Ranking the 10 players with the most assists in the 21st century
Goalscorers deservingly bag all the plaudits, but the ones who create scoring opportunities are no less important even if they don't hog much of the limelight.
Since the turn of the century, there has been a plethora of players who have created goals galore for their teammates at club and country. Some of these players are prolific goalscorers themselves, which makes them indispensable for their teams.
On that note, let us have a look at the ten players, some of whom are still active, with the most assists this century. Without further ado, let's get started:
NOTE: All stats are as per transfermarkt.com unless mentioned otherwise.
#10 Kevin De Bruyne - 231
Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best midfielders in the game at the moment. Though he does not score a lot of goals, he is a master assist-provider, conjuring scoring opportunities seemingly out of thin air at times.
The Manchester City midfield metronome has been a key performer for both club and country. Thanks to De Bruyne (six goals and 12 assists) pulling the strings from midfield, Guardiola's men won their third Premier League title in four years. A year earlier, the Belgian tallied 13 goals and a record 20 assists, but City were denied a three-peat by a rampant Liverpool side.
The 30-year-old has also been a dazzling performer for Belgium, racking up an impressive tally of 22 goals and 40 assists in 84 appearances, with one goal and two assists coming at Euro 2020.
#9 Xavi Hernandez - 235
Xavi Hernandez, more commonly known only by his first name, is arguably one of the best midfielders to have graced the beautiful game.
Possessing a keen eye for exploring spaces and half spaces in the opposition half, Xavi helped create plenty of scoring opportunities for club and country during a glorious career. The 41-year-old was one of the dazzling performers in Barcelona's historic 2008-09 treble-winning campaign, conjuring 40 goal contributions (ten goals and 30 assists) in all competitions.
The two-time European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner orchestrated play in the middle of the park for club and country like none else. Though Xavi was not a proflic scorer, his ability to create goalscoring chances for teammates was worth its weight in gold.
#8 Franck Ribery - 246
Former Bayern Munich and France legend Franck Ribery has been a star performer for club and country.
The 38-year-old free agent has tallied over 80% of his assists in club football for Bayern during a glorious 12-season stint in Bavaria, where he won a continental treble and nine Bundesliga titles. In that treble-winning campaign, Ribery tallied 23 assists across competitions, only four short of his career-best tally recorded the season before.
The Frenchman was also a key performer for France, registering more than a goal contribution every two games (16 goals and 25 assists in 81 games).
#7 Cesc Fabregas - 248
Cesc Fabregas announced himself as a prodigious talent when he made his first-team debut at Arsenal at the tender age of 16 in the Gunners' historic 'invincibles' campaign in 2003-04.
Almost two decades later, the 34-year-old Spaniard currently plies his trade at AS Monaco after becoming one of only four players to rack up over a century of assists in the Premier League.
A two-time European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner, Fabregas has won three league titles and racked up close to 250 assists for club and country, in addition to scoring 140 goals.