shown in his first season at Parc des Princes that he has all the attributes to grow into one of the biggest bargain transfers in the club's history. Signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial £33.5m ($45m) last summer, Pacho went straight into Luis Enrique's line up and hasn't looked back.

Despite being only 23, the Ecuador international has already shown he can step into Marquinhos' shoes and become PSG's long-term defensive leader having locked down some of Europe's best strikers during his side's run to the Champions League final.

Marseille spent £26.5m ($36m) to sign Mason Greenwood from Manchester United in the summer of 2024, and the England international has enjoyed an excellent first season in Ligue 1 for Roberto De Zerbi's side. Greenwood finished as the joint-top scorer in Ligue 1 after netting 21 goals to carry OM to a second-placed finish and Champions League qualification.

The 23-year-old did not always see eye-to-eye with De Zerbi over the course of the campaign, but that has not stopped other European giants from showing interest in signing him after broke Didier Drogba's record for the most goals scored by a debutant in Marseille's history.

It wasn't a vintage season for Real Madrid, but the deposed Spanish and European champions could always rely on Fede Valverde to contribute high-level performances even if some of the more recognisable names around him weren't always able to produce their best on a consistent basis.

Whether in central midfield or at right-back, Valverde's seemingly endless energy meant he could get up and down the pitch to help out in both an attacking and defensive sense. It should perhaps come as no surprise, then, that he has now suffered a back injury, such was the amount of responsibility he needed to carry for Los Blancos.

Nottingham Forest may have missed out on Champions League qualification following a late-season collapse in the Premier League, but their climb from narrowly avoiding relegation to earning a European spot was one of the stories of the season. Chris Wood quickly became the face of Forest's ascent as he netted 20 league goals over the course of the campaign.

A relative late bloomer, the 33-year-old proved to be a handful for defenders across England with his clever movement and physical presence, and he deserves to test himself against teams from across the continent in 2025-26 following his displays over the past 10 months.

Denzel Dumfries has been one of Europe's most electric wing-backs for a number of years, but the Dutchman took his game to new heights in 2024-25. His 11 goals in all competitions are a personal best for the Inter star, while he also chipped in with six assists down the Nerazzurri's right-hand side.

Of course, the crowning moment of Dumfries' season came in the Champions League semi-finals when he directly contributed to five of Inter's seven goals across the two legs against Barcelona (two goals, three assists). If he can replicate that level of performance in Saturday's final, the European Cup could well be on its way to Milan.

While his headline statistics do not leap off the page (three goals, eight assists in all competitions), Nicola Barella remains one of the classiest midfield operators around, and a second Champions League final in three season is just reward for one of the more underrated footballers when it comes to the Inter star's reputation outside of Italy.

In his prime at 28, Barella barely misplaces passes and works tirelessly as the beating heart of Simone Inzaghi's side. Were he to end the season trophy-less it would feel slightly unfair.

There were question marks over Inter's decision to replace Romelu Lukaku with Marcus Thuram when it became clear the Belgian wouldn't return to San Siro in 2023, but the son of the great Lillian has proven a hit since joining the Nerazzurri and is now also more of a regular at international level with France.

This season, Thuram has contributed 18 goals and nine assists as Inter missed out on retaining the Serie A title by a point, but have gone several steps better in the Champions League, setting up a final with PSG. It was Thuram's goal after 30 seconds against Barcelona, the quickest in the history of the competition's semi-finals, that kickstarted one of the all-time great European ties.

For most of the 2024-25 season, Joshua Kimmich appeared to be playing out the final year of his Bayern Munich contract before leaving on a free transfer. However, having put in one of his best campaigns in the shirt of Die Roten to date, he decided to sign a new deal at the Allianz Arena, spurning the advances of the likes of Arsenal.

Kimmich is still indispensable to Bayern. Even with a relatively young manager in Vincent Kompany coming in and trying to implement his own style, the veteran midfielder remains as important as ever, best testified by playing 4,377 minutes at club level this term.

