Barcelona and Real Madrid men also included…
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The role of the anchorman, or the midfield battler is totally vital in modern football. The all-action box-to-box midfielder has been replaced in many sides with a far more disciplined deep-lying midfielder, whose job it is to break up opposition play with interceptions and tackles, before starting attacks from the base of midfield.
In this list, we’ve been more careful not to include deep-lying playmakers, such as Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard or Andrea Pirlo, who play in a similar position, but are charged with more creative and less destructive duties…
For us, here are the ten best defensive midfielders in football right now…
10) Fernandinho – Manchester City
The Brazilian cost an enormous £35m last summer, and played a key role in winning Manchester City the Premier League title in 2013/14. His work in midfield enables Yaya Toure to bomb forward and create and score goals. With Fernando, City now have an almost equally capable deputy.
