#1 Thiago Alcantara – Bayern Munich
Barcelona had a ready-made successor for Xavi or Iniesta in their ranks in the mould of Thiago Alcantara but they made the cardinal sin of allowing one of the hottest prospects in all of Europe to leave the club. The 26-year-old has since been immense for Bayern Munich and has established himself as the best midfielder in all of Europe this season.
Adept at playing anywhere in the heart of midfield, Thiago has an impeccable passing range and is also not shy of getting his hands dirty. The Spaniard has been a crest above his teammates this season – bar probably Robert Lewandowski – and it is his dribbling and finishing that has seen him stand out.
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His stats speak volumes about the former Barcelona man, having scored 9 goals and assisted another 9. Not only that, he has a pass completion percentage of 90.2 and 94.9 passes per game – the second best in Europe. He has the most interceptions per game in all of Europe, with 4.6 – truly incredible.
Apart from having a well-rounded game his biggest strength lies in the fact that there are no obvious weaknesses in his game. However, Barcelona have the tough task of luring their former academy product back to Camp Nou but if they are able to do it, he will excel and will ably fill in the void left by Iniesta.
