Ranking the 11 best playmakers in Europe right now

#6 Thiago Alcantara

Real Madrid v Bayern Muenchen - UEFA Champions League Semi Final Second Leg

Easily one of the most underrated players in the world, Alcantara has been holding down the midfield for Bayern Munich and the Spain national team for the best part of the last five seasons, but he has largely gone under the radar.

It says a lot about his abilities that he was the only player taken by Pep Guardiola with him upon his assumption of duties as Bayern Munich boss with the Bundesliga giants paying €25m for his services.

Joining the Barcelona setup at the tender age of eight, Thiago made his first-team debut for the Blaugrana in 2009 but found playing time hard to come by due to the presence of some of the all-time greats in midfield at the same time.

He moves to Bayern Munich and has been central to the club's recent total dominance of German football, pulling the strings from midfield although he has had his career progress hampered by frequent injuries.

Alcantara possesses the uncanny knack for controlling games from midfield, with en eye for spotting passes as well as the technique with which to pick them out which seems to come inbuilt with all Barcelona trained midfielders.

Thiago comes from a prestigious footballing heritage, as he is the son of former Brazilian midfielder and World Cup winner Mazinho, as well as the elder brother to Barcelona and Brazil player Rafinha.

The 27-year-old still has the Barcelona DNA in him despite having departed the club, and rumours have circulated that Ernesto Valverde sees him as the ideal playmaker, with Barcelona said to be interested in his services.