Creator Tier List Series: Who is Tier 3?

If you don’t know what this series is about (where have you been?), check it out here. After digging through all the data I could find, courtesy of superb data collections sites like Sofascore, FBref, and WhoScored (I recommend!!), I have been able to group the best creators in Europe’s best leagues into three tiers.

Truth be told, the research was mainly to find those in Tier 2 and Tier 3, as the Tier 1 creators are relatively obvious, and mostly unattainable for most teams looking for a top tier creator to join its ranks.

Note: This is not grouping all players, just the best of them, this means that some players will not appear in this series, because they aren’t up to Tier 3.

Some other players also won’t make it into this series because they no longer play in Europe’s top seven leagues. Lionel Messi, Neymar, Karim Benzema, and any other top creator that has left Europe’s best leagues will not feature either.

It’s important to note that this list could change over the next year, but for now, these are the rankings. I know you’re looking forward to this, so let’s RANK!

Raphinha, Right winger, Barcelona

Raphinha was playing for Leeds United just two years ago, and carried most of the creative load for the now Championship club for two years, before leaving for FC Barcelona after being linked with Chelsea.

Raphinha played an important role in Barca’s title win last season, providing the joint most assists (7), recording the highest expected assists (9.35), and creating the most big chances (17) for the Blaugrana.

This season, he has continued to contribute creatively, despite reduced playing time and the introduction of Ilkay Gundogan to the side. Raphinha has created two fewer big chances than Gundogan’s 13 and has again recorded the most assists for the club.

Raphinha has created 2.6 key passes per 90 minutes (per90) since the start of last season, and 27 big chances as of the time the data was gathered.

The Brazil international’s crossing and dribbling have made him an extra threat for his team, making him able to create from different scenarios. Unlike most creators in this series, he is as effective carrying the ball as he is passing it.

Benjamin Bourigeaud, Right winger, Stade de Rennais

Bourigeaud is the typical creative winger if there ever was one. His consistency with quality deliveries makes him one of the better creators in Europe’s top leagues. It’s not a surprise that he’s here, as he has consistently put up creation numbers better than most players and sometimes even good enough to stand alongside the best.

Playing for Stade de Rennais, or simply Rennes, he has consistently carried the chance creation load for his team with his immaculate passing and excellent crossing. Bourigeaud has averaged a 30% crossing accuracy or higher over the past three seasons while averaging more than five crosses attempted per game. That’s impressive!

The 30-year-old Frenchman has created 163 chances since the start of last season, also creating 30 big chances in that time. His creation numbers have actually dropped this season, only averaging 2.2 chances per game, compared to 2.7 from last season.

Ousmane Dembele, Right winger, Paris Saint-Germain

Dembele is Tier 3 now, but could quickly become Tier 2 soon. He is one of the better dribblers in world football, and his superb carrying skills have made him a very effective creator and all-round player.

His injuries have meant that he has often gotten less playing time than he should have. He moved from FC Barcelona to PSG last summer and has continued to show his creative prowess (when fit).

Creativity is not all about ability, it’s also about consistency and availability because you cannot be a Tier 1 creator if you hardly ever play. A team cannot depend on a player if he is often injured, and that’s mainly why Dembele is Tier 3 at the moment.

Dembele has averaged 3.3 carries into the penalty area per90 since the start of the 2022/23 season. This is ridiculously high. He has also averaged 3.1 chances created per90 in that time as well.

Toni Kroos, Central midfielder, Real Madrid

Kroos appearing in this series at all is a testament to his creative prowess despite him operating the farthest from goal on average. The German passing expert is an excellent tempo controller and a very good creator.

His sheer passing skill already makes him a threat in possession, with the ability to pick out any pass he wants if given the space, however, space is a premium at the top level, especially in La Liga, so Kroos doesn’t get as much space to hurt the opposition as he’d like.

Chance creation is difficult, but Kroos has been Real Madrid’s chief creator since the days of Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite his reduced playing time due to age, Kroos still averages 2.5 chances created per90 since the beginning of last season.

