Top 3 Premier League Midfielders In The Year 2016 – Featuring Chelsea’s Midfield Bulldozer

It’s a new year and it’s only normal for 2016 to be reviewed as far as the round leather game goes. The Premier League had all the surprises in 2016, from Chelsea falling apart and rising to the very top, while Leicester City rose to the very top just to fall flat in the end.

The top flight boasts of very fine footballers and most of them are regarded as the best in their positions in the world. The midfield is one of such, and after a keen look has been taken across every area of this department, these players are deemed fit to be tagged the top 3 midfielders in the Premier League for the year.

Dele Alli

Not very often do we get to see a player making a successful transition from the League One to the Premier League, but this 20-year-old did it with ease and has scored more goals than any primary midfielder (18) since arriving onto the scene.

The Tottenham youngster arrived White Hart Lane from MK Dons in the summer of 2015 and helped Spurs emerge as Leicester City’s only strongest title challengers for a larger part of the season.

Alli was rewarded for his brilliance in his debut Premier League campaign with a spot in the PFA Team of the Year and also the PFA Young player of the Year gong. The attacking midfielder also got called up to the national team and has held down a starting spot in the star-packed Three Lions squad.

2016 was definitely Alli’s breakthrough year, and he definitely beat any other player in that positions hands down. The midfield prodigy is on his way to repeating history, as he opened his 2017 account with a brace on new year’s day.

N’Golo Kante

Another player who made light of the much-talked about Premier League toughness is N’golo Kante, as the 25-year-old hit the ground running at the King Power Stadium upon arriving from Ligue 1 side Caen.

The defensive midfielder was a huge reason the Foxes stole the Premier League top prize under the watching nose of the traditional big clubs, as his presence in the middle of the pack made it hard for opponents to get easy access to his side’s backline.

Kante made a season-record of 149 tackles and earned himself a PFA Team of the Year inclusion, while also getting a call-up to the French national team. As expected, every club that mattered came for his signature when the transfer window opened last summer, and Chelsea emerged victorious in that battle, signing their new Claude Makelele for £32 million.

He has since helped them to the top of the league with his performances, making 4th most tackles (53) thus far and constantly shielding the back four with his tireless displays. There was no better defensive midfielder than Kante in the Premier League, in Europe and in the world in 2016.

Dimitri Payet

Payet caught the attention of the world with his freekicks upon arriving Upton Park from Marseille in the summer of 2015. Since his £10.7 million switch from the Ligue 1 side, no one in the top flight has struck more fears into goalies when stepping up to a free kick than the 29-year-old winger.

West Ham finished 2015-16 in 7th place, with Payet playing a crucial role, scoring 9 times and creating 116 chances in 30 appearances. While the second half of 2016 wasn’t too good for the Hammers, Payet still remained his quality self, scoring twice and creating most chances.

He remains one of the best wingers in the Premier League, and a host of clubs would hope to lure him away from West Ham this winter following a more-than-impressive campaign in 2016.