If Liverpool get their hands on Yan Diomande, they will have two of Europe's top 10 dribblers in their attack...
If Liverpool get their hands on Yan Diomande, they will have two of Europe’s top 10 dribblers in their attack…
Diomande is set to be the subject of a ‘crazy battle’ this summer, though Liverpool continue to be the club most heavily linked with the RB Leipzig teenager, even if the Reds are not currently his ‘dream club’.
Diomande is making his name as a versatile winger, proving to be one of the best dribblers on the continent. Indeed, our friends at Gradient Sports grade Diomande as the second-best dribbler in Europe right now.
Across a vast range of metrics, the expert analysts at Gradient grade every player out of 100, measuring execution and outcome to offer the most insightful and accurate view of individual performance.
Here are the top 10 dribblers among widemen or wide attacking midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues, including one already at Anfield and another at United…
10) Mason Greenwood (Marseille) – 85.1
We know Greenwood is a damn fine player. That’s never been the concern. Moving swiftly on…
9) Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG) – 85.8
Probably the one player on this list that everyone would choose to sign, even if no.2 is in high demand right now. No one in Ligue 1 has completed a higher percentage of dribbles into a dangerous position.
8) Amad Diallo (Manchester United) – 86.3
Only Jack Grealish and Cody Gakpo (who was the highest-ranked Premier League player on this list in February) have completed a higher percentage of their dribbles than the United winger. But does he get in the Red Devils’ first-choice XI?
7) Florian Wirtz (Liverpool) – 87.4
Wirtz isn’t in the top 30 for dribbles attempted but no Premier League winger or attacking midfielder has completed a higher ratio of dribbles above expected.
6) Abde Ezzalzouli (Real Betis) – 87.8
Roma were interested in Ezzalzouli as a replacement for the wideman at the top of this list, while Palace are also said to have been sniffing this season in the Moroccan who joined Betis from Barca in 2023 for £7million. Barca retained buy-back options for the last two summers but chose not to use them on a player once described by Xavi as ‘extraordinary’.
5) Jean-Luc Dompe (Hamburg) – 88.5
The 30-year-old has completed 74% of his dribbles for HSV. Which is far more impressive than the fact that Dompe was recently caught driving under the influence of alcohol, before then leaving the police station on an e-scooter, prompting another case against him.
4) Jonathan Rowe (Bologna) – 89.1
The England Under-21 winger is grabbing attention in Serie A and the Europa League, impressing against Villa in the quarter-final. Handy in a fight too, if reports are to be believed around his scrap with Adrien Rabiot that prompted his Marseille exit last summer. Likely to be on the move again soon given the level of interest building.
3) Julio Enciso (Strasbourg) – 91.2
Enciso joined Strasbourg in the summer from Brighton on a four-year contract but he’ll be at Chelsea in no time if he keeps up the form that bumped Kvaratskhelia into second in Ligue 1.
2) Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) – 91.7
In the top five leagues, only four players (Jeremy Doku, Lamine Yamal, Vinicius Jr, Victor Munoz) have attempted more dribbles than Diomande, but the Leipzig teenager has a higher completion rate than any of them. Indeed, only Dompe and Harry Kane have a higher ratio in the Bundesliga but Diomande has attempted more than triple the number of both.
1) Alexis Saelemaekers – (AC Milan) 96.0
Bologna might be kicking themselves now for failing to sign Saelemaekers for less than £8million when they had the chance at the end of a season-long loan in 2023-24. The Belgian then spent a year on loan at Roma before coming back to finally establish himself with the Rossoneri, earning himself a new five-year contract. Saelemaekers has completed the second highest number of dribbles in Serie A but the highest number of dribbles above expectation.
