Yamal and Mbappe locked in hot battle for crown of Europe’s dribble king in 2026-27
Stars from Barcelona and Real Madrid are currently among those making up the elite of dribblers in Europe’s top five leagues so far.
Here are the 10 players who have completed the most dribbles across Europe’s five major leagues so far (Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga) this season.
Note: if two players are tied on the number of dribbles completed, we’ve listed them in order of superior success rate.
10. Carlos Puga – 13
It’s been a tough reintroduction to La Liga for Malaga, winless in their opening five matches, but they’ve (mostly) been competitive enough and Puga is already catching the eye as one to watch.
He’s completed 13 of 20 dribbles attempted, giving him one of the best success rates in this top 10.
9. Nicolas Pepe – 15
Remember him? The former £72million Arsenal man is still only 31 and has been at Villarreal for the last couple of seasons.
He’s bagged two goals in the opening seven matches of La Liga and, dribbling-wise, is ninth on this list with 15 completed.
8. Giorgi Kvernadze – 13
Kvernadze is not a name too many of you will be familiar with, but he is currently proving Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is not the only Georgian winger to be excited about.
Kvernadze plays for Serie A club Frosinone and leads the division for dribbles completed.
His tally of 13 is better than stars at Inter, Roma and Como. The fact he is doing this for little old Frosinone makes it all the more impressive.
7. David Larrubia – 16
Having come through the Malaga youth academy, Larrubia has established himself in the first team of his boyhood club. He’s the second Malaga player to feature in this top 10.
Playing on the right wing, he’s made 140 appearances for the club at the age of 24 and is now the starting choice for Juan Francisco Funes.
This season, he’s attempted 47 dribbles and completed 16 of them, giving him a pretty sketchy success rate. No player in Europe’s major leagues has registered more unsuccessful attempts.
6. Gessime Yassine – 18
Fresh from becoming the youngest Moroccan player ever to score at a World Cup, Yassine has been playing for Strasbourg.
The BlueCo-owned club have won two, drawn one and lost one in Ligue 1 so far, but Yassine has made an impressive start with two goals in his first four matches.
Dribbling-wise, he is already up to 18 completed, having played fewer games than most on this list.
5. Yan Diomande – 18
Diomande has shot into this top 10 by completing 18 dribbles for Real Madrid, despite playing just 281 minutes this season.
Madrid spent big on the winger this summer and they’ll be hoping he can continue to inject some pace and danger into their attack.
Perhaps most impressively, he’s only notched nine unsuccessful dribbles. A rate of 66% is considerably more successful than the two superstar names at the top of this list.
4. Miguel Sierra – 18
Sierra is a Sevilla youth academy product who graduated to the first team in 2025. Now, he looks to be an established member of the squad and occupies the left-wing spot for the Spanish team.
He scored in their 3-1 defeat against Atletico, but has proved particularly effective at moving the ball up the pitch.
3. Jude Bellingham – 20
The player has already spoken of how Mourinho has given him the freedom to play where he wants and so this season is looking a lot more like his first year in Spain when he scored 19 league goals.
His willingness to get forward has also been shown in his dribbling numbers, with Bellingham one of the only midfielders to make the list, having completed 20 so far.
2. Kylian Mbappe – 25
Considering he is one of the quickest but also most technically gifted players in the world, it should come as little surprise that Mbappe is second on this list.
He has started the season in excellent form, scoring a hat-trick against Real Sociedad and following that up with four more goals over his next four games.
As for the dribbles, Mbappe is second behind only Yamal, with 25 completed. His success rate was dented by Madrid’s shock 1-0 loss at Real Betis and 2-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid, but the overall picture is altogether rosier.
He was only sixth in last season’s ranking, which would suggest a change in how Mourinho wants him to play compared to how he did under Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.
1. Lamine Yamal – 30
Barcelona’s teenage wonderkid Yamal is leading the list, having completed a ridiculous 30 dribbles in his seven games so far this season.
Interestingly, Yamal has been unsuccessful in almost as many dribbles as he has successful ones, and is top by some distance for most attempted.
Yamal was top of last year’s rankings and is on track to do it again. What a player. And still somehow a teenager.
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