Most of the world's supply of wingers who love to dribble can be found at PSG, where Bradley Barcola is one of several wide-men with magic in their boots. What's maybe even more impressive is he's also tallied 21 goals and 18 assists this season, while 57 appearances is no mean feat in today's era of ruthless and relentless football.

Luis Enrique has turned PSG into one of the world's most watchable teams, and it's players like Barcola who get fans off their seat and make you want to tune into their games.

Had Bukayo Saka not missed around four months of the season with a hamstring injury, he'd probably be about 30 spots higher on this list. He is the heart and soul of everything that Arsenal do both on and off the pitch.

Even with his limited minutes, Saka still had an iconic moment to come away with from 2024-25. With Arsenal 3-0 up against Real Madrid on aggregate in their Champions League quarter-final, he made a darting run in behind and dinked Thibaut Courtois to take that advantage to four goals, shrugging and smiling at an irate Santiago Bernabeu crowd to boot. Not bad for a down year.

At the other end of the pitch for Arsenal, William Saliba has remained as reliable as ever. It's incredible that he's only just turned 24 given how calm and composed he is marshalling one of Europe's best defences.

To Saliba's credit and the Gunners' worry, he is now being linked with a move to Real Madrid, be that immediately or closer to when his contract expires in 2027. One thing for certain is wherever the Frenchman continues playing his football for the next decade or so, he'll be one of the top defenders in the sport.

It's not over the top to say that if Manchester United didn't have Bruno Fernandes this season, they may have well been fighting a relegation battle. The Portuguese playmaker's talent has been neglected for too long and he has never quite had the supporting cast to live up to his standards at Old Trafford.

Fernandes is always fit and available, he's always involved in games for better or worse. Even from a slightly deeper midfield role for a notable chunk of the season, he still recorded 19 goals and 20 assists in 57 matches for the Red Devils. It's a remarkable failure that his team managed to finish 15th in the Premier League.

Inter's back-three system is now the stuff of European legend, and key to it all is left-footed centre-half Alessandro Bastoni. You'd be hard pressed to find a defender who is as adept at winning the ball back and carrying it up the pitch the way he can.

Bastoni, now 26 years of age, is in that sweet spot in terms of having plenty of title-winning experience for club and country, while still being young enough to keep up with the quickest and strongest attackers. If Inter lost him, the team could fall apart completely.

Arsenal fans love Gabriel Magalhaes for several reasons, including his passion for the club and hating rivals Tottenham. Most crucially though, he's a supreme modern defender who has a bit of everything.

The Gabriel that joined the Gunners was quite limited in his use, but now he's much improved on the ball and is one of the world's deadliest set-piece threats, with dead-ball coach Nicolas Jover's best routines coming with the Brazilian defender at the heart of them. As such, he ended the season with five goals and plenty of other opportunities to score.

There aren't many players who change teams in January but maintain their upward trajectory from the first half of the season, yet Omar Marmoush has achieved just that. He left Eintracht Frankfurt as one of the Bundesliga's most electrifying attackers, and he's brought some needed personality to what was becoming a stale Manchester City attack since.

All the fun of Marmoush's showtime style was best summarised by four days between City's FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace and a routine victory against Bournemouth. The Egyptian missed the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at Wembley against the Eagles, before scoring from nearly 35 yards to break the deadlock at home to the Cherries, ensuring he ended the season with 28 goals and 17 assists in all competitions across his two clubs.

For any player silence Mohamed Salah over the course of a match in 2024-25 was an achievement; for the same player to do it twice in the space of a week felt almost impossible. And yet that was what Nuno Mendes managed during PSG's Champions League last-16 triumph over Liverpool in performances that illustrated the Portuguese's improvements in defence to go with his fine attacking play.

Mendes also kept Bukayo Saka relatively quiet later in the competition having scored in both legs against Aston Villa inbetween times, and in a world where every elite club seems to be on the look out for a new left-back, the French champions can be content knowing they have locked down one of the very best.

