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Ligue 1 is one of Europe's most competitive and prominent club competitions. In recent years, the French top flight has grown in stature. Last season, LOSC Lille won their fourth league title, ending Paris Saint-Germain's three-year run.
The French top flight is home to some of the biggest names in the game. That includes Neymar Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Houssem Aouar, Dimitri Payet and Lionel Messi, among others.
New talents have emerged in Ligue 1 recently
Players such as Adrian Truffert from Rennes, Bamba Dieng from Marseille and Tiago Djalo from Lille are making their presence known in the French top flight. Meanwhile, underappreciated game icons have continued to put in outstanding performances.
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There is a plethora of talent ready to be a roaring success in the competition. On that note, here's a look at the top five Ligue 1 players based on ratings.
Note: Data taken from WhoScored.com (Minimum ten appearances)
#5 Lionel Messi (PSG) - 7.38
Lionel Messi is a name that doesn't need an introduction. The Argentina international is widely regarded as one of, if not the, greatest players in history.
The Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate will always be a fascinating one, but one thing is certain: Messi is a fabulous talent and one of the best to ever grace the beautiful game.
The Argentina forward has ten La Liga titles with Barcelona, a club he transformed since his debut against Espanyol in 2004. He also has four Champions League winners medals and six Copa del Rey titles in his trophy cabinet.
The only major title Messi has failed to win is the FIFA World Cup with Argentina. His best performance in the competition came in 2014, where Argentina lost in the final to Germany in extra time.
Messi's talent, though, has never been in doubt; in 2012, he broke the record for most goals in a calendar year, scoring 91. He has also won the Ballon d'Or seven times, the most by any player in the award's history.
Messi is 34, but he continues to dish out top-notch performances. Last summer, he was named tournament MVP, top scorer, and assist leader in Argentina's triumphant Copa America campaign, the country's first title in nearly three decades.
Barcelona failed to renew his contract due to the La Liga's financial fair-play rules. Ligue 1 giants PSG wasted no time to bring him to Paris. However, Messi has had a slow start to life in the French top flight, scoring once and assisting five times in 11 games.
#4 Soufiane Boufal (Angers) - 7.40
Sofiane Boufal came up through the Angers youth system, and made his debut for the club when he was 18.
In the next Ligue 2 season, he made his first professional start in a 4–2 win away at FC Istres. He became a regular that season, making 31 appearances across competitions.
During the 2014-15 season, he helped Angers get promoted to Ligue 1. He scored four goals in 16 appearances in the first half of the season, attracting interest from top Ligue 1 clubs.
Boufal moved to Lille in January 2015, and made an immediate impact, scoring three goals in 14 league games. The next season, he continued to impress, scoring 12 goals in 35 appearances across competitions.
Southampton signed Boufal on a five-year contract. However, he only scored one League Cup goal and one Premier League goal in the 2016–17 season.
His strike in the Saints' 1–0 win over Sunderland in the fourth round of the League Cup in October 2016 won him Southampton's Goal of the Season award. His strike against West Bromwich Albion was voted the Premier League Goal of the Season in 2017-18.
Boufal returned to Ligue 1 with his previous club Angers on a free transfer in October 2020. With five goals and four assists in 18 league games, he is in excellent form this season.
#3 Teji Savanier (Montpellier) - 7.59
Teji Savanier, 30, is not a rookie in Ligue 1, and is a key player for Montpellier. He has gone from strength to strength since joining La Paillade in the summer of 2019 for around £8.5 million.
Savanier, who is still in his prime, led Montpellier to eighth place in Ligue 1 before the COVID-19 outbreak. That was a slight drop from the club's sixth-place finish in the 2018/19 Ligue 1 season. However, there is no doubt the club can play better and challenge for the top four spots.
A move to a lower-tier Premier League club would not be the worst option for Savanier, who is still only valued at £9.8 million according to Transfermarkt. He has 22 goals and 27 assists in 97 Ligue 1 games, with most of them coming for Montpellier.
With a few years of quality football left in him, Savanier might move to a bigger team in the near future.
#2 Dimitri Payet (Marseille) - 7.65
Dimitri Payet's performances in the 2015-16 Premier League season will be remembered fondly by Premier League fans, particularly West Ham's. The French midfielder joined the club in the summer of 2015, having previously been one of the best players in Ligue 1.
With some outstanding performances, Payet quickly became a fan-favourite at the East London club. In the league that season, he scored nine goals and had 12 assists.
Unfortunately, his performances declined soon after, and he returned to Ligue 1 club Marseille in 2017. Payet, who is now in his sixth season with the club, has bagged 94 goals and 126 assists in over 450 league games, with 52 goals and 73 assists coming for Marseille.
Despite his age, the 34-year-old is having one of his best campaigns in the French top flight this season, having bagged seven goals and eight assists in 17 games.
#1 Kylian Mbappe (PSG) - 7.84
Kylian Mbappe has firmly established himself as one of the best players in the world. At just 23, he already has a burgeoning trophy cabinet.
He became Monaco's youngest ever player and, shortly after, their youngest ever goalscorer in 2015-16. The Frenchman then won his first Ligue 1 title in 2016-17.
Mbappe moved to PSG for £166 million in August 2017, when he was only 18. He won three more league titles in his first three years there, as well as a FIFA World Cup title with France. He has amassed 117 goals and 59 assists in 169 league games, with 101 of these strikes coming for PSG.
Mbappe isn't a rising star; he's already at the top of his game. PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino believes Mbappe is already an all-time great.
The most obvious and striking aspect of Mbappe's game is his blistering pace and lethal finishing. That's a combination that will remain extremely valuable regardless of how the game evolves.
These raw qualities were the reason he broke through at Monaco at the tender age of 16, breaking Thierry Henry's record as the club's youngest player.
In 19 league appearances this season, Mbappe has ten goals and eight assists. His rise has been truly remarkable thus far. The most concerning aspect for defenders across Ligue 1 and Europe is how much better he could become.
