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On hearing the news that Steven Gerrard would finally be leaving Liverpool, we decided to list our 11 best central midfielders of the 21st Century, which surprisingly features three Englishman.
(We know Zidane would be no.1 if we included his entire career – but his is based solely on contributions over the past 15 years, and he retired in 2006.)
11) Sergio Busquets – Barcelona
The best holding midfielder in recent times, Busquets sits and mops up everything at the base of midfield for Barcelona and Spain. He’s 26, and has already won everything there is to win in football.
10) Xabi Alonso – Bayern Munich
The Spanish maestro is currently running games for fun at Bayern Munich, having won the Champions League with both Liverpool and Real Madrid, and the World Cup with Spain during his illustrious career.
9) Bastian Schweinsteiger – Bayern Munich
The World Cup winning German was Man of the Match in Germany’s final against Argentina this summer, having been largley flawless for Bayern since making his debut in 2002.
8) Paul Scholes – Retired
Man United’s metronome throughout the noughties, Scholes retired in 2013, having won 11 Premier League titles and a couple of Champions Leagues, too.
7) Frank Lampard – Manchester City
The highest scoring midfielder in Premier League history, Lampard came 2nd in the Ballon d’Or race in 2005 – and is still performing to a top standard for Manchester City aged 36.
6) Zinedine Zidane – Retired
Zidane retired in 2006, but still did enough in the first six years of the century to make it this far up our list. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2002 after bagging the winner in the Champions League final – but famously got sent off in the final of World Cup 2006.
5) Clarence Seedorf – Retired
Seedorf’s medal collection is practically unrivalled. He’s won four Champions League titles, two of which came with AC Milan in the noughties – and won the award for the best midfielder in Europe in 2007.
4) Steven Gerrard – Liverpool
The iconic captain has rocked the football world by announcing his summer departure from Anfield. Since making a 1998 debut for Liverpool, he’s dragged the side to Champions League glory, as well as successes in the Europa League, the FA Cup and the League Cup. He also earned over 100 caps for England.
3) Xavi – Barcelona
The epitome of class and style. Xavi’s technically perfect, and his passes nearly always find a teammate. He’s only pipped in this list by his partner in crime Andres Iniesta, and a certain Italian hero.
2) Andrea Pirlo – Juventus
Pirlo simply oozes class and style. He’s won the Serie A Player of the Year award for the past three consecutive seasons, and has previously snapped up Champions League and World Cup victories.
1) Andres Iniesta – Barcelona
For us, Iniesta is the best central midfielder of the past 14 years. Like Xavi, he’s won everything there is to win for Spain and Barcelona – and he notched a memorable World Cup final winner back in 2010. The perfect modern midfielder.