What a signing Alexis Mac Allister has been for Liverpool, confirming his status as one of the finest central midfielders on the planet in 2024-25 as he played a key role in Liverpool's Premier League triumph. The all-action Argentine was a near-ever-present, and scored a sublime goal against Tottenham that effectively sealed the title.

Mac Allister's numbers (seven goals, six assists) might not jump off the page, but you need only have watched him play to realise just how important he is to the Reds' system - always progressing play, demonstrating expert vision and acting as the perfect foil to Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.

Strangely underrated when compared to some of his peers, perhaps a result of his low-key demeanour, Jamal Musiala continued on his upward trajectory this season as the creative force in Bayern Munich's midfield. Despite missing the run-in due to injury - including the Champions League quarter-final defeat to Inter - he still contributed 18 goals and eight assists.

A master with the ball at his feet, the 22-year-old ranked in the top 10 among the players with the most successful dribbles in Europe's top-five leagues in 2025 before tearing a muscle - the rest of whom are all wingers. One of the best attacking midfielders in the business.

Julian Alvarez made an indifferent start to life at Atletico Madrid following a blockbuster £81.5m ($108.5m) transfer from Manchester City in the summer, scoring just five league goals by Christmas, but he would eventually prove his worth in a big way.

The Argentine was particularly effective in the Champions League, where he struck seven times in 10 games, while a prolific second half of the campaign saw the forward reach 29 goals in all competitions. That electric form has led to rumours of another big-money move for Alvarez after just one season in Madrid.

It was widely considered to have been a 'bad' season for Erling Haaland - a reflection of the ridiculously high standards the Manchester City goal-machine is held to after an incredibly prolific start to what is, at 24, still a relatively young career.

Granted, it was Haaland's worst goal-scoring campaign since an injury-hit 2021-22 at Borussia Dortmund, but a return of 31 goals in all competitions this time around, including eight in 10 in the Champions League and despite being sidelined for two months, is the stuff of dreams for pretty much every other striker on the planet.

Marauding Achraf Hakimi has long been one of the best attacking full-backs in the business, but he has taken things up a level in 2024-25 as PSG push for an unprecedented treble and first-ever Champions League triumph, playing a leading role in Luis Enrique's new-look squad.

The Moroccan has racked up a ridiculous 22 goal involvements from right-back this season, including eight in 16 Champions League games en route to the final. That attacking output has been balanced with a defensive improvement, too, with Hakimi much less prone to lapses.

He might not be a household name, but Mateo Retegui absolutely tore it up in Serie A in 2024-25, claiming the Capocannoniereprize by some distance ahead of a host of famed marksmen after a prolific, 25-goal league campaign for third-placed Atalanta.

The striker boasts dead-eyed finishing ability and used his imposing 6'1 frame to devastating effect throughout the season, plundering four goals in one game against Verona and a hat-trick against former club Genoa. His return in the Champions League was more modest (three goals), but he probably won't care.

Desire Doue's start to life at PSG was a slow burn after he swapped Rennes for the French capital last summer, but the teenage winger would soon make everyone sit up and take notice after forcing his way into Luis Enrique's starting XI.

Forming a fierce front three alongside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele, Doue has dazzled with his dribbling ability - earning comparisons with ex-PSG superstar Neymar for his uncannily similar playing style - and eventually put up some serious numbers both domestically and in the Champions League (13 goals, 15 assists).

It was by no means a vintage season for Jude Bellingham in what was a very challenging 2024-25 campaign overall for Real Madrid, who fell short across the board - but that was not for lack of trying from the England midfielder's perspective.

Bellingham certainly didn't hit the heights of his exceptional debut year in Madrid, but the dynamo remained one of Los Blancos' most effective and consistent performers from the middle of the park, and a return of 28 goal involvements is not to be sniffed at when everything seemed to be going wrong around him.

