The 10 best left-backs in the world right now | OneFootball

Rewind a little over a decade and you’d have been mocked for suggesting left-backs could be crucial to the success of a side.

The ever-changing demands of the full-back role has meant left-backs are no longer just facilitators to the team’s greater good, but genuine key cogs and – occasionally – game-changers.

Selecting the best in world football right now was a headache, but we’ve given it our best shot.

Here are the 10 best left-backs in world football right now.

10. Andy Robertson – Liverpool

Andy Robertson has been so good for so long that even a slight decline in his level has led to premature conclusions. Robertson might not be the buccaneering force of old, but his level is still strong enough to mix it with the best in the world in his position.

Signed from relegated Hull City for just £8m eight years ago, he’s proven to be some of Liverpool’s best business of the modern era. A cult figure at Anfield, even if his time as an undisputed starter might be ticking toward an end.

9. Antonee Robinson – Fulham

Antonee Robinson has arguably been the best left-back in the Premier League this season. The American failed to make the grade at Everton before finding his feet in the Football League.

Since signing for Fulham he’s come on leaps and bounds, combining excellent one-on-one defending and athleticism with improved end product. His forays forward this season have been a feature for Fulham, with only Mohamed Salah providing more than his 10 assists in England’s top tier. He’s just three from equalling Trent Alexander-Arnold’s single-season record for a defender.

8. Ferland Mendy – Real Madrid

It’s fair to say that Carlo Ancelotti knows his stuff. The five-time Champions League-winning coach has called Ferland Mendy the best defensive left-back in world football and who are we to disagree?

The Frenchman has been an unsung hero in Real Madrid’s modern success, where his six seasons at the Bernabeu have brought three La Liga titles and two Champions League crowns. He’ll never get the headlines of his Galactico teammates, but Mendy won’t care one bit. He’s got a job to do – and that’s stop opposition wingers.

7. Alejandro Balde – Barcelona

Barcelona must thank the heavens for La Masia. At a time when the Spanish superpower has been crippled by economic issues, their world-renown academy has spat out starlets of utter quality. Lamine Yamal might be the shining light of La Masia, but Alejandro Balde’s breakthrough has been timely. Now into his third full season as a regular, the 21-year-old has been the perfect successor to Jordi Alba.

6. Nuno Mendes – Paris Saint-Germain

Nuno Mendes has accomplished quite a lot at 22. League titles in Portugal and France, inclusion in three divisional Team of the Year selections, and 35 international caps and counting.

A marauding force with excellent delivery, he’s part of a Paris Saint-Germain side brimming with quality and the fearlessness of youth. Mendes shackled Mohamed Salah superbly over two legs as PSG eliminated Liverpool from the Champions League this month. Few have done that this season.

5. Federico Dimarco – Inter Milan

The very best full-backs have something a little out of the ordinary and Federico Dimarco has it in abundance.

Whether it’s spectacular strikes from distance or delivery on a sixpence, Dimarco has a habit of doing things other left-backs can’t. After an unorthodox route out of Inter Milan and back again, he’s now established as one of the best in the business.

4. Josko Gvardiol – Manchester City

When Manchester City spent £77m to sign Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, it was widely considered to be to safeguard their centre-back future. Instead, Gvardiol has become a left-back in the most unconventional mould. That the bullish frame of Gvardiol manoeuvres so neatly in tight spaces defies logic, while he’s become a real goal threat off either foot. At 23, his ceiling has not been reached, an exciting thought for all at the Etihad.

3. Alejandro Grimaldo – Bayer Leverkusen

Alejandro Grimaldo’s golden debut season at Bayer Leverkusen had rival recruiters scratching their heads. How had this talent been allowed to move for free, without any of Europe’s superpowers taking a chance? Grimaldo was crucial to Leverkusen becoming German champions for the first time, with a rate of production from wing-back to rival elite playmakers. This season hasn’t quite been as special, but his numbers are still strong in comparison to his positional peers. A wand of a left foot has rarely been more fitting than for the silky Spaniard.

2. Alphonso Davies – Bayern Munich

After a will-he wont-he saga, Alphonso Davies has put pen to paper on a new deal at Bayern Munich. The German giants have secured their left-back role for seasons to come with one of the classiest operators in the game. Davies is an excitement machine, with turbo-charged pace to gallop into the final third or hurtle back to stop opposition wingers. It feels like he’s been around for an age, but won’t turn 25 until November.

Next summer will be a huge one for Davies, as the poster boy of a Canadian team co-hosting the World Cup.

1. Theo Hernandez – AC Milan

AC Milan’s left-hand side is one of the most watchable in world football.

Rafael Leao’s qualities are clear and the Portuguese winger is supported by a bullet-train behind him. Theo Hernandez’s mix of strength, speed and ball-carrying has been the recipe for his evolution into one of Serie A’s stars.

The Frenchman can be unstoppable when getting up a head of steam and has been named Italian football’s best left-back in four of the last five seasons.

Read – The 10 best right-backs in the world right now

See more – The 10 best centre-backs in the world right now

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