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#4 Samuel Umtiti (FC Barcelona)
Samuel Umtiti was signed by Barcelona in the summer of 2016 from Lyon. Since then, he has cemented his place as Barcelona’s ace centre back.
Umtiti enjoyed a spectacular summer and was hugely influential in France’s run to the World Cup crown.
Along with Varane, the duo kept out the likes of Uruguay and Belgium on their way to glory. He also came up with a crucial goal against Belgium, which proved to be the winner.
Umtiti is an excellent reader of the game and is deceptively quick. He rarely finds himself out of position and wins most of his duels cleanly.
Throughout the course of last season, he averaged less than a foul per game. To supplement this, he is a very efficient user of the football and is arguably the best ball-playing centre-back in the world.
Umtiti has been immense for Barcelona over the past two seasons and looks set to play a stellar role under Valverde this season as well.
If there were any doubts with respect to his quality, he put those to rest by putting in solid performances in Russia.
At this juncture, he is one of the most in-form defenders on the planet. With time on his side, Barcelona would hope he can emulate the likes of Carles Puyol in the years to come.
His form and adaptability to any situation is what gets him into our list at No.4.
