The 21 best players in Europe for the 2022-23 season
Which players have made the biggest impact in Europe this season? Was it Vinicius Junior, with his 40 goal contribution in all competitions? Was it Kylian Mbappe, the winger who led Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title? Or Ronald Araujo, who deserves recognition for his brilliance in securing Barcelona’s defense, the best in Europe?
There have been many stars all over Europe, with great talent in clubs and emerging teams. Certainly, clubs like Napoli, Arsenal and even Barcelona have had some support from quality players. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Pedri and Victor Osimhen have all been crucial to some of the continent’s best teams.
So, at the end of the season, Yalla Shoot reviews the 21 best players in Europe for the 2022-2023 season…
21. Kim Min-jae (Napoli)
The Napoli attack drew a lot of attention this season, due to the duo Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who were devastating in the final third. Other than that, though, Kim Min-jae was the most important player for Napoli, and certainly the best defender in Europe this year.
The Italian champions paid Fenerbahce £15.7m for his services last summer, and he deserved it. Brilliant in the air, excellent on the ball, he made the loss of Coulibaly look like a positive.
20. Pedri (Barcelona)
Barcelona duo Javi and Pedri are often lumped together as similar players, but they couldn’t be more different. Javi is strong and determined, while Pedri is the embodiment of entertainment and elegance, the latter improving in midfield, where he has been crucial for Barcelona this year.
Pedri is still excellent at dribbling and accurate passing, but has also begun to become a more regular attacking threat, scoring six goals. It is unfortunate that the Spanish magician missed 12 games due to injury, if he had been healthy all season, Barcelona could have won the league by 20 points.
19. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
In many ways, Karim Benzema has been a victim of his own personal success. The French striker was very excellent last season, so to be expected, this year will not be exciting. In fact, he couldn’t really improve on his Ballon d’Or winning campaign.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Benzema has struggled with injuries, but the world-class talent is still going strong. He scored 29 goals in 41 matches, while also putting in some impressive performances.
He also scored two goals in the Champions League match against Liverpool, scored a hat-trick in the King’s Cup semi-final against Barcelona, and scored seven goals in four matches at the beginning of April. Benzema kept doing a lot during the season.
18. Nathan Ake (Manchester City)
Manchester City were never out of the title race, but Aki is one of the reasons they have been competitive. One of Pep Guardiola’s genius moves this season was to transfer Aki to the back, using the Dutchman as a third defender when Manchester City was in the defense phase.
He outdid that defence, which had been struggling for a few months, and Guardiola also gave his squad, a one-man-and-a-half defender, some of the best attacking players in the league. Acai was signed for £40m three years ago. And this year, he finally showed why Manchester City spent so much money on him.
17. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
Since his pre-World Cup struggles, Griezmann has become a potential selection for La Liga’s Player of the Season. There were calls for Diego Simeone’s sacking even in January, but Griezmann’s excellent performances since then have saved his job and pushed Atletico Madrid into contention for second place behind Barcelona.
Certainly, he benefited from the departure of Joao Felix, and the transition to the offensive role in midfield, which he plays in the French national team. Simply put, he’s been in amazing form all season.
16. Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
The season may have ended sadly for the team, but Bellingham’s season is one to remember. The England midfielder wasn’t exactly an outsider before the start of the season, but in the 2022-23 season, his third full season as a starter at Dortmund, he has become a world-class player.
Bellingham was decisive in the Bundesliga and Champions League and finished the season scoring 20 goals in all competitions, quite a feat for a teenager. And he still has more development. Real Madrid, it seems, have got a good player.
15. Ilkay Gundoan (Manchester City)
Gundwan did a lot at the end of the season. The Germany midfielder loves the big moments, something he proved long ago, before striking out to claim the title with Manchester City on the final day of the 2021-22 season.
He has been a standout lately for Manchester City, again this year. He appeared perfectly as a midfielder, moving in the organized attacking third of the City team, where he assisted five goals in the last five matches, to help Manchester City chase Arsenal, and win the third consecutive league title.
With his contract expiring in June, the future is uncertain. The club is said to have made a new offer for the player, but there are no clear indications that he will be satisfied with the signing. If he decides to leave, it will be after one of his best seasons so far.
14. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Mikel Arteta has successfully reunited with the Arsenal first team this year. Everything was carefully tuned, with every player functioning as part of a perfect machine, as the younger Premier League side were transformed into an attacking beast. And Saka was both a hero and a benefactor. The potential has been around for a long time, and Saka was excellent in the first half of last season.
This season, he found the stability he needed and developed his game alongside Martin Odegaard. The result? His best season so far, and there is a lot more to come for the north London player.
13. Khvisca Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
“Kfaradona” is a wonderful story above all. He is a player who was once little known, operating in the dark out of the sight of Europe’s greats, but who has become the creative force behind the continent’s most distinguished attacking side.
Kvaratskhelia emerged as more of a hard-working midfielder, rather than an outstanding winger. Kvaratskhelia made a lot of goals in the Italian league early on, and his brilliance against Liverpool in the Champions League was an advertisement for him at the European level. Now, he’s a world champion, with many years of improvement to come.
12. Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Even though he’s only 24 years old, Odegaard has done a lot for so long. But this year was his second full season in the Premier League, and his third in one of the five major leagues. It was his best so far.
Odegaard has been the centerpiece of Arsenal’s attack for nearly two years now, serving as No. 8 in Arteta’s complex system. Odegaard is an expert at passing the ball before creating goals, mainly because he sees spaces in the penalty area, when they are available.
