#48 Riyad Mahrez
A little over a year ago and it would have been laughable to consider Leicester’s practically unknown Riyad Mahrez as one of the fifty greatest players in the world. After a season like no other, though, some would argue this position doesn’t do the midfield magician justice.
With 17 goals and 11 assists to his name in Leicester City’s barnstorming, title-winning campaign, Mahrez was the catalyst for the Foxes, laying on many a chance for Jamie Vardy. Rather comically, the 25-year-old winger admitted in an interview recently, "before I joined Leicester, I didn’t know who they were, I thought they were a rugby club," epitomising how distant he was from the English game before his move.
To click on arguably the most competitive football division in the world so quickly is therefore quite remarkable. Mahrez shattered through a catalogue of glass-ceilings last season, becoming the first Algerian to score a Premier League hat-trick in the process. His quick feet, unprecedented eye for a through-ball and ability to pop-up with the odd screamer mould Mahrez into the full package, and many believe he’s one of the most underrated players in the Premier League today.
Aside from his PFA Player of the Year award for last season and the obvious Premier League title, Mahrez’s trophy cabinet is a little bare, and this is one of the main factors acting against him on this list. A bit more experience of Champions League football though and the Algerian could easily break into the top twenty.
