A constant debate on social media, the title of best Premier League player normally includes nominations for Arsenal’s Mesut Özil, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard or Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero.
Hazard has shown his best form under Antonio Conte this season, and Özil remains a hero for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal fans. Agüero may have lost his head at the weekend, but Pep Guardiola will still feel he has one of the best in the Premier League.
Of course, any opinion on the matter remains subjective, but with the Premier League’s 25th birthday just around the corner, Sport/Foot Magazine in Belgium tried to compile a list of the 25 best players to have graced England top flight over that period.
Fans are never going to agree on the best players around now, so when a list is compiled for the whole Premier League era, it’s going to cause some disagreement.
Bottom of Sport/Foot’s prestigious pile is Matt Le Tissier, with Liverpool legend Michael Owen just in front of him.
Former Tottenham star Gareth Bale comes in at 22nd, while Manchester United’s defensive duo Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand were voted 20th and 19th respectively.
Trying to settle the Frank Lampard/Steven Gerrard debate once and for all, Sport/Foot put the iconic Chelsea midfielder 12th on the list, while the recently retired Liverpool idol, who is expected to take up a coaching role under Jurgen Klopp, beats him by just about making it into the top 10.
The best ranked player who still plays in the Premier League today is Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, placed 13th, while John Terry (15th), Petr Cech (18th), Yaya Touré (21st) and Vincent Kompany (23rd) all make an appearance.
Populating the top five are only Manchester United and Arsenal players, with the former’s fearless captain Roy Keane starting the proceedings.
Fourth, and this will please Gunners around the world, is Dennis Bergkamp.
In third, the man who has a Christmas football chant in his name, is Eric Cantona.
Number two? Well, that’s Thierry Henry, of course.
If, at this stage, you can’t guess who tops the list, well, it’s Ryan Giggs, who, with 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two Champions League, is by far the most decorated man on the list.
The full list can be found below:
25. Matt Le Tissier
24. Michael Owen
23. Vincent Kompany
22. Gareth Bale
21. Yaya Touré
20. Gary Neville
19. Rio Ferdinand
18. Petr Cech
17. Robert Pirès
16. Peter Schmeichel
15. John Terry
14. Didier Drogba
13. Wayne Rooney
12. Frank Lampard
11. Cristiano Ronaldo
10. Steven Gerrard
9. David Beckham
8. Patrick Vieira
7. Paul Scholes
6. Alan Shearer
5. Roy Keane
4. Dennis Bergkamp
3. Eric Cantona
2. Thierry Henry
1. Ryan Giggs