Kroos is also an excellent crosser of the ball, averaging a 30% crossing accuracy since the beginning of last season as well.

Alejandro Grimaldo, Left back, Bayer Leverkusen

Grimaldo might still have one big move left in him, though that is unlikely considering he’s turning 29 this year. Grimaldo earned a big move to the now Bundesliga champions last summer, from SL Benfica, where he showed his creativity.

The Spaniard created 22 big chances in the Liga Portugal Betclic in the league season alone, creating more than anyone else. He moved to the Bundesliga and has created 17 big chances so far in the league, en route to winning his club its first-ever Bundesliga title.

He has also created the 5th most chances in the league this season so far (76), while accumulating the most expected assists (xA) value (10.9). He also has the most assists in the Bundesliga this season (13).

One interesting thing about Grimaldo’s chance creation numbers is that he is one of the few creative fullbacks that has extremely good passing numbers while creating a large amount of chances.

The Leverkusen star averaged an 86% passing accuracy last season in Portugal, and has averaged an 87% passing accuracy so far in Germany.

He is an excellent crosser of the ball, which accounts for a majority of his chances created.

Mohamed Salah, Right winger, Liverpool

Salah, surprisingly, is not recognized for his creativity, perhaps it’s because he is known predominantly as a goal scorer. He is, however, a very good creator, as Liverpool fans — and the numbers — will tell you.

This season is the second time Salah is ranked top-2 in the league for big chances created, and in fact the Egypt international is currently leading the league in big chances created (22). This is despite being injured for more than 1.5 months this season.

You may wonder why Salah is not ranked Tier 2 or even higher with all these big chances created. Well, it’s because Salah’s big chance creation, while impressive, is not unexplainable for the position he plays and the team he plays in.

His chance creation numbers are more that of Tier 3, but don’t forget that this series covers the best creators in Europe’s best leagues, so appearing in it at all suggests you’re one of the best creators in Europe. Salah has created 2.2 chances per game so far, which is higher than the 1.7 he created per game last season.

Cole Palmer, Right winger, Chelsea

Palmer makes this list for one major reason. Through balls. The number of through passes he has completed this season, combined with his chances and big chances, is enough to get him to Tier 3.

Palmer ranks fourth for through passes completed this season (12), add to that his chances created and big chances created numbers, and it paints a picture of a player who has shown a remarkable ability to thread intricate passes through tight spaces.

He may become a Tier 2 creator in the coming years, but it’s safest to put him in this tier for now.

Alejandro Baena, Left midfielder, Villareal

The Spanish midfielder has been making his mark in the final third this season and last. He plays as a left winger in a bog-standard 4–4–2 for his club and has created an impressive 27 big chances in league football since the start of last season.

He completed the second-highest volume of through passes last season (11), and has competed the most this season in the league (13). This puts him at №1 for through passes made since the start of the 2022/23 season. He also completed the second most through passes last season despite only starting 19 games.

This season, Baena has created 2.5 chances per game so far and has already created 15 big chances, ranking second in La Liga.

At just 22 years old, Baena could well become a creative force in Europe in the coming seasons, but all things considered, it’s fair to leave him as a Tier 3 creator right now.

Angel Di Maria, Right winger, SL Benfica

Di Maria’s ranking in this series is severely impacted by his age and the league he currently plays in. Di Maria has been making his creative mark in every league he has played in for the past 10 years, and though he is now 36 years old he can still create magic in the right environment.

The World Cup winner ranked joint 5th for big chances created in the Serie A despite starting only 15 league games for Juventus last season. This season, he has torn up the Liga Portugal Betclic, creating 22 big chances so far and three chances per game.

22 big chances by one player are a lot, regardless of the league they are created in.

Vicenzo Grifo, Attacking midfielder, SC Freiburg

Grifo is a player whose creation numbers are clearly impacted by the team he plays for. Having been a mainstay in the team since 2019, Grifo has helped Freiburg move progressively up the table.