Another hitman whose efforts may well have gone under the radar this season, late bloomer Serhou Guirassy was deadly in front of goal for Borussia Dortmund as he tried to push Harry Kane all the way in the Bundesliga top-scorer race, including scoring six in five games during the run-in to secure a top-four finish.

Although the 29-year-old fell short there, the Champions League was a different matter; the towering Guinean claimed the top prize (alongside Barcelona's Raphinha), bagging a ridiculous 13 goals in 14 games as Dortmund reached the quarter-finals.

Declan Rice's game took on another dimension in 2024-25, as he seemingly completed his evolution from the defensive-minded No.6 we all presumed he was, into a marauding, goal-scoring, box-to-box No.8 - and Arsenal have benefitted massively.

The England international put up a career-best 19 combined goals and assists across all competitions, and demonstrated his new-found prowess from dead-ball situations - most notably with his two pinpoint free-kicks in the memorable Champions League quarter-final victory over Real Madrid.

Bayer Leverkusen were unable to repeat their double success of 2023-24 in Xabi Alonso's final season in charge, but not for a lack of effort from Florian Wirtz. The playmaker racked up 31 goal involvements across all competitions and was named Player of the Year by the German professional footballers' union, receiving a whopping 29.1 percent of the final vote.

Wirtz is a creative genius who can open up defences in the blink of an eye, and it's no exaggeration to say that the 22-year-old could become the best attacking midfielder of his generation, which is why Liverpool are reportedly set to fork out more than £100m ($135m) to bring him to the Premier League this summer.

"I'll do it 10x if I have to. They're not ready," Vinicius Jr wrote on Instagram after missing out on the 2024 Ballon d'Or, essentially vowing he would get even better after spearheading Real Madrid's La Liga and Champions League double success in 2023-24. Sadly, though, his performance levels have since dipped significantly, and Kylian Mbappe has become Madrid's new main man.

The revenge tour is yet to take off, but that's mainly due to Los Blancos' struggles as a collective. Vinicius still delivered his share of breath-taking moments, and equalled his tally of 37 goal contributions from last term, which bodes well for his chances of getting back on track in a new system under Xabi Alonso.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has long been considered one of the best goalkeepers on the planet, but is now arguably standing at the top of the pile after a near-flawless campaign across both domestic and European fronts for PSG. There has even been talk of the Italian becoming the first 'keeper to win the Ballon d'Or since Lev Yashin, which is justified based on his Champions League displays alone.

Arsenal or Aston Villa would surely have halted PSG's run to the final had it not been for Donnarumma's superhuman shot-stopping. The 26-year-old has taken his game to another level under Luis Enrique, while also showing incredible composure under pressure while becoming a true leader who transmits fierce strength to the defence in front of him.

Most Manchester United fans weren't too sad to see Scott McTominay depart last year, because he'd rarely shown himself to be more than just a workhorse. But Napoli boss Antonio Conte saw something in him that none of the coaches at Old Trafford did.

Conte didn't sign McTominay to sit in front of the defence; he was earmarked for a more advanced role in a 4-3-3 system that gave him license to start crashing the box, and he has excelled. McTominay was the best midfielder in Serie A this season, and he has the MVP award to back that up after posting 18 goal involvements for the new Italian champions, with vital strikes against Inter, Torino, Monza and Cagliari making him a new icon in the eyes of the Napoli faithful.

Manchester United were beaten to the signing of Joao Neves from Benfica by PSG in 2024, and must be looking at the youngster's progress with envious eyes. Neves has been a transformational signing for the Ligue 1 giants; a 5'7 wizard who has run the midfield in all the biggest matches.

Neves is a master at receiving the ball in tight places before breaking through the lines, and he's a counter-pressing monster - as Manchester City found out to their peril in their Champions League meeting. The 20-year-old can conjure up crucial goals and killer passes, too, with PSG in better shape than ever to finally conquer Europe due to his mesmerising abilities.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia played a key role in Napoli's resurgence in the first half of the season, but has reached a whole new level since joining PSG in January. Luis Enrique's team was already full of stars, but the Georgian winger has added another dimension to the attack.

