In spite of their semi-final finish, France still showed enough promise in 2022 to make them one of the favourites heading into the 2023 Women's World Cup. The one area of the field in which they've lost some of their key figureheads in recent years is in central midfield, which should make it all the more imperative for Grace Geyoro to play an important role once more. Here is what Geyoro brings to France, and why she's one of the best midfielders on the planet.
Canada are by no means one of the favourites heading into the World Cup despite their success at the Olympics, and key players like Ashley Lawrence and Jessie Fleming will endeavour to change that narrative around. Here is why new Chelsea teammates Lawrence and Fleming will be critical to Canada's success this summer.
Without ever fully setting the Bundesliga on fire, Szoboszlai had two solid seasons at Leipzig, hitting a high of 6 goals and 8 assists in 31 matches last campaign, primarily playing as a '10'. Liverpool must be confident however that the Hungarian midfielder can make his mark at the centre of the park, perhaps even as they continue to push Trent Alexander-Arnold into midfield alongside Fabinho, thus creating more opportunity to have roaming attacking midfielders like Mac Allister and Szoboszlai ahead. With that, here is why Liverpool made their move for the Hungarian, and what he brings to the Reds.
Now in his second season at the club, Jensen is persistently pushing for a place inside the first eleven, and continues to look phenomenal every time he plays. Here is what makes Noah Jensen one of the most promising midfielders inside the CPL, and why he could be destined for far greater times in the near future.
Within the past five seasons, Jill Roord has consistently been one of the top performing players across the globe. She's made a massive impact for VFL Wolfsburg across the past few years, helping them to reach the Champions League Final in the latest campaign. She's also been a stalwart behind the success of the Netherlands, including en route to her nation reaching the final at the previous iteration of the World Cup in 2019.
After being crowned the best defensive midfielder in the league in our CANPL Scouting Series last year, Diego Gutiérrez has transformed elements of his game to become one of the league's top box-to-box roamers. The Chilean midfielder has not only captained Valour through the start of the 2023 season, but has been pivotal to directing play and controlling much of the team's better moments throughout the season so far. Here is why Diego Gutiérrez is one of the best midfielders in the division.
While it's true that Mason Mount didn't hit quite the same high notes in 2022-23, the same could be said of any Chelsea player. For Manchester United to now swoop in for one of the most highly rated midfielders on the planet at even a £60 million fee could be one of the signings of the summer. With that, we assess why Mason Mount is perfect for an Erik Ten Hag team, and why Mount's career could be set to progress from here.
The task of replacing Declan Rice is a near impossible task. While you could likely combine his traits in a trio of midfielders for that price, no one that West Ham United could convince to join the club will be able to make such a massive single-handed impact at the London Stadium. Nevertheless, we scoured through the data and footage of hundreds of players to find those most similar to Declan Rice, and those that could make up for some of what's now lost without his services. With that, here is our analysis on how West Ham United can replace Declan Rice.