Freiburg finished 8th in the 2019/20 season, then 10th, then 6th, 5th, and now 7th so far in the Bundesliga. Grifo is approaching the back end of his career, as he is now 32 years old, but his numbers suggest they’d be more if he was in a side that controlled more of the ball.

Last season, Grifo created 10 big chances for Freiburg in the league (1st for Freiburg), and 1.7 chances per game (second highest). This season he has created 16 big chances for his club, ranking joint 4th in the Bundesliga, creating 1.8 chances per game, which is the most for Freiburg.

In addition to those, the 32-year-old Italian ranks joint third for through balls completed in the Bundesliga since the start of last season. This is ridiculously impressive for someone who plays for Freiburg.

Teji Savanier, Attacking midfielder, Montpellier

Savanier is another player whose numbers are impacted by the club he plays for. Playing for and captaining Montpellier, Savanier has been the chief creator for the Ligue 1 outfit probably throughout his Montpellier career.

His passing numbers suggest he often has to “force the issue” to create chances for his team, which is unsurprising considering the French club is 10th, and opportunities to create chances won’t come around often.

This season has been Savanier’s most prolific yet, creation-wise, having created an impressive 2.9 chances per game and 93 chances in total this season. Of those 93, 13 have been big chances, ranking second for big chances created among Ligue 1 players.

Savanier would probably create more in a better team, but we may never know considering he is 32 now and is not likely to get a move to a better team at this point in his career.

Romain Del Castillo, Right winger, Stade Brestois

Del Castillo, like Savanier, plays for a team that is not known for its volume of shot production. Del Castillo deserves a shout in this list for his role in Stade Brestois’s, or Brest’s, sitting in Champions League places so far this season.

This is because Brest (don’t laugh) finished the 2022/23 season in 14th place, but a year later, the French outfit had a chance to play Champions League football.

Del Castillo actually took the reins of chief creator from Franck Honorat, who was Brest’s starting right winger and chief creator last season.

Honorat created 15 big chances for the club in the 2022/23 league season, creating 2.7 chances per game, while Del Castillo’s creative output was almost exactly half of that, averaging 1.3 key passes per game and creating 7 big chances.

This season, with Honorat having moved to Bundesliga’s Borussia Monchengladbach, Del Castillo has come into his own, matching Honorat’s creation numbers, and in some cases even bettering them.

Del Castillo has created 2.8 chances per game this season so far, with 13 big chances to his name, ranking joint second for big chances in the league.

The Frenchman also ranks second for chances created per game in Ligue 1 this season.

Dwight McNeil, Left midfielder, Everton

McNeil’s chance creation numbers are worth mentioning, especially this season. The Everton midfielder has created 28 big chances since the start of last season. In fact, the 24-year-old Englishman has created the third most big chances in the Premier League this season, only behind Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes.

Everton is fighting relegation, which makes the former Burnley midfielder’s numbers more impressive. He’s still young, and while he’s mainly on this list for what he has done this season, he could find himself in higher tiers soon if he keeps this up.

James Maddison, Attacking midfielder, Tottenham Hotspur

Many may expect Maddison to be higher, but his numbers match that of a Tier 3 creator. Make no mistake, Maddison is good at what he does, but he has only created 10 big chances this season, though he was injured for about 10 league games.

He has averaged almost the same chances created per game (2.2) as he did last season for Leicester City (2.3), which is interesting considering Leicester was poor enough to be relegated.

Tottenham is taking at least four more shots per game than Maddison’s Leicester took, but Maddison is creating fewer shots per game than he did for Leicester.

2.3 key passes per game and 12 big chances for a relegation-battling side indicate a player with a creative streak, but he hasn’t improved on that in a better attacking side, so he stays in Tier 3.4

That’s it for Tier 3! Do you agree? Who else would you have in Tier 3? Who in Tier 3 would you have higher? Follow me on Twitter and let’s discuss it all. Or in the comments.