The World's Top 5 Midfielders for All-Round Contribution Last Season

After a recent article highlighted the huge success of Chile and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Arturo Vidal, we have sought to find out whether any of world's midfielders in the top 5 leagues can compare with his magnificent all-round contribution.

The search filtered out players who failed to score above 4 goals and assists and above average figures of 1.5 key passes per game, 35 completed passes per game, 75% pass accuracy, 1.5 tackles per game and 1 interception per game. The categories were chosen to define which players offered their sides a significant threat in both attack and defence from all midfield positions.

Perhaps unsurprisingly all but one of our top 5 play from the middle of the field, with the other 4 operating from a predominantly defensive midfield role. The figures indeed showed that Vidal was perhaps the most effective, though the 24-year-old was followed closely by a number of standout performers.

Interestingly our search found that no players were represented from either the Premier League or Serie A, with two players making the list from the Bundesliga and La Liga respectively and the other from France's Ligue 1.

Arturo Vidal
Chilean international Arturo Vidal is fast-becoming one of Europe's highest sought after property's within the game, with interest thought to be mounting from the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Juventus to name a few. At 24, Vidal is coming into the prime of his career and if he hasn't peaked this season he may well do so to devastating effect in the next.

His importance to current club Leverkusen is paramount, with the German side already stating that they would not sell the midfielder to any other club in Germany after Bayern Munich came sniffing. His stock has risen tremendously after the previous campaign and it isn't difficult to see why.

In 29 starts for the Bundesliga side, Vidal finished as the clubs top scorer despite playing from a defensive midfield role for much of the season, ending with 9 goals and another team high of 10 assists. His pass accuracy of 83% is made all the more impressive due to the fact that he was Leverkusen's go-to guy having made a team high average of 48.28 successful passes a match including 2.03 key passes per game.

Vidal was not one to shirk his defensive responsibilities despite his abundant creativity and unbelievably ranked as his sides top tackler, averaging 4.97 per game, as well as leading the way in interceptions with 2.69.

Gabi
The name of 28-year-old Spanish midfielder Gabi is one that has slipped under the radar somewhat, despite some outstanding performances for Zaragoza last term. The Spaniard was also deployed in a more defensive position for much of his 36 league starts but to little detriment on his attacking input.

In fact, Gabi netted more goals than any other player on our list with 10, weighing in with another 6 assists. His figure of 2.36 key passes a match was surpassed by just one other player in the top 5, as was his average of successful passes per match at 47.78, with all of his aforementioned contributions marking Zaragoza's best of any player from last season. He also finished with decent figures of 78% for pass accuracy.

Similarly to Vidal, Gabi held an imposing figure in a defensive sense, making 3.28 tackles per game on average, along with 3.3 interceptions a match, the best of our leading 5. All of these exceptional figures came in a side which finished a meagre 14th in the league last season, indicative of his importance in keeping Zaragoza in the top flight having finished just 2 points above the drop zone.

Nuri Sahin
At 22, Nuri Sahin is the youngest player on our list and the Turkish international showed bags of potential last season for Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund. His displays at the centre of all the title winners best moves did not go unnoticed and led to interest from Spanish giant Real Madrid, with Jose Mourinho snapping up his priority target early on in the summer.

His extensive contribution to the Dortmund cause at such a tender age is highlighted through some excellent work in both an attacking and defensive sense. In 30 league starts, Sahin netted 6 goals from a deep-lying position, contributing a further 8 assists. Arguably his most impressive figures lay in his key passes per game, with a score of 3.47 standing high above the rest in the top 5. His pass success rate of 76% was derived from his average successful passes per match of 45.03.

His work rate at such a young age led him to impressive defensive stats alongside young German Sven Bender, finishing second behind his more defensive minded midfield partner in tackles per game with 3.73, which placed him second in our top 5, and in terms of interceptions a match with 2.27.

Santiago Cazorla
26-year-old Spain international Santi Cazorla is the only player of our top 5 not to operate in a defensive role, making his inclusion on the list all the more surprising and commendable. Cazorla can play across the midfield but is predominantly seen as a winger having played much of last season on either flank, which in turn makes his passing figures quite remarkable.

In a Villarreal side that finished in La Liga's fourth Champions League qualifying spot, Cazorla made an invaluable contribution. His 5 league goals were eclipsed by his more impressive team high of 10 league assists, and his passing figures were exemplary for someone whom most would consider to be a wide man. His passing accuracy was the best of our top 5 with 84% having made 46.32 successful passes per match on average and also making 2.15 key passes a match.

His decent defensive contribution is perhaps his most alarming facet having made 1.71 tackles per game on average, along with 2.06 interceptions a match. It remains to be seen as to whether Cazorla's impressive performances last season will force him into the reckoning in the world's strongest international squad but his figures certainly make a case for his inclusion in the Spain set-up.

Benoit Pedretti
30-year-old Auxerre middle-man Benoit Pedretti is undoubtedly the most experienced of our top 5. The Frenchman only started 20 of his side's league games last season but his contribution was still significant when playing.

In considerably fewer appearances than the remainder of the top 5, Pedretti still managed to get on the scoresheet 5 times while he set up another 4 goals from a central position. He finished with a decent average of 78% for his pass accuracy having completed 46 passes per match on average. His high involvement when playing is indicative of his teammates confidence in the 30-year-old in possession. He also averaged a further 2.25 key passes per match during his time on the field.

Defensively he was the least effective of our top 5, though his figures should not be sniffed at with scores of 1.7 for tackles made per game and 1.85 in terms of interceptions both helping Auxerre to a 9th placed finish in Ligue 1 last season.