From Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard to James Maddison and Cole Palmer, the Premier League is filled with top-class playmakers who provide highlight-reel assists and slick dribbles. Here is a ranking of the best playmakers in the English top flight in 2024.
10. Andreas Pereira, Fulham
A lot of people wrote Andreas Pereira off after he put up mediocre numbers for Manchester United for years before going to Brazil, returning, and turning his career around with another historic Premier League side in Fulham.
Now, Pereira is playing the best football in his career at the age of 28 and has become one of the best passers in the final third in the entire Premier League. He is a playmaker in his prime and one of the premier set-piece specialists in the English top flight.
Pereira had a combined 13 assists in the previous two seasons, averaging 2.3 key passes per game in the 2023/24 campaign. This season, Pereira doesn’t have any assists through six games but is averaging a ridiculous 3.3 key passes per game, which would easily be a career high if it stands.
9. Eberechi Eze, Crystal Palace
All the top clubs in the Premier League have been monitoring Eberechi Eze closely as a possible summer transfer target, as the attacking midfielder is now the biggest prize at Crystal Palace after the legitimately world-class Michael Olise made a move to Bayern Munich.
Eze is one of the slickest dribblers from the midfield in the Premier League and has a penchant for creating chances, as he is set to finish with his most impressive passing numbers in the 2024/25 season.
The 26-year-old averaged 2.6 dribbles completed and 2.0 key passes per game while scoring 11 goals for Crystal Palace in an exceptional 2023/24 season, but his numbers so far this season without Olise are truly something to behold.
Eze is averaging 4.5 key passes and 3.5 dribbles completed per game with a goal and three assists through two League Cup games with two key passes per game in the Premier League.
8. Luis Diaz, Liverpool
One of the most explosive dribblers in world football, Luis Diaz has been a smashing success for Liverpool ever since joining the Reds during the 2021/22 season from Porto, immediately helping the club reach the Champions League Final.
A world-class left winger, Diaz had 8 goals, 5 assists, 1.7 dribbles completed, and 1.8 key passes per game in the 2023/24 season, which was considered a down year.
Now, the Colombian international is flourishing again under new manager Arne Slot, looking livelier and more confident on the ball with five goals in six games and an average of 1.5 key passes per game.
Playmaking isn’t just about assisting or high key passes. A player can also be a world-class playmaker based on what they do on the ball as a dribbler to create chances and cause havoc to the opposition defense, which Diaz specializes in.
7. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool
Of course, Diaz’s more respected teammate, right winger Mohamed Salah, is the master of end product and the most successful goal-scoring winger in the history of the Premier League.
At the age of 32, Salah is still a masterful scorer, as he put 18 past opposition keepers last season, marking the seventh time in his Premier League career that he has scored more than 15 goals in a league season.
Salah has become an even better passer and playmaker with age, too, registering double-digit assists for a third straight season while averaging more than two key passes per game for the first time in his career.
Since Salah is the best finisher on Liverpool, a lot of his chances created don’t become assists, but that shouldn’t allow you to overlook just how exquisite his passing has become with experience.
6. James Maddison, Tottenham
James Maddison has proven to be a solid signing for Tottenham, who have a couple of other capable playmakers in left winger Son Heung-min and right winger Dejan Kuluseveski.
But the Tottenham attacking midfielder is the best of the bunch, and he’s been one of the best playmakers in the Premier League for years, going back to his days with Leicester City.
Although Maddison’s play tailed off in the second half of the 2023/24 season due to injury, the 27-year-old was a legitimate Player of the Season candidate in the first half of the campaign.
He would finish his first season with Tottenham averaging 2.4 key passes per game with 9 total assists, making it the third straight season in which he has registered at least eight league assists.
5. Cole Palmer, Chelsea
Cole Palmer was undoubtedly the biggest breakout star in the 2023/24 Premier League season and should have won the official Player of the Season award over Phil Foden based on his overall impact in elevating Chelsea from mid-table laughingstock to legitimate European football side.
The man nicknamed “Cold” for his unflappable demeanor, Palmer is one of the most efficient goal-scorers and playmakers in all of European football, shining for club and country whenever given the opportunity to do so.
