Ranking of the best Muslim players of the season

Playing in the Premier League is not the same as playing in the Qatar Stars League. Nor is it the same to play for the current Champions League champions, Chelsea FC, as it is to play for Real Betis CF in the Spanish league, with all due respect to the Andalusian club who have had a great season this year.

We have also taken into account the economic valuation that some publications attribute to them according to the market.

I insist, every fan has their own tastes and also has their favourite teams, we have taken into account the market value, the league where they play, their personal results, the results of their team and national team in case they are internationals, which most of them are.

In order to draw up the ranking, we have divided the Muslim footballers into four sections. One of players with a valuation of up to 5 million euros, which is made up of some veteran players who were once in the elite, together with promising young players who may develop favourably in the future.

In this section we are not going to number them so as not to offend those who in our opinion would occupy the last positions.

Several players, due to injuries or because their careers are coming to an end, are currently without a team.
The best known is Franck Ribéry. The Frenchman finished his season with Italian side Fiorentina where he played 30 games and is currently without a team.

Another similar case is Hatem Ben Arfa who played 25 games in the French league for Girondins de Bordeaux and the Frenchman is also without a team. The Moroccan Medhi Benatia after playing for big teams like Bayern Munich or Juventus ended this year at Al-Duhail in the Qatar Stars League. He struggled to adapt, but ended up playing all the minutes. Algerian Ryad Boudebouz played very little, the last few games for Saint Etienne.

Injuries have also hampered other players such as Sofiane Feghouli at Galatasaray or Napoli's Algerian Faouzi Ghoulam.

In the Saudi Professional League, Yasser al-Shahrani and Salem al-Dawsari had a reasonably good season. As well as the Egyptian Mohamed El-Shenawy at Al-Ahly where he played 36 games.

Nabil El-Zhar at Al-Ahli SC scored ten goals in twenty games. The Moroccan, after a spell in the Qatari league, is without a team. Also in Qatar and after several years in Spain with Sevilla and Villarreal was Akram Afif. A short time, 12 games and 5 goals. But the one who scored the most goals was Abderrazak Hamdallah at Al-Nassr, who scored 17 goals in 25 games.

In Egypt they were playing: the most prominent who won the league with Olympiacos was Youssef El-Arabi. The Moroccan played 41 games, a regular starter. The also Moroccan Achraf Bencharki in Al-Zamalek scoring 13 goals had a more than acceptable performance as well as the Egyptian Ramadan Sobhi in Pyramids FC with 10 goals.

In the French league were the Moroccans Sofiane Boufal at Angers who played just 15 games and Yunis Abdelhamiden at Stade de Reims playing 33 games.

Tunisian Wahbi Khazri was not bad at the end of the season at St Etienne scoring 7 goals in 23 games.

In Germany played the Algerian Ishak Belfodil in Hoffenheim with a rather discreet performance, although better than that of his compatriot Nabil Bentaleb in Shalke 04 not called in the last games and without a team at the moment.

The Moroccan Zouhair Feddal has been a regular at Sporting Portugal playing 34 games and scoring 2 goals. The Algerian Rachid Ghezzal also had a good season with Besiktas in Turkey, playing 35 games and scoring 8 goals.

In the Qatar Stars League, Algerian Bagdad Bounedjah scored 24 goals in 27 games for Al-Sadd. Also in Qatar, Moroccan veteran Yacine Brahimi at Al-Rayyan SC scored 7 goals in 26 games. Algerian Aissa Mandi has just signed for Spanish La Liga side Villarreal after a very good season with Betis, playing 33 games and scoring 3 goals. They qualified the Andalusian team for the Europa League.

Egyptian Mahmoud Trezeguet was unlucky at Aston Villa as he had to undergo knee surgery mid-season. Still, he played 22 games and scored two goals.

Amine Harit had a good season at Schalke despite the German team's relegation from the Bundesliga. The 24-year-old Moroccan played 28 games and scored 2 goals.

The recent Moroccan national team player Munir El-Haddadi made 36 appearances for Sevilla, 6 of them in the Champions League. Without being a starter he contributed in every game when he came on, scored five goals and contributed to a creditable fourth place in La Liga and a good performance in the Champions League.

Sofyan Amrabat at Fiorentina did play a lot of games, 33 to be precise. The Moroccan had a very good season.
At Arsenal in the Premier League there is a lot of competition and this meant that the Egyptian Mohamed Elneny only played 12 games. It is very valuable to be in this team and to be called up every game.

Still in the Premier League, the Moroccan Romain Saiss played 30 games for Wolverhampton and scored 3 goals in a very stable season, being a regular for the coach, as well as the Frenchman Moussa Sissoko in Tottenham, playing 42 games. 

At this level is Chelsea's Frenchman Kurt Zouma who played 36 games, but ended up as a substitute. He played 36 games scored 5 goals and his team won the Champions League. He did not play in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final.

