Move over, Neymar, there’s a new dribbling king in town.
The Brazilian has long been considered one of the best dribblers in the world – and he still is. But in recent seasons, he’d assumed the crown of the best, full stop, and the stats backed him up. Until now.
Eden Hazard, who’s been building up his own reputation as a skillful players, is the best dribbler in Europe’s top five leagues, according to a study done by the CIES Football Observatory.
Their index takes into account both successful dribbles per 90 minutes and dribbling success rate. Neymar tops Hazard in the first stat, 7.3 to 6.4, but the Chelsea man more than makes up for it with a superior success rate of 75 percent to Neymar’s 62 percent, earning him the status as top dribbler.
Lionel Messi comes in at third, with the rest of the top ten full of some surprising names – and dominated by the Premier League. Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele is tied for fourth – with the highest success rate, 88 percent, in the top five leagues -West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku is seventh and Southampton’s Sofiane Boufale are eighth and ninth.
There are some glaring omissions from the top 10, as well. Manchester United star Paul Pogba isn’t too far back, tied with Watford’s Andre Carillo in 12th, but the likes of Leroy Sane, Alexis Sanchez, and Mohamed Salah are lagging behind in 29th, 33rd, and 43rd, respectively.
Check out the top 10 in the gallery above.
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