A leader by example, Palmer is putting up the best numbers a Chelsea player has since the legendary Eden Hazard. He scored 22 goals with 11 assists for the Blues last season, averaging 2.2 key passes and 1.6 dribbles completed for one of the most jaw-dropping stat lines in English football.
Far from a fluke, it has been business as usual for the 22-year-old prospect under new manager Enzo Maresca in 2024/25, as he’s already on 6 goals and 4 assists through 6 Premier League starts.
4. Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United
Purely as a chance creator with his passing, Bruno Fernandes would be the best playmaker in the Premier League, and for all his flaws, Fernandes is one of the most prolific players in the world at producing a high volume of shooting opportunities for his teammates.
Fernandes has notched eight assists in three different Premier League seasons and is coming off a campaign in which he averaged 3.3 key passes per game, doing his best to carry a very flawed Manchester United side.
This season, Fernandes has been poor to start the campaign, and there are questions regarding his long-term value to Manchester United. But when it comes to key passes from the No. 10 spot, there are honestly very few players in Europe who compare to the Portuguese veteran.
3. Bukayo Saka, Arsenal
Bukayo Saka isn’t a playmaker in the traditional sense, as he is a young right winger capable of flirting with 20 goals with his left foot. The England international is as consistent as the come and has become something of a pillar for Arsenal, leading beyond his years of 23.
Despite his young age, Saka plays like a seasoned vet, and that’s probably because he’s now accrued five full seasons with at least five total goal contributions in the Premier League.
Saka had 9 assists last season with an average of 2.6 key passes per game, ranking him among the best chance creators in English football. Unselfish and intelligent enough to know when to go for the layoff or the killer pass, Saka is a versatile weapon and someone Arsenal know they can rely on.
2. Martin Odegaard, Arsenal
His teammate Martin Odegaard is, of course, an even more prolific technician and an elite passer. The former Real Madrid prospect has blossomed into one of the world’s finest No. 10’s after pushing to make his transfer to North London permanent.
The Norwegian attacking midfielder is now Arsenal’s captain and their most important player alongside Saka, with whom he has formed quite the attacking partnership.
Odegaard led all Premier League players in shots created last season, even above Bruno Fernandes, and has registered a total of 17 assists across the last two league seasons.
Furthermore, the 25-year-old averaged 2.9 key passes per game last season, making him one of the world’s statistically most impressive passers and creators. Odegaard has a deft touch and the ability to conjure something special from nothing against the tightest of blocks.
1. Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City
As brilliant as Martin Odegaard is and as many young talents are rising up the ranks in the Premier League, is is the 33-year-old Kevin de Bruyne who remains the class of the English top flight in 2024.
The Belgian international is the last star standing of the golden generation, and although decline is starting to eat into his fitness and athleticism, the wise playmaker of the Etihad continues to rack up the assists and key passes.
De Bruyne had 10 assists in only 15 starts for Manchester City last season due to injury, and, if anything, his efficiency as a creator is only getting better with age as his technique and intelligence remain unparalleled in the world.
He makes the impossible look simple, picking out passes that even visionary manager Pep Guardiola could not imagine. De Bruyne leaves the elite dumbfounded and has made the Premier League his playground for about a decade.
De Bruyne has seven career seasons with double-digit assists and has reached 20 twice in two different leagues with both Manchester City and Wolfsburg. The former Chelsea prospect averaged at least three key passes per game in five of his last six seasons and is currently at four per game in 2024/25.
Those numbers are unreal. They aren’t just historic, they are almost impossible for the feeble human mind to fathom. De Bruyne is so far beyond compare as a playmaker that even in the Premier League with players like Odegaard and Palmer, KDB is in his own league.
Ranking the 10 best players in the Premier League right now during the 2024/25 season
Ranking the 25 best Premier League wingers of the last 5 years
Every Premier League team’s most valuable player heading into the 2024/25 season
Updated 2024/25 Premier League Top 6 Predictions after Matchday 6
10 Premier League players with a point to prove in the 2024/25 season
The 10 most expensive transfers from Ligue 1 to the Premier League of the 2010s decade
Best Premier League wingers 2024: Man City dominate, West Ham in, Mohamed Salah or Bukayo Saka?
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.