Whether by dribbling past multiple defenders, arrowing an unstoppable shot into the far corner, or laying on a perfect pass for one of his team-mates to finish off, Kvaratskhelia so often makes a decisive impact for PSG. The 24-year-old should score more goals, but his influence in general play cannot be overstated, and it will be no surprise if he gives PSG the edge again in the Champions League final.

Lautaro Martinez only scored 12 Serie A goals this term, his worst tally since 2018-19, and that's one of the reasons Napoli pipped Inter to the title. But the Argentina striker has more than made up for it in the Champions League with nine strikes in 13 games, including four in the knockout stages.

PSG will have to keep very close tabs on Lautaro in the final, because he's shown how clinical he can be when he gets a sight of the posts. The 27-year-old is a complete centre-forward who hasn't always gotten the credit he deserves, but that will change if he ends Inter's 15-year wait for European glory.

Things can change so quickly in football, and Vitinha's rise is a testament to that. Only four years ago, the Portuguese was struggling for game time on loan at Wolves, but now he is PSG's indispensable orchestrator, a midfield metronome who never loses the ball nor runs out of energy.

No player has completed more passes than Vitinha in the Champions League this term; he's the one who sets the tempo for Luis Enrique's side and relieves pressure with his relentless work off the ball. He won't get the headlines if PSG clinch the treble, but Vitinha's brilliance is what allows everyone else in the team to flourish.

Harry Kane has grabbed most of the plaudits at Bayern Munich in 2024-25, and deservedly so after spearheading their Bundesliga triumph with 26 goals. But the England captain couldn't have done it without Michael Olise, who has given Vincent Kompany's side their X-factor since his arrival from Crystal Palace.

Olise was Bayern's joint-second top scorer and provided a staggering 18 assists, which earned the 23-year-old the Bundesliga's Rookie of the Year award, while he also posted seven goal involvements in the Champions League. What comes next could be truly special; there are few wingers in the game more thrilling to watch than Olise in full flow, and he possesses a left foot blessed by the footballing Gods.

"He's the best striker in the Premier League right now, and I don't think it's close," Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports after seeing Alexander Isak score for a sixth-successive game in Newcastle's 2-0 win at Manchester United. It was impossible to argue with that assessment in December, and it remains accurate to this day, given Isak finished the season with 23 goals.

The Swede fired Newcastle back into the Champions League and helped end their 70-year trophy drought, which ensures him legendary status regardless of whether he departs for one of Europe's big boys this summer. Isak has also justified comparisons to Thierry Henry with his pace and control in tight spaces, and still has so much more potential to unlock at just 23.

From the Championship to the Champions League: Viktor Gyokeres has come an awful long way over the past two years. Indeed, the Swedish striker is now one of the most in-demand players in world football after a remarkable campaign with Sporting CP.

Gyokeres scored 53 goals in total, including six hat-tricks - one of which came in a stunning 4-1 rout of Manchester City. Consequently, Rui Borges knows that it will not be easy to hold onto a player who scored a staggering 39 times in just 33 appearances during Sporting's Primeira Liga triumph. "We must make the most of the time we have with him because he is truly exceptional," the coach said.

Liverpool were always going to give Virgil van Dijk a new contract. Even at 33 years of age, he remains the most dominant defender in world football, a mountain of a man who is also impossible to get around - or beat in the air.

Van Dijk was absolutely immense this season, playing every single minute of every single Premier League game up until the penultimate round of the season - by which time Liverpool had already wrapped up the title - and he even surprised Arne Slot with his incredible range of passing. As an inspirational, championship-winning captain, Van Dijk fully deserves the mural painted in his honour on the side of a house just off Anfield Road.

Kylian Mbappe may have joined Real Madrid on a free transfer, but the Frenchman was nonetheless under enormous pressure right from the start to justify the massive financial package the club had put together to convince him to leave hometown club PSG and, during his first few months at Santiago Bernabeu, he appeared to be struggling both mentally and physically.

