Although world-class football players emerge from every corner and continent of the world Europe continues to produce many of the top performers in this game. But, where the current crop of European football heroes slot into the long and decorated history of footballing icons from the continent is quite another question entirely.
So, in this article, we’ll have a look at the most celebrated European footballers of all time.
Maxime Gonalons
Defensive midfielder Maxime Gonalons was an extraordinary and reliable performer in Ligue 1, though his side, Lyon, have dropped from their title-winning days of the early 2000s and came a remote third in 2013, 16 points behind PSG.
Gonalons plays the defensive shield for his back line and has made huge numbers of tackles and interceptions, placing in the top 10 of Ligue 1 for both. As well as being a talented distributor of the ball, he set the pace for his team’s play. Just two players in the league made more passes per football game than Gonalons did.
Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City charm Kevin De Bruyne has very much established himself as one of the best midfielders of the modern football era. He’s as popular today as playing pokies for real money online.
De Bruyne’s vision is unmatched. He has the ability to envision to see runs and movements which ordinary football players won’t and has the technical ability to make passes that are bang on the money. In addition, De Bruyne has been the change maker for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City over the past six seasons.
This football player also packs a vicious shot and can go as fast as possible with either foot. So not only can he make entire defenses collapse, De Bruyne can also fire them into the corner no matter on which side he receives the ball.
In the 2020-21 season, De Bruyne delivered 10 goals and gave 18 assists from 40 appearances across all football competitions for the Cityzens. De Bruyne delivered one goal and gave two assists from four matches for Belgium.
Leighton Baines
It’s not often that a full-back may be seen as one of the most creative players in a league, however with five assists and more than three key passes each game on average, that’s just what Leighton Baines has been for Everton. Only David Silva made more key passes per game than the left-back.
In addition, Baines added five goals of his own and was impressive defensively speaking, part of a back-line which conceded the fourth-fewest in the entire Premier League.
Eusebio
One of the very first names which comes to mind when there is a conversation about the best European players of all time is that of the great Eusebio. He was a record breaker who is responsible for putting Portugal’s name on the map in terms of football. Eusebio’s prime part of his career in the 1960 saw the striker assist Benfica with reaching four European Cup finals four times, of which they won it once. He then assisted Portugal finish third in the 1966 World Cup, which was their best finish ever to date.