Europe’s long-running favorite
Of all the footballers under contract in Europe’s top leagues, there was only one who played over 70 games for club and national team in 2023: Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes. The attacking midfielder was used 72 times – 62 games for the “Red Devils” and ten for Portugal. Fernandes is the leader not only in games but also in minutes played with 6,288 minutes. For comparison: Second-placed Rodrygo was on the pitch for “only” 4,941 minutes in 69 games for Real Madrid and Brazil. The highest-placed German is Antonio Rüdiger, who played 67 times in 2023, and old master Luka Modric is still one of the long-running favorites.
With Havertz, Rüdiger & Akanji: Most games in the 2023 calendar year
Kai Havertz | Chelsea/Arsenal | Germany | Minutes: 4,397 | Games: 63
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Goals: 11 | Assists: 6
Games for first division teams from the top 15 leagues and senior national teams in 2023 were counted
Phil Foden | Man City | England | Minutes: 4,057 | Games: 63
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Goals: 17 | Assists: 13
Also with 63 games: Callum McGregor, Mehdi Taremi, Vangelis Pavlidis, Malick Fofana, Sven Kums, Arthur Vermeeren
Luka Modric | Real Madrid | Croatia | Minutes: 3,852 | Games: 63
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Goals: 3 | Assists: 9
Nemanja Gudelj | Seville | Serbia | Minutes: 5,431 | Games: 64
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Goals: 5 | Assists: 2
Bernardo Silva | Man City | Portugal | Minutes: 4,572 | Games: 64
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Goals: 14 | Assists: 10
Santiago Gimenez | Feyenoord | Mexico | Minutes: 4,460 | Games: 64
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Goals: 39 | Assists: 7
Zeki Amdouni | Basel/Burnley | Switzerland | Minutes: 4,699 | Games: 65
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Goals: 32 | Assists: 6
Youssef En-Nesyri | Seville | Morocco | Minutes: 4,566 | Games: 65
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Goals: 25 | Assists: 4
Hyun-seok Hong | KAA Gent | South Korea | Minutes: 4,564 | Games: 65
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Goals: 10 | Assists: 9
Bryan Cristante | AS Roma | Italy | Minutes: 5,241 | Games: 65
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Goals: 2 | Assists: 6
Declan Rice | West Ham/Arsenal | England | Minutes: 5,439 | Games: 65
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Goals: 8 | Assists: 4
Tomas Soucek | West Ham | Czech Republic | Minutes: 5,054 | Games: 65
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Goals: 5 | Assists: 7
Julian Alvarez | Man City | Argentina | Minutes: 4,220 | Games: 65
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Goals: 22 | Assists: 12
Rodri | Man City | Spain | Minutes: 5,412 | Games: 66
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Goals: 8 | Assists: 10
Dusan Tadic | Ajax/Fenerbahce | Serbia | Minutes: 5,360 | Games: 66
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Goals: 23 | Assists: 23
Nicolò Barella | Inter | Italy | Minutes: 4,754 | Games: 66
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Goals: 5 | Assists: 11
Marcus Rashford | Man United | England | Minutes: 4,675 | Games: 66
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Goals: 24 | Assists: 13
Kyle Walker | Man City | England | Minutes: 5,139 | Games: 66
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Goals: 1 | Assists: 5
Federico Valverde | Real Madrid | Uruguay | Minutes: 5319 | Games: 67
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Goals: 7 | Assists: 7
Bilal El Khannouss | KRC Genk | Morocco | Minutes: 4,768 | Games: 67
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Goals: 4 | Assists: 12
Anthony Moris | Union SG | Luxembourg | Minutes: 6,045 | Games: 67
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Goals: 0 | Assists: 0
Antonio Rüdiger | Real Madrid | Germany | Minutes: 5,512 | Games: 67
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Goals: 1 | Assists: 2
Lautaro Martinez | Inter | Argentina | Minutes: 4,584 | Games: 67
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Goals: 37 | Assists: 9
Manuel Akanji | Man City | Switzerland | Minutes: 5,431 | Games: 68
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Goals: 5 | Templates: 1
Rodrygo | Real Madrid | Brazil | Minutes: 4,941 | Games: 69
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Goals: 25 | Assists: 12
Bruno Fernandes | Man United | Portugal | Minutes: 6,288 | Games: 72
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Goals: 22 | Assists: 23
There is only one other German in the top 30, Kai Havertz – with 63 games for Chelsea, Arsenal and the national team, he is in 24th place. The fact that one looks in vain for Bundesliga professionals among Europe’s most used players is due to the fact that in the German upper house there are only There are 34 match days instead of 38 as in England, Spain, France or Italy. In addition, English clubs have two national cup competitions – and Man United reached the final in both in 2023: against Newcastle they won 2-0 in the EFL Cup and against Man City they lost 1-2 in the FA Cup.
