The summer transfer window will run for 10 weeks from July 27 and close at 11pm on October 5. Follow all the news and analysis on Sky Sports News and across Sky Sports' digital platforms.
Wednesday 5 May 2021 16:12, UK
Which players shone brightest in the Premier League, Championship, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 this season? Here's what the Sky Sports Power Rankings say...
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has topped the Premier League Power Rankings this season to claim his crown as king of the stats.
The Belgium international was involved in a league-high 33 goals during the extended campaign and produced a string of breathtaking performances, creating 20 assists to equal Thierry Henry's 17-year league record.
A Liverpool quartet rallied in the Belgian's wake, with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold top of the chasing pack in runner-up spot, having completed a league-high 81 crosses and notched 13 assists.
Sadio Mane (No 3) and Mohamed Salah (No 5) were among the elite with 37 goals combined, split by captain Virgil van Dijk (No 4) - who topped the Premier League with 2,903 completed passes.
Andy Robertson (No 9) also got in on the action with a top-10 finish after another stellar campaign at left-back, finishing with 12 assists - just one shy of fellow full-back Alexander-Arnold, who also takes set-pieces.
Outside of the top two clubs, Southampton striker Danny Ings (No 6) is the league's most form player with a career-high 22 goals to help the Saints stave off their relegation battle and shore up 11th spot.
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling (No 8) soared into the top 10 on the final day after extending his season tally to 20 during the 5-0 win over Norwich at the Etihad.
Meanwhile, Burnley centre-back James Tarkowski (No 7) boosted his chances of an England recall with a solid campaign, while Raul Jimenez (No 10) finished among the elite - ahead of fellow Wolves forward Adama Traore (No 17).
In terms of each club's top performer, Jack Grealish proved to be Villa's talisman in their successful bid to avoid the drop, while Lewis Dunk proved defensive solidity was key at Brighton.
In total, 11 of the 20 top players at respective clubs were English, with midfield maestros Grealish, James Maddison, Declan Rice and Jonjo Shelvey among the contenders vying for selection in Gareth Southgate's squad.
The top performance this season was Michail Antonio's four-goal haul for West Ham against the Canaries earlier this month - a catalytic result in the Hammers' battle to avoid the drop.
It may come as no surprise that the next four players represent goalscoring juggernauts Manchester City: Sergio Aguero (vs Aston Villa, January), Kevin De Bruyne (vs Norwich on the final day), Raheem Sterling (vs Brighton, July) and Bernardo Silva (vs Watford, September).
The table below ranks all 10,602 performances this season (excluding any 'pointless' run-outs) and - to save you scrolling through 1,061 pages - David Luiz's 'disasterclass' cameo for Arsenal against City in June ranks as the worst performance by an outfield player this term.
Brentford missed out on automatic promotion on the final day and lost 1-0 at Swansea in the semi-final first leg play-off after Rico Henry was dismissed in the 66th minute, but the Bees have two table-toppers among their ranks.
According to the rankings, Said Benrahma was the most form player this season, shortly followed by prolific centre forward Ollie Watkins, who finished on 25 goals - just one shy of the league's top scorer, Aleksander Mitrovic (No 6).
QPR prospect Eberechi Eze (No 3) topped the chart for much of the season and has reportedly attracted interest from Premier League clubs, while Matheus Pereira (No 4) shone for promoted West Brom down the wing.
It was the Lionel Messi show once again in Spain. Real Madrid may have edged Barcelona for the league title, but the Argenine's dominance and sheer brilliance is epitomised by his 42,871-point lead over runner-up Karim Benzema.
To put that into perspective, Messi's form was 66 per cent above his closest rival, and it was a similar tale last season. With 25 goals and 21 assists in La Liga this term, the 33-year-old shows no signs of slowing.
For many, one player is missing from the table above: Cristiano Ronaldo. But the former Real forward is still topping the charts in Italy, finishing in pole position as the league's top player and winning the Scudetto to boot.
Lazio trio Ciro Immobile, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto followed suit, split by Atalanta's Alejandro Gomez, while former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku landed No 6 spot after his 23 goals powered Inter Milan's title tilt.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski topped the pack after scoring a league-high 34 goals, but Chelsea fans will take keen interest in new signing Timo Werner in runner-up spot and transfer target Kai Havertz at No 10.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are chasing Borussia Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho (No 3), who topped the Bundesliga form chart last season and shone once again this term with his electric pace and silky skills.
We finish the Europe wrap in Ligue 1, where the league was curtailed after the pandemic outbreak - one of the few things that could stop Kylian Mbappe in his tracks.
The Paris Saint-Germain winger was bursting clear atop the form chart with a league-topping 18 goals, with fellow PSG midfielder Angel Di Maria and former West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet in pursuit.
The summer transfer window will run for 10 weeks from July 27 and close at 11pm on October 5. A domestic-only window for trades between the Premier League and EFL then runs from October 5 and closes on Friday October 16 at 5pm. Follow all the news and analysis on Sky Sports News and across Sky Sports' digital platforms.
