#2 Thomas Muller
Thomas Muller’s stock has fallen drastically over the last year – which started with him having a shocker of a Euro 2016. The German striker has struggled for goals this season, returning his worst ever tally since he broke into the first-team in the 2009/10 season.
The 26-year-old only scored 9 goals during the course of the tournament while setting up another 17 for his teammates. His numbers don’t point towards greatness and to be honest, pale in comparison to Suarez but numbers don’t always tell the complete story.
Muller has been played across many positions by Bayern Munich last season, many times in a position which does not necessarily get the best out of him. The 26-year-old has fallen down the pecking order behind Robert Lewandowski – who has cemented his place as the best striker in the world at the moment. However, what Muller brings to the table is something that probably no other player in the world does – unpredictability.
As was aptly summed by Uli Hesse in an interview of the German enigma for Eight by Eight magazine, wherein he wrote: “Thomas Müller can’t beat you with his close ball control. He can’t beat you with his pace. And he can’t beat you with his dribbling skills. He just beats you.”
There is no single facet of Muller’s game which stands out but he just happens to be at the right place at the right time to score a crucial goal and is being wasted at Bayern Munich. With Suarez on the decline, it is time for Barcelona to look forward and maybe Muller can be the unorthodox forward who can usher in a new era at Camp Nou. Maybe all the German assassin needs is a change of scenery to get back to his best. It is a big gamble but one certainly worth the punt.
