REVEALED: Six youngsters among Europe's best dribblers this season

There are many ways to win a football match, but it’s fair to say that all fans - perhaps those of Manchester United in particular - would love their side to play entertaining, attacking football. The most iconic footballers are often those capable of getting you off your seat, with an ability to beat a man either through trickery or sheer pace a sure fire way to make a player a fan favourite.

When thinking of the games greatest names both past and present, dribbling is an asset synonymous with so many, so we wanted to find out which players, statistically, were the most effective in this regard. Scouring the stats of all eleven of the top-flight leagues that WhoScored.com covers in Europe, we can now reveal the best of the best.

To do so we first needed some parameters, in this instance only considering players to have completed at least 20 dribbles this season at an average of at least 2.5 per game. That search brought about 42 names, which were then plotted into a quad chart based on frequency and success. After all, a player could complete 2.5 dribbles per game but if they attempt twice that number, they can’t really be considered among Europe’s finest.

Instead the chart below highlights eight players that performed above the average figures in terms of frequency (dribbles per game) and success rate of the aforementioned 42. These are the players that, at present, can be considered among the continents finest.

There is, however, one omission from the above chart, and a player whose dribbling figures this season have been so impressive he frankly finds himself in a league of his own right now. Indeed, having successfully completed 6.1 dribbles per game for Galatasaray this season, Portuguese winger Bruma is absolutely tearing Super Lig defences apart.

The 22-year old’s searing pace has simply been too hot to handle, but unlike some fast players whose control when dribbling is compromised somewhat, Bruma has maintained a hugely impressive success rate to boot. He tends to skip past opponents, quickly shifting the ball between his feet to outfox his opposite number. With 3 goals and 3 assists to his name, an ever improving end product has seen the winger secure the best WhoScored.com rating in Turkey this season (8.06) by a distance.

Moreover, while the youngster is far and away the most frequent dribbler of the players analysed - making his appearance in our quad chart all but impossible given he was such an outlier - he also ranked as highly as fifth in success (75.4%).

Indeed, a look at the diagrams below shows just how far in advance of his competition Bruma has been this season. Said diagrams are calculated using four parameters, adding total dribbles to reward consistency over a prolonged period and the number of fouls won per game as further indication of the threat that each carry to the opposition. To put it simply, the larger the area of the shape, the stronger the dribbling figures.

Among the more familiar names in this study, both Neymar and Eden Hazard make wholly unsurprising appearances. When listing off names of the world’s finest dribblers both would certainly come to mind, and for good reason when looking at the numbers this season.

The Barcelona flyer ranks third in terms of dribbles per game of the 42 players analysed (4.7), with a success rate of 66% just outside of the top ten but still above the average of 62.1%. The Brazilian is also the most fouled player of the lot, highlighting just how much he is targeted by the opposition, winning 5.1 per game to ensure his area in the chart here is among the largest. Hazard, meanwhile, is up in fifth for frequency (4.3 per game), but higher than his Barca counterpart for success, with 70.9% also among the top ten.

Dimitri Payet is another player that many would expect to feature here, with his technique and control in tight situations a real highlight in the Premier League last season and once again on display this time around. Unable to call upon the pace of most in this study, he still bamboozles opponents with great regularity - already scoring a sensational, solo goal of the season contender against Middlesbrough. An average of 3.4 dribbles per game is among the highest here, while a success rate of 63.1% just scrapes in above the average.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Wilfried Zaha has always looked to beat a man at the first opportunity but has certainly improved on his efficiency from said attempts this season. From a whopping 4.8 dribbles per game this season - the most in Europe’s top 5 leagues thus far - his success has improved markedly from the previous campaign, up to 63.3% from 52%.

The fourth and final Premier League representative, which is more than any other league, is Adnan Januzaj, whose injury in defeat to Zaha’s Palace at the end of last month has been a blow to Sunderland. On loan with the Black Cats from Manchester United, the young Belgian was displaying the sort of skill that saw him earmarked as the next big thing from the United academy a few years back.

While he’s failed to come good on that promise thus far, an average of 4.2 dribbles per game ranks sixth in the quad chart, with a success rate of 75.8% higher still in fourth. His quick feet and trickery have been very effective then, so a quick return from injury would be a real boost to a Sunderland side in desperate need of quality after a dismal start to the campaign.

Chelsea fans will not only be pleased to see Hazard among the finest dribblers on the continent, but also young Bertrand Traore, who has enjoyed a fine start to life on loan at Ajax. Some were surprised to see the young forward return to the Eredivisie this summer, but he is getting the valuable game time he needs and is clearly relishing it. A return of two goals thus far is modest, but the 21-year old has been a bright spark in the final third nonetheless, completing the most dribbles per game in the Dutch top-flight at a respectable 62.5% success rate.

The final two players to take a place in the elite nine here can both be found in France’s Ligue 1, and given both are still only teenagers, they are certainly worth keeping an eye on. The first is Allan Saint-Maximin, who recently took his spot in our feature on six of the best teenagers in world football this season.

The winger, on loan at Bastia from Monaco, is flourishing after a frustrating campaign in Germany with Hannover and certainly has the ability to produce the spectacular. His ferocious shooting from range is certainly a real strength but so too is his speed and skill, combining both to great effect to average 3.4 dribbles per game this season, at a sensational 72.3% success rate.

However, just ahead of the winger in both regards is Amine Harit, whose performances for Nantes this season will have drawn attention from across the continent. The 19-year old French youth international displays superb close control and spatial awareness in the middle of the park and has been mainstay for his side this season, starting all ten games. With an average of 3.7 dribbles per game enough to lead the way in France’s top tier, and a success rate of 72.5% enough to rank sixth of the players here, Harit looks a real gem already capable of establishing himself as one of Europe’s finest dribblers.

Who do you think is the best dribbler around right now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below