There are some huge names on the periphery and Kevin de Bruyne’s lead as Europe’s premier assist provider in 2024 is starting to look a little shaky.
De Bruyne is on course to reclaim the crown he won for Manchester City in 2022, which Joey Veerman stole for PSV in 2023.
The criteria: All club assists in all competitions for teams in Europe’s top 10 leagues. The top scorers are here.
10) Raphinha (Barcelona) – 14 assists
Things have not been simple for the Brazil forward since he left the comfort of Leeds but the occasional Barcelona captain has risen to the role and has become one of the most creative players in Europe.
9) Dusan Tadic (Fenerbahce) – 15 assists
In his first season in Turkey, Tadic registered double figures for assists for the tenth different league campaign of his career. He is still flying at 35. No wonder Jurgen Klopp was “very angry” at not signing him all those years ago.
8) Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting) – 15 assists
The leading goalscorer of 2024 is on for a remarkable double which would surely culminate in the big transfer his form has warranted for some time.
7) Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) – 15 assists
The Ballon d’Or favourite has wisely avoided knackering his knee in quite the same way as closest rival Rodri, giving him a couple of months to establish an unassailable lead in that particular. Assists in five consecutive La Liga games should do it, as should playing with Kylian Mbappe, Endrick and Jude Bellingham.
6) Pedro Goncalves (Sporting) – 15 assists
The natural successor to Bruno Fernandes always features prominently when assessing the chief continental chance creators. He might pick his next career move a bit more wisely. In the Portuguese league alone he has registered double figures for goals and assists in the past two seasons and is on course to complete that hat-trick with four and three respectively in 2024/25.
5) Wendel (Zenit St Petersburg) – 15 assists
They’re obviously built different in Russia, with Wendel laying on a couple of goals in each of Zenit’s first three league games, as well as their Super Cup final win over Krasnodar. Barcelona were linked in the summer but they probably had no money.
4) Alex Baena (Villarreal) – 16 assists
Few players have been quite as influential in Villarreal’s recent excellent run of form and academy product Baena has been good enough for La Liga’s surprise title challengers to crack into Spain’s victorious Euro 2024 squad.
3) Alejandro Grimaldo (Leverkusen) – 17 assists
One of the most important cogs in the Xabi Alonso machine, Grimaldo cost nothing in the summer of 2023 after his Benfica contract expired but he is worth an awful lot to the Bundesliga champions now. The left-back has embraced the Leverkusen heritage admirably, assisting stoppage-time goals against Augsburg, Leipzig, Qarabag and Patrik Schick’s late equaliser in the DFB-Pokal final against Stuttgart.
2) Dries Mertens (Galatasaray) – 18 assists
Having earned his Turkish Super Lig twilight years, Mertens is no doubt enjoying himself. Ten of those 18 assists were recorded across an eight-game period between early March and mid-May, helping propel Galatasaray to a remarkable title win. Many more have inspired a phenomenal unbeaten start to their defence.
1) Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) – 18 assists
There is the slight added benefit of playing behind a robot who has converted half of those assists – De Bruyne laid Haaland on four times in one FA Cup rout of Luton in February – but the Belgian has also set up Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol twice in 2024, as well as Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Oscar Bobb, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku just the once.
And this is De Bruyne pretty much slowing down due to age, injury and being perennially internationally grumpy.