MLS: Top 5 attacking midfielders in the league right now
By Matt Coles
There have been some wonderful players over the 25-year history of MLS, but who ranks in the top five of the current crop of attacking midfielders?
Here at MLS Multiplex, we have gone over the statistics, the awards won, the games played, the goals scored and the shutouts made to work out who we think are the best five players in the seven major positions in Major League Soccer right now.
We have gone through the best players of all-time across seven different categories, and now we are taking a look at the best current players in the league, in those same seven positions. In the all-time lists, the likes of Tony Meola, Carlos Bocanegra, Preki, Chris Wondolowski and Landon Donovan all took top honours for their respective positions, while Stefan Frei, Ike Opara, Ryan Hollingshead and Cristian Roldan have earned the spoils in the current goalkeeper, centre-back, full-back and central midfield stakes.
We take a look at attacking midfielders in this piece, with the likes of Darwin Quintero, Pedro Santos and Diego Rubio all narrowly missing out on our top five. One man that does make it onto our list also saw his name in the best attacking midfielders of all-time. Two other members of our top five have only spent a single year in the league, but who makes it in?
5. Carles Gil
Like all of the men on our list of the best attacking midfielders who currently ply their trade in MLS, our No.5 is a player who has been a one-club man since moving to the American top-flight, New England Revolution’s Carles Gil.
The Spaniard had spent the entirety of his professional career in Europe before making the move to the States, most notably playing for Spanish sides Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna, along with a brief spell with English side Aston Villa.
MLS Career & Honours:
- New England Revolution (2019-)
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- MLS Best XI – 2019
- MLS Newcomer of the Year – 2019
Gil joined up with New England Revolution ahead of the 2019 campaign, with the club breaking their record transfer fee to bring the Spaniard to Gillette Stadium, parting with around $2million in the process of the deal. There were instant rewards as the midfielder scored on debut to earn the Revs a point against FC Dallas.
He started every game in his debut campaign in the league, and also took over the captaincy of the franchise in the process. Gil; scored 10 goals and recorded 14 assists in 34 regular-season matches, with his play seeing him named MLS Newcomer of the Year, following in the footsteps of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sebastian Giovinco and Miguel Almiron.
He was also honoured with a spot in the MLS Best XI for the 2019 term, as the Revs made it into the post-season for the first time in four years. The Spaniard became the first member of a New England team to make it into the Best XI since Lee Nguyen made the illustrious squad in 2014. Gil had missed the first two games of the 2020 campaign through injury, but he will be looking to find his form again when the season resumes in Orlando next month.