Man United and Man City, which also won the Champions League, are the most frequently represented among Europe’s long-running favorites in 2023. This also applies to the “Royals”, who alongside Rodrygo, Rüdiger and Modric and Federico Valverde (67 games) are in the top 30 four times. Modric’s performance is particularly impressive, and at 38 years old he remains one of the most frequently used footballers in Europe. As of today, the old master’s contract ends on June 30th – then he could be in the knockout round with Croatia at the European Championships in Germany.
The latter theoretically also applies to Anthony Moris, who still has a chance at the European Championship with Luxembourg in the semi-finals of the qualifying playoffs. Thanks primarily to his appearances for Union Saint-Gilloise, the 33-year-old goalkeeper will play 67 games in 2023 and with 6,045 minutes, only Portuguese Fernandes was on the pitch longer. The Man United captain also shone as one of the best assist providers of the last twelve months with his 23 assists.
With Wirtz & Grimaldo: Players with the most assists in the 2023 calendar year
16 Bukayo Saka I FC Arsenal, England I Assists: 19
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in 60 games
Games for first division clubs and senior national teams in 2023 were counted
16 Renato Steffen I FC Lugano, Switzerland I Assists: 19
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in 57 games
Also with 19 assists: Mikkel Rygaard, Maximiliano Núñez, Nicolae Stanciu, Pawel Wszolek, Saddil Ramdani, Jhon Arias
16 Trent Alexander-Arnold I Liverpool FC, England I Assists: 19
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in 53 games
16 Alejandro Grimaldo I Benfica, Bayer 04, Spain I Assists: 19
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in 51 games
16 Kevin De Bruyne I Manchester City, Belgium I Assists: 19
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in 31 games
13 Kerem Aktürkoğlu I Galatasaray, Türkiye I Assists: 20
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in 58 games
13 Johan Bakayoko I PSV Eindhoven, Belgium I Assists: 20
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in 57 games
13 Theerathon Bunmathan I Buriram United, Thailand I Assists: 20
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in 56 games
12 Konstantinos Fortounis I Olympiakos, Greece I Assists: 21
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in 45 games
8 Mohamed Salah I Liverpool FC, Egypt I Assists: 22
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in 61 games
8 Florian Wirtz I Bayer Leverkusen, Germany I Assists: 22
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in 58 games
8 Vinicius Junior I Real Madrid, Brazil I Assists: 22
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in 52 games
8 Amahl Pellegrino I FK Bodø/Glimt I Assists: 22
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in 51 games
4 Bruno Fernandes I Manchester United, Portugal I Assists: 23
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in 72 games
4 Dusan Tadic I Fenerbahce, Ajax, Serbia I Assists: 23
© Fenerbahçe
in 66 games
4 Riyad Mahrez I Al-Ahli SFC, Man City, Algeria I Assists: 23
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in 57 games
4 Arif Aiman I Johor Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia I Assists: 23
© Johor Darul Ta’zim
in 45 games
3 Joey Veerman I PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands I Assists: 24
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in 57 games
2 Kiril Despodov I PAOK, Ludogorets, Bulgaria I Assists: 26
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in 61 games
1 Maxime Lestienne I Lion City Sailors I Assists: 29
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in 35 games
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