Top 5 most Valuable Attacking Midfielders in the World right now.

Attacking Midfielders are very important in the modern game. They control the tempo of the match and on most occasions determine how well the team plays. These players are generally good passers of the ball, know how to dribble and can score from a long range as well. The best Attacking Midfielders have an eye for a pass with a sense of timing that can find the striker from anywhere on the pitch.

We are lucky to have got a chance to witness the wizardry of these attacking midfielders, gliding all over the pitch and finding strikers with ease. Here we look at the top 5 most Valuable Attacking Midfielders and what makes them so valuable and crucial to the team:

Note: All the Market Values have been taken from transfermarkt.

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#5 Christian Eriksen (80 Million euros)

Christian Eriksen is currently one of the best attacking midfielders in the Premier League. He has been linked with a move to both Barcelona and Real Madrid yet he continues to be a loyal servant to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs' creator-in-chief had a good world cup guiding his nation to the last 16 before a penalty heartbreak against Croatia meant Eriksen and his country had to pack their bags.

Eriksen is a typical attacking midfielder with good vision but few in the modern era are as good as him when it comes to taking free kicks. The Danish International had a wonderful 2017-18 season as he ended up with 10 goals and 10 assists. He created a total of 88 chances and had a shot accuracy of 67% with passing accuracy of 83%.

Eriksen is comfortable with both feet as can be seen from his stats. He scored 60 per cent of his goals with his left foot despite predominantly being a right footer. Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is a huge fan of Eriksen's work rate which allows him to operate from deep without compromising the defensive shape of the team.

At 26, Eriksen has just entered into his prime and if he can continue with solid performances, Spurs will find it hard to keep hold of him. In today's market, the €80 million valuation does seem like a bargain.

#4 James Rodriguez (80 Million euros)

An injury prevented him from having the desired effect on proceedings

The 2014 World cup golden boot winner, James Rodriguez got a dream move to one of the biggest clubs in the world after some scintillating performances in Brazil. However, he had a tough time adjusting to life at Real Madrid.

It is fair to say that James was unlucky. Even after putting in good performances, he was mostly overlooked by Zidane. After a successful loan spell with Bayern Munich in the 2017-18 season, Rodriguez showed Real Madrid exactly what they had missed out on.

Rodriguez repaid the faith shown on him as he scored 7 and set up another 11 in just 19 Bundesliga starts before injury towards the end of last season rendered him unfit for the World cup.

James was the creative hub for the Bavarians, creating a total of 54 chances for the strikers. Whilst he had a poor shot accuracy of 52%, he certainly made up for it with a 90% pass accuracy.

Rodriguez is performing well and being only 27, one expects him to become the main man at Bayern Munich soon. James will be starting the second of his two-year loan contract with the Munich club after which they have an option of buying him for € 42 million which is well short of the € 80 million valuations. Bayern have got themselves a potential bargain.

#3 Dele Alli (100 Million euros)

Alli had a good world cup and was a regular starter for England only at the age of 22.

At 22, Dele Alli is the youngest attacking midfielder on this list and probably the one with the most potential. He is also the second Tottenham player to have made the list. It makes you wonder why Tottenham can’t win trophies? Well, a team with two such valuable attacking midfielders can do much better.

Coming back to Dele Alli, the Englishmen had a good world cup. Small niggling injuries meant that he was not able to show his full potential. Despite people criticizing Alli for not having had a very good season, the 22-year old still delivered the goods as scored 9 times and assisted a further 10 in 36 matches.

Alli is not the typical attacking midfielder a la Eriksen yet he created 58 chances in the league. Alli's main strength lies in the fact that he times his runs to perfection. But in the long term, Alli has to work on an unimpressive pass accuracy of 77%.

Still only 22, Alli has time on his side to polish some aspects of his game like tackling, crossing and holding up the ball better. If he can iron out these flaws, England are potentially looking at a game-changing player since the days of Gascoigne.

Such is his talent that he is already being valued at €100 million.

#2 Philippe Coutinho (120 Million euros)

Coutinho will try and fill in the Iniesta shaped gap at Barcelona

The ex-Liverpool man is the 2nd most valuable attacking midfielder in the world right now with a valuation of about 120 million euros. Coutinho got transferred to Barcelona in January 2018 for an eye-watering sum of about £142 million making him the second costliest player ever.

The Brazilian had a very good world cup and along with Neymar acted as the talisman of the team. For Barcelona, Coutinho scored 8 times and assisted 5 more since his move in January. The 2017-18 season turned out to be the most profitable for the Brazilian maestro as he scored 22 in all competitions despite playing for two of the biggest clubs in the world.

Possessing supreme long range technique and a vision that can pick out any striker, Coutinho has all the attributes required to become the best in the business. Having played well in half a season for Barcelona, it is expected of him to truly kick on this term and become one of the best midfielders in the world.

With so much talent, the valuation of € 120 million looks stark since Barcelona already paid more to acquire the 26-year old's services.

#1 Kevin De Bruyne (150 Million Euros)

De Bruyne has lit up the premier league

Bought from Wolfsburg in 2015 for £ 55 million euros, many eyebrows were raised when Manchester City decided to splash out on a Premier League reject. Those doubts have been answered emphatically as De Bruyne has kicked on and become the best attacking midfielder in the world. How Chelsea must be cursing their luck!

In fact, he has been tipped by many to win the Ballon d'Or in the near future and was unlucky to have missed out on the Premier League player of the year to the sensational Mo Salah. Kevin De Bruyne played an instrumental part in helping Manchester City to win the EPL with record points and goals scored.

De Bruyne scored 8 goals while laying on 16 more for his teammates and creating a record 104 chances in the Premier League. Comfortable with either foot, De Bruyne can whip in balls with pinpoint accuracy. No player was as dangerous as him in taking set pieces last season.

Not only this, but De Bruyne also played a crucial role in helping his nation Belgium finish 3rd at the World cup. All these stats together with being relatively young makes him the most valuable attacking midfielder in the world right now.

All values are taken from www.transfermarkt.com.

Other Credits: Squawka