The top 50 players in Europe - Cavani, Lukaku and Traore among biggest winners and losers
We have revealed the current top 50 WhoScored rated players in Europe's top five leagues for 2019/20, with Lionel Messi beating the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo to top spot for the second season in succession. You can catch up on the full rundown from 50 to 1 at the bottom of this article.
However, now it's time to take stock of the biggest winners and losers from the current top 50. Which players have enjoyed the biggest surge up the leaderboards from last season to this and who have dropped out of contention completely? All is about to be revealed, starting with the biggest losers in reverse order.
As Borussia Dortmund have emerged as a vibrant team full of youthfulness, there certainly isn't any room for a 34-year-old Lukasz Piszczek. The Poland international has lost his place in the side to Real Madrid loanee Achraf Hakimi this season, limited to just 16 starts in the Bundesliga and a further four appearances as a substitute.
The veteran right-back garnered a hugely impressive WhoScored rating of 7.41 in the 2018/19 Bundesliga campaign after playing a direct hand in seven goals in 20 appearances (1 goal, seven assists). He placed 27th in Europe's top five leagues as a result but things have dipped quickly. Piszczek's WhoScored rating in the Bundesliga this season is just 6.79 and he ranks 576th in Europe's top five leagues. With a year-on-year drop of 549 poisitions on the WhoScored leaderboard, Piszczek has suffered the third largest decline of players from the WhoScored Top 50 in 2018/19.
A stellar campaign for Angers in 2018/19 translated into a move to fellow Ligue 1 side Rennes over the summer but things haven't gone as planned for 27-year-old Flavien Tait this season. Tait has made 17 league appearances for his new club in 2019/20 but only nine of those have come as a starter. With such an impetus on trying to spark something from the bench, his WhoScored rating has naturally suffered considerably.
Tait's final season for Angers finished with a WhoScored rating of 7.30 after scoring four times and providing seven assists in 36 league appearances. Shots per 90 finished at 2.6 in 2018/19, while key passes per 90 finished at 2.3. This season, however, Tait has scored only two goals and provided two assists from 17 league appearances and shots per 90 and key passes per 90 are both down (1.4 and 1.8, respectively). Tait just sneaked into the WhoScored Top 50 last season in 47th place but he is now at risk of dropping out the top 1000 in 2019/20. His position has dropped 913 places season-on-season.
Having dropped completely out of favour under Thomas Tuchel this season, it is perhaps no surprise that Edinson Cavani has lost his place in the WhoScored Top 50 from last season. Cavani finished the 2018/19 campaign as the 22nd top WhoScored rated player in Europe's top five leagues after claiming 18 goals and five assists in 21 league games. This season, however, Cavani has managed just 14 league appearances and half of those outings have come from the bench. Cavani has still netted four goals in that period but he will leave PSG this summer when his contract expires.
It's not been a good season for the 33-year-old and his WhoScored rating has been impact massively compared to last season. With a rating of just 6.56 in 2019/20, Cavani ranks all the way down at 1048 in Europe's top five leagues, signalling an eye-watering drop of 1026 places compared to last term. El Matador needs a new home for 2020/21.
It hasn't been all doom and gloom, however. While the aforementioned trio have bombed out of the WhoScored Top 50 by the biggest margins, others have stepped on the gas this season after disappointing 2018/19 campaigns. It's now time to look at those who have bulldoozed their way into the top 50 players in Europe this season by the biggest increase compared to their 2018/19 finish. Again starting in reverse order.
A summer switch from Paris Saint-Germain to RB Leipzig was required for Christopher Nkunku to get a run of games under his belt. He was forced to be patient for playing time at the start of this season but was a first-team regular for Leipzig by the time football was suspended in March. Despite the fact Nkunku has started only 15 of his 23 league appearances this season, the 22-year-old has returned 12 assists and four goals. He averages a goal contribution every 91 minutes of playing time. After a frustrating 2018/19 campaign for PSG, Nkunku finished 431 on the list of the best players in Europe's top five leagues. This season, however, he currently sits 23rd - an improvement of 408 places.
Nkunku wasn't the only person in need of a change of scenery. After it was made clear Romelu Lukaku was no longer first-choice striker at Manchester United, a summer move to Inter has benefitted all parties. In his first season at Inter, the Belgium international has already surpassed his best ever goal tally for United (16) with 17 goals for Antonio Conte's side. Lukaku finished 2018/19 campaign as the 521st best player in Europe's top five leagues but is currently placed 32nd this term - an improvement of 489 positions.
A poor 2018/19 indicated Dimitri Payet was on the slide but the Marseille creator has returned to his best form this season. Payet only has four assists to his name in Ligue 1 this term but has been hugely let down by Marseille's finishing. He averages the most key passes in Europe's top five leagues (4) but has just four assists from the 87 chances he has created. The 33-year-old has even taken matters into his own hands with nine league goals, five more than he managed last term from 9 more games. Payet was outside the top 500 players in Europe's top five leagues by the end of last season but has sensationally gatecrashed the top 10 in 2019/20 - his position has improved by 556 places.
Schalke have built a solid reputation for producing talented players down the years and Suat Serdar looks set to follow the same path as the likes of Leroy Sane, Manuel Neuer and Leon Goretzka. After only managing two goals in 26 league appearances last season, Serdar has already raced to seven goals from 18 league appearances in 2019/20. He has also won three more WhoScored Man of the Match awards in the Bundesliga this season (4) as he managed in 2018/19. Dribbles per game are also up from 1.4 last season to 2.7 this term. Of all players in the current WhoScored Top 50, Serdar acheived the lowest ranking last season (1050). His position has improved 1017 places by comparision this season, as the midfielder is currently ranked the 33rd top rated player in Europe's top five leagues.
Serdar has not been the only revelation across Europe's top five leagues this season. Adama Traore used to be renowned as a one trick pony but that has changed in 2019/20. Traore has finally added end product to his devastating dribbling ability. Traore has four goals and seven assists to his name in the Premier League this season and has completed more dribbles than any other player in Europe's top five leagues (145). As his reputation has soared, it's no surprise Traore has shot up the leaderboard. Last season he finished outside the top 1000 and now he is just outside the top 10! Like Serdar, Traore has also improved his position on the leadboard for the best player in Europe's top five leagues by 1017 places.
Top 50 top rated players: 50-46, 45-41, 40-36, 35-31, 30-26, 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1