This year, Odegaard decided to start shooting. He scored 15 goals as a result, one of the most productive seasons in Premier League history, relative to the field average. And if that continues, there will be a lot more titles to come.
11. Rodri (Manchester City)
Pep loves defensive midfielders, and Rodri is the next in a line of impressive talent. But he’s not just a traditional No. 6 player. In fact, he is the key to Manchester City’s system, the key defensive element that allows everything to work.
Rodri is deceptively quick, steady on the ball, surprisingly creative, has the skills of a No. 8, in the body of a No. 6. In that aspect, he underpins everything and makes the best team in Europe, working on a weekly basis. Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish may grab the headlines, but Rodri is arguably the most important player in Manchester City’s side.
10. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Everyone seemed linked to leaving Barcelona last summer, and Ter Stegen was a surprise within this ongoing controversy, in the world of rumors. But he showed exactly why he deserves to be at the Camp Nou this year.
Ter Stegen has been excellent all year, setting a new La Liga record for number of clean sheets, serving as the ultimate blocker in Europe’s best defense. Besides having the most saves by far, in La Liga, he has reaffirmed himself as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, after a few poor seasons.
Every team that wins the championship needs an outstanding goalkeeper. Barcelona has its own bodyguard.
9. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
Messi’s season with the club is difficult to estimate. Most notably, having lifted the World Cup just six months ago, a defining achievement in Messi’s final stretch of his career, and the perfect moment for the best player in football history.
But there were also a lot of matches in the French League, and Messi wasn’t bad in them either. The Argentine had plenty of controversy off the pitch, such as being suspended for making an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia, at a crucial time in the team’s season, but proved his stellar form throughout.
He will end the season with more than 30 direct participation in scoring goals in the French League, a number equal to the contributions of Kylian Mbappe. Messi will not play at the Parc des Princes next year, but he certainly made an impact in his final season.
8. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
It was always expected that Lewandowski would score goals, the only question was how many. He started his career with Barcelona strongly, as he was the top scorer in La Liga during the first half of the season, and helped the Blaugrana build an unassailable lead at the top of the standings.
Obviously, there are some challenges. Lewandowski has yet to fully connect with Ousmane Dembele, and he doesn’t have a perfect understanding with Rafinha either. He was suspended at the start of 2023 which affected his season, and he hasn’t really reached the same heights he had in the early months of the season. However, Barcelona needed the goals, and Lewandowski provided them in abundance.
7. Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
In the 2022-2023 season, Osimhen improved his game, becoming a distinguished No. 9 striker at the age of just 23. There is not much complexity in playing Osimhen right now. He’s a fighter in the penalty area, and great in the air. His understanding with Kvaratskhelia was crucial to Napoli’s league success, as they formed a deadly pair in Serie A.
But Osimhen is also capable of playing on his own, terrorizing opposing defenses. The striker has been linked with a move to the Premier League for nearly two years, and it looks like this summer, after his best season yet, that may finally happen.
6. Ronald Araujo (Barcelona)
For Araujo, the skills were always there. He was great in the air, and a great one-on-one defender. But he wasn’t able to keep fit enough. But this season, he has become the undisputed leader in Barcelona’s defence, which leads European clubs.
Perhaps his most notable achievement, though, is the ongoing deal with Vinicius Junior for Real Madrid. Whenever he faces Barcelona, he shifts Xavi Araujo to the right-back position, tasking him with keeping the Brazilian calm. And he did it so well, he’s an exemplary global defender.
5. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Kane enjoyed his best season in north London, something that got lost in the spurs’ randomness. The England captain has scored 30 Premier League goals, the only positive in a difficult season for Tottenham.
But now, Ken must face the choice he’s been avoiding for the past 12 months. With his contract expiring in June 2024, and no plan for the team to succeed at Spurs without a manager, this is perhaps the club’s last chance to cash in, and the most obvious chance for the striker to look for a transfer, as he has hinted at times.
No matter where he plays next year, he will likely continue to score well.
4. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Paris Saint-Germain suffered a bitter half-season. They were knocked out of the Champions League, against a troubled Bayern Munich, almost lost the Ligue 1 title, and had a series of off-field problems. But Mbappe was the constant element in the difficult season.
And although he had been plagued by a hamstring injury for a few weeks, the winger was the star of PSG, scoring 28 goals in Ligue 1 and adding seven in the Champions League. And, importantly, he has assured PSG fans that he will be around for at least another year, which is good, welcome news for a club that has faced so much negativity for several months.
3. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Is there a better one-on-one player in Europe? Vinicius Jr. has always been a great dribbling, and an artist not to be messed with, but this year, he has improved his game, becoming a more regular striker with assists.
Great performances in the Champions League, such as his performance in the away matches against Manchester City and Liverpool, showed his ability as a strong player in big matches. Surprisingly, he is still 22 years old. The best is yet to come.
2. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
What is the rating of De Bruyne, among the attacking midfielders in the history of English football? It’s hard to find many players better than him, especially in recent years. Very few players in the Premier League era are as good as his right foot, and his ability to read the game.
This year was considered difficult for the Belgian. He had to adapt to a new system and a new team. But he adapted smoothly, and formed a distinguished partnership with Haaland, which put Manchester City on the path to achieving the treble.
1. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Was there another option that could be better than it? Manchester City didn’t need to sign Erling Haaland to win the Premier League. The Norwegian international was summoned to the ranks of Pep Guardiola, to lead the team to the Champions League title, and he may achieve that in the future.
Until then, 39 goals in the Premier League, destroying Arsenal in a decisive match in the title race, and five against Leipzig, testify that this is a unique striker, far ahead of the rest of the players in Europe.
