It is that time of year, where we can look back on the thrills and spills that have unfolded across Europe, and pick out the star performers and those who have failed to live up to the billing.
Pre-season drums up plenty of hype, with expectation heaped on the shoulders of plenty of embryonic talents. But who has turned a blind eye to that pressure, and gone on to draw attention from the watching world? Here are five midfielders who have really shone in 2015/16.
Also read: 5 most underrated midfielders in Europe at the moment
#1 Dele Alli
What a season for the England international. What stands Alli apart from his peers is that he doesn’t really have a weakness. He can fulfil the archetypal box-to-box midfielder having reaped the rewards of Mauricio Pochettino’s intense training regime, whilst still exhibiting the creative guile to unlock sides.
The 21-year-old needs three more goals from Spurs’ remaining two games to become only the third midfielder to score 20 league goals in a Premier League season. Quite remarkable for a man who was plying his trade in the third tier of English football three years ago.
No goal is the same. His two brilliant headers against Chelsea, his stunning long-range strike against Watford or his sweeping finish to punish Manchester City - Alli’s locker is crammed full of finishes.
"Maybe one day he plays as a goalkeeper, full-back or centre-back," Pochettino said earlier this season. "Dele Alli can always surprise you. He has an unbelievable personality and character. Anything is possible for him.”
Anything really is possible for this level-headed metronome. Overtures from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich may be hard to ignore, but wherever he ends up, the sky is the limit for this phenomenon.
#2 Bernardo Silva
Monaco have wowed Champions League audiences with their breathtaking attacking football this season, and their league form has not been bad either, as the Principality club close in on a first Ligue 1 title in 17 years.
For all Kylian Mbappe’s goalscoring heroics and Benjamin Mendy’s energy on the flank, Leonardo Jardim has a player that orchestrates everything from deep, in a way that has football romantics drooling.
Silva plays the game like we all wish we could. Like Xavi Hernandez with added dynamism, Silva is capable of dribbling past his man and caressing the ball around the park in equal measure.
With a wand of a left foot, the 22-year-old has been the heartbeat of the Monaco attack. Seen as the perfect replacement to his namesake David at Manchester City, it may not be too long before Silva again seeks pastures anew.
Super agent Jorge Mendes has reportedly already taken calls from the Premier League big boys as well as Barcelona. Monaco have a job on their hands holding on to such majesty.
#3 N’Golo Kante
A household name after he starred in the Leicester City fairy tale, Kante makes this list as he has taken such heroics from last season and somehow gotten even better. Is there a better all-round player in the world right now?
Having finished 10th last season, Chelsea were expected to completely revamp their squad under the tutelage of Antonio Conte as they looked to compete at the top of the Premier League.
Also read: The best player in the world? - Now is the time for N'Golo Kante to shine for France
However, the Italian didn’t oversee an influx of talent down the King’s Road, instead, he entrusted a handful of fresh faces with turning the Blues around, and in Kante, he had his ultimate, all-action figurehead.
We have seen the stats and the player tracking data which leave us struggling for new superlatives to describe Kante’s efforts, but Conte went for the ultimate compliment.
"I think I was stronger than him to score goals,” Conte said after Kante was crowned PFA Player of the Year. “But, in the other aspects, there is no contest. He is stronger than me.” High praise indeed.
#4 Steven N’Zonzi
Despite having faded in recent weeks as Sevilla’s La Liga title dream has slipped away, N’Zonzi’s season has been nothing short of remarkable.
Boasting a reasonably modest CV prior to joining Sevilla at the start of last season, N’Zonzi impressed in his debut campaign in Spain, without ever really looking a cut above.
It needed the introduction of the tactically flexible Jorge Sampaoli to take N’Zonzi from very good to one of the best in the business.
Staggeringly, he averages five more passes per game than any other player in the Spanish top flight. Capable of carrying the ball forward from the back, as well as being strong in the tackle, N’Zonzi might just be the perfect midfield anchor.
He's the new Patrick Vieira, according to Sport. Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo rates him as the ideal alternative to Sergio Busquets, company you would not have associated with N’Zonzi a few years ago. Barcelona links are further proof that this late bloomer may not be finished just yet.
#5 Saul Niguez
A stunning strike in last season’s Champions League semi-final confirmed what many experts in Spain had been saying for a while - this Saul Niguez is something, but this season, the 22-year-old has become the darling of the Calderon, showing a level of dedication that has endeared him to the Atleti faithful.
“I put my health at risk in order to defend these colours and to fulfil this dream [of playing for Atletico]," he revealed in an interview with Mega.
"For the last two years, I've been playing with a catheter. I urinated blood after every training session and match, it was really uncomfortable.”
Two years of urinating blood, and still he has been able to score four goals in the Champions League knockout stages. That attitude could take him to the very top.
Fantastic in the air, Saul has become one of the best No. 8s in the game, and is as good as any at grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck and lifting his side. A future captain in the making, Manchester United’s long-term interest is not unfounded.
