Sportskeeda's list of 50 best players playing currently: 30-21

Pogba’s transition to Old Trafford has not been as smooth as he would’ve liked

To break into the upper echelons of football royalty, one must blend passion with temperament, focus with desire and, ultimately, must maintain top form throughout the most part of their career. New talents are being scouted as we speak and it can, therefore, be challenging to take a snapshot of the football landscape as it is now… but that’s exactly what I have done.

In a, frankly, subjective piece, which it is impossible to gain unanimous agreement with, I have sprinkled my search for the greatest fifty players in the world with a pinch of objectivity by using weighted averages to determine who comes out on top.

Each player was allocated a score out of 100 for their ‘Overall Ability’ (technique, goal-scoring records / defensive records), their ‘Success’ (team and individual trophies won during their career, relative to their age and time in the game) and their ‘Recent Form’ (how they’ve performed throughout this calendar year, injuries etc. have been taken into account).

The former was attributed with a weighting of 40%, the most important aspect to consider, while the other two categories were each given a 30% weighting. An average was then taken and other factors such as potential and importance to their team were taken into account. So if you have any serious qualms with the choices made, remember that statistics have been used to back-up the views in this article.

With too much eye-watering detail to cram into a single piece, this is a ‘Sportskeeda Series’. Here’s a look at those positioned from 30-21…

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#30 Paul Pogba

It probably comes as a great surprise to many to see the world’s most expensive footballer rank so lowly on this list and they’d have plenty of evidence to back up their claims. The FIFA World Cup Best Young Player 2014 has shown unrivalled tenacity and determination to flourish with the Old Lady following a frustrating start to his professional career with Manchester United.

With four Serie A titles to his name, the Frenchman picked up four ‘Man Of The Match’ awards in his last season in Turin, while only Paulo Dybala (73) created more chances than Pogba (54) during the campaign. Only 23-years-old, Pogba has all the makings of the perfect midfielder, embodying excellent core strength, vision for the right pass and a top eye for goal.

That said, Pogba’s transition to Old Trafford has not been as smooth as he would’ve liked; although he ranks highly in his team when it comes to goals scored and chances created, for a player purchased for £89 million, he really should be doing more to steer his side towards the top of the table.

So his form hasn’t been phenomenal lately and his success has been limited to Juventus in his career so far. To be considered a true great, I’d like to see the French midfielder win trophies across the continent and there are still aspects of his game, namely defensive, which need work. Nonetheless, with youth on his side, Pogba has the potential to become one of the finest middle-men of all time.