Nowadays, footballers come in all shapes and sizes; though, it’s such variation that makes the beautiful game so engrossing. Back in the day, the plan was simple: find the skillful winger with a long pass, watch them bamboozle a defender and then whip it into the box for the focal point to nod it home.
There are now wingers who consider themselves goalscorers, pressers, inside forwards and much more.
From your silky Brazilians to your undeviating Englishmen, there are a host of skill-sets that are lighting up the Premier League and European football at the current moment.David Beckham’s England winger debate took a wild turnPlay Video0:30And that got us thinking: who are the best wingers in world football right now?
By no means an easy task with the traditional 4-4-2 formation seldom in play and the emergence of sub-categorised wide men, below is a list of the 20 best wingers in world football, ranked in order and based on the following factors.Ranking factors Goals – how many times has a player found the back of the net in the last 12 months.
Assists – how many goals has a player created in the last 12 months.Success – Has the player guided them to trophies and the latter stages of knockout football, both domestically and continentally.
Notable moments – Has the player had a standout moment which caught the eyes of fans.Importance to their respective team – how reliant a team is on the individual for success.A quick caveat: to be included, each player’s main position must be listed as either ‘Right Winger’ or ‘Left Winger’ on Transfermarkt.
As such, the exclusion of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is by virtue of him being classed as a ‘Centre-Forward’. Cole Palmer and Phil Foden also used to be wingers, but are now viewed as an ‘Attacking Midfielder
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