Top 20 players with most assists since 2017 as De Bruyne beats Messi to top spot

• Manchester City ace Kevin de Bruyne is on his own in terms of assisting in world football
• The Belgian has come up with a staggering 121 assists in 271 games in the last five years
• He also has the greatest average ratio, with almost double the assists Mohammed Salah has within the same period

In football, fans always remember the goal scorers, but the individuals who set up the goals are criminally underrated.

As at 2022, there are some names that are synonymous with assists such as Kevin de Bruyne, Lionel Messi and Trent-Alexander Arnold.

These three are among the many world-class football stars who have developed a knack of coming up with sublime link-up plays with their teams’ prolific goal scorers with devastating effect.

But who has the most assists over the last five years?

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It is very easy to make a case for Lionel Messi, who has morphed into arguably the best playmaker in world football to add to his goal-scoring powers.

But as it turns out, not even Messi can match the assist specialist Kevin de Bruyne in terms of racking up the assists stats.

Give Me Sport and The Pop Foot did an interesting chart detailing the players who have had the most assists since 2017 and De Bruyne takes the cake in that category.

The magical Belgian has notched a staggering 121 assists in 271 games, which is an average of one assist every two games.

Incredibly, Messi has also been beaten by another player, Thomas Mueller, who comes in second with 111 assists in 278 games.

The Argentine maestro is third on the list with 108 assists in 288 games.

Here is the complete list:

20. Andrew Robertson: 60 assists in 277 games | 0.23

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19. Raheem Sterling: 61 assists in 300 games | 0.20

18. Trent Alexander-Arnold: 63 assists in 244 games | 0.26

17. Memphis Depay: 64 assists in 252 games | 0.25

16. Antoine Griezmann: 65 assists in 315 games | 0.21

15. Jadon Sancho: 65 assists in 210 games | 0.31

14. Riyad Mahrez: 68 assists in 288 games | 0.24

13. Hakan Calhanoglu: 68 assists in 272 games: 0.25

12. Jordi Alba: 68 assists in 270 games | 0.25

11. Heung-min Son: 69 assists in 296 games | 0.23

10. Mohamed Salah: 70 assists in 300 games | 0.23

9. Leroy Sane: 70 assists in 243 games | 0.29

8. Filip Kostic: 71 assists in 252 games | 0.28

7. Angel Di Maria: 80 assists in 248 games | 0.32

6. Joshua Kimmich: 86 assists in 289 games | 0.30

5. Neymar: 86 assists in 204 games | 0.42

4. Kylian Mbappe: 95 assists in 288 games | 0.33

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3. Lionel Messi: 108 assists in 288 games | 0.38

2. Thomas Muller: 111 assists in 278 games | 0.40

1. Kevin De Bruyne: 121 assists in 271 games | 0.45

De Bruyne speaks after making Ballon d’Or history

Elsewhere, Sports Brief also reported on De Bruyne’s take on how his career is progressing.

He recently became the first-ever Manchester City player to finish in a podium place in the history of the awards. He finished behind eventual winner Karim Benzema and former Liverpool star Sadio Mane.

The Belgian inspired Manchester City to a fourth Premier League title in five years. They failed in their pursuit of the Champions League title yet again, but De Bruyne still registered impressive numbers all around.