Also in the Premiership at West Ham, Benrahma played. The Algerian contributed to a creditable sixth place finish and his team's Europa League qualification. He played 36 matches and scored one goal.

Frenchman Benjamin Mendy at Manchester City did not have the same luck as the previous ones, but just being part of Guardiola's squad is very creditable. Still, he played 20 games and scored one goal.

At Borussia Monchengladbach, Algerian Ramy Bensebaini stood out, scoring 7 goals in 33 Bundesliga appearances. He was a regular in the line-up except for 6 matches he missed due to coronavirus.

In the Saudi Professional League plays an Algerian goalkeeper who is getting more and more valuable every day and that is why he is listed at this level. Some publications give him a value of 75 million euros. He is Raïs M'Bolhi, who was injured in January and February, but is still the best goalkeeper in the championship.

Another goalkeeper who continues to stand out every year is Sevilla FC's Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. He became a first-choice keeper and played 45 games. He became even more famous when he scored a goal in a league match. He went forward at a corner and was lucky enough to be left with the ball to take advantage of it as a striker. He did it with class and elegance.

In the French league, at Monaco we have a veteran France international, Wissam Ben Yedder. He has scored 22 goals in 41 games. Quite a feat that took him to the European Championship.

Moussa Dembélé, Frenchman of Olympique Lyon, has not had much luck this year at Atletico Madrid where he came to replace Diego Costa. Between injuries and the coronavirus, he played very little. Although he did play for Olympique Lyon.

Ismael Bennacer at Milan was unlucky with injuries, but through hard work he managed to recover and become a regular for Stefano Pioli. The Algerian scored 5 goals in 30 games he played.

Betis in Spain have been one of the revelations and one of the players who brings the most quality is the Frenchman Nabil Fekir. Fekir has played 38 games and scored five goals. Qualifying for the Europa League for his team, the season is very good.

But at this level, the two players who have stood out the most are the Moroccan Youssef En-Nesyri, who played 52 games for Sevilla FC, scoring 24 goals. A great season that has made many important teams interested in him.

And the other one is Tiémoué Bakayoko, owned by Chelsea. The Frenchman, seeing the great team in London and how difficult it was to play, decided to go to Napoli where he has had a great season. He played 44 games and scored two goals. A regular for Gennaro Gattuso

And we come to the top level. The level where the best Muslim players of this past season are.

The Moroccan Hakim Ziyech at Chelsea, despite being a great player, did not find a regular starting place at the European champions. 

He started as a regular in the Champions League, but from the quarter-finals onwards he hardly counted for Thomas Tuchel, who arrived in January. He had a couple of injuries that conditioned him. He played 39 games and scored 6 goals. In any case, he contributed to the team's fourth place finish and to winning Chelsea FC's second Champions League.

One of the big signings of the summer is Achraf Hakimi. From Inter to Paris Saint Germain. The Moroccan made 45 appearances in Seria A, scoring 7 goals. He made an important contribution to the league title. He played all but one game in the league championship. A great reinforcement for PSG who together with Sergio Ramos completes a formidable defence.

Ousmane Dembélé this year at Barcelona played more than the previous year which made him go to the European Championship. Unfortunately he got injured there. He played 44 games and scored 11 goals. Not bad, but more is expected of him.

Other French players have had a great season. In the ranking they would be very close except that one reached the semi-finals of the Champions League: Karim Benzema. This year he returned to his national team after years of not very well justified punishment. The Frenchman of Algerian descent worked hard and in a very professional manner has been rewarded.

He has been the star of Real Madrid after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and the inoperability of Hazard. He scored 30 goals and played practically all of them due to the lack of replacements in the white team. A brilliant season.

Paul Pogba at Manchester United, second in the Premier League, finalist of the Europa League and a great role in the European Championship with his national team. 42 games and six goals. This year he has performed at a high level.

But the most successful Frenchman has been N'Golo Kanté, who won the Champions League with Chelsea. The Croatian Mateo Kovacic at times during the season took the starting role away from him, but in the final stretch the Frenchman was indispensable in his duels against Real Madrid in the semi-finals and in the final against City. 

The player who in other years was the best player, this year has been surpassed perhaps because his team has not had a great season. We are talking about Mohamed Salah. He has performed at his best, scored 31 goals and played 51 games. His team, Liverpool, finished third in the Premiership. The Egyptian has played practically everything, but his team did not achieve the goals.

It is Algeria's Riyad Mahrez, who won the Premiership and reached the Champions League final with Manchester City, who seems to us to have had the best season among the Muslim players.

He played 48 games, the 90 minutes of the most important games. He was dosed in the Premier League by Guardiola when they had already won the league. He scored 14 goals. He was the unblocker of the team when the rival formations were locked in. Great season.