5 underrated players who have been brilliant this season

#1 Florian Thauvin (Marseille)

The left-footed winger has jaw-dropping close control and continues to improve

Marseille are on course to finish in the Champions League places for the first time since the 2012/13 campaign - the key reason for this is the phenomenal form of 25-year-old winger Florian Thauvin.

So far this campaign, he's been a sensation, having netted 18 goals and created 16 more in 42 appearances (all comps). Ten of those, have been Man of the Match performances, no less.

Discussing his importance to Marseille, his contribution to 27 goals in Ligue 1 this season (28 appearances) represents 44% of their total for the whole term.

His productivity in the final third has continued to increase beyond commendable numbers in 2016/17, where he was previously creating 1.9 chances on average per game. Now, he's creating 2.5 per 90 and only Augsburg's Philipp Max, Lionel Messi (both 12), Neymar (13) and Kevin de Bruyne (14) have more in Europe's top five leagues.

Despite his market value going up - unsurprisingly - this proves that his performances have gone unnoticed by many football supporters and critics alike, besides former club Newcastle, where he infamously struggled for form and regular minutes before returning to France in 2016.