However, while form is temporary, class is permanent, and even though those around him struggled during a campaign that finished without a major trophy for Los Blanocs, Mbappe ended up enjoying a more prolific debut season at Madrid than Cristiano Ronaldo, with the France forward netting 41 times in 55 appearances on his way to claiming the European Golden Shoe.

Hansi Flick didn't get all the fuss surrounding Robert Lewandowski's sensational start to the season. A free-scoring Lewandowski was the only Lewandowski the former Bayern Munich boss had ever known. The Pole's resurgence was very noteworthy, though, as there had been worrying signs during the 2023-24 campaign that time was finally catching up with him.

However, the 36-year-old has put those fears to rest by scoring a whopping 40 goals from just 46 starts, and Barca's only regret after winning the double is that Lewandowski was only fit to play 30 minutes of their heart-breaking Champions League semi-final loss to Inter.

He finally did it. Harry Kane finally got his hands on a major honour, as Bayern Munich reclaimed the Bundesliga title from Bayer Leverkusen in dominant fashion. Kane was unsurprisingly integral to their success. The centre-forward struck 26 times in just 31 appearances, while he also netted a career-high 11 goals in the Champions League, including three in the last-16 rout of Leverkusen.

Having finally lifted his trophy curse at 31 years of age, Kane could - and indeed should - go on to win even more silverware with Bayern. As coach Vincent Kompany said, "I played against him as a player, and he's gotten better with age."

No player has benefited more from the appointment of Hansi Flick as Barcelona boss than Pedri. The German's strength and conditioning team did a wonderful job whipping the squad into shape during a gruelling pre-season programme, and because Pedri is fitter than ever before (he featured a career-high 58 games this season), he's playing better than ever before.

The Spain international has been directly involved in 14 goals, scoring six himself, and won possession more times in all competitions (385) than any other player across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues. There really is no more complete midfielder in the world - and the crazy thing is, Pedri is still only 22, meaning he could continue bossing games for another decade!

After years and years of underachievement, Ousmane Dembele looked destined to be remembered as a colossal waste of talent, the worst signing in Barcelona's history. In his second season at Paris Saint-Germain, though, the flop has flipped the narrative.

The winger has suddenly added goals and consistency to his game, scoring 44 times in all competitions as PSG (predictably) won Ligue 1 while (surprisingly) reaching the final of the Champions League. Consequently, Dembele is now perfectly placed to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or - something that would have been unthinkable even just a year ago.

Liverpool failing to win last year's Premier League hit Mohamed Salah hard. He vowed to do everything within his power to make amends this season - and it's fair to say that he was true to his word.

Salah produced one of the greatest individual campaigns in Premier League history as the Reds romped to the title, with their Egyptian King breaking a string of records along the way as he topped the rankings for both goals (28) and assists (18).

Basically, the infamously frugal Fenway Sports Group (FSG) were left with no other choice but to give the evergreen 32-year-old a new contract!

Barcelona very nearly got rid of Raphinha last summer. Now, they've given him a lucrative new contract after a truly remarkable 2024-25 campaign in which he established himself as one of the most respected figures in the dressing room and one of the Blaugrana's best players on the pitch.

Raphinha played a pivotal role in Barca's league triumph, hitting double figures for both goals and assists. However, the versatile winger really excelled in the Champions League, where he equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's record for goal involvements (21), thus putting himself in contention to win this year's Ballon d'Or.

What Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal is doing at 17 years of age is just ridiculous, utterly unprecedented in fact. Never before have we seen such a young player post such incredible numbers in one of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues (18 goals and 21 assists in all competitions this season).

So, while people may have differing views on the title of the best player in the world, everyone is in complete agreement on one thing: there is no more feared forward in the game. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi even had to treble-up on Yamal in the Champions League semi-finals because two markers wasn’t enough to nullify the threat posed by "a once-in-50 years phenomenon"!