Best defensive midfielders in Serie A

The highest-potential defensive midfielders in Serie A, ranked on Field Insider.

At a glance

L. da Cunha of Como is the standout for raw talent across defensive midfielders in Serie A, with a Field Insider Rating of 87.9, and S. McTominay has been the form player this season, grading 65.6.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: R. Malinovskyi has improved his Season rating most, up +42.6 on last season, while E. İlkhan's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +26.6 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, W. McKennie of Juventus is the most valuable name in this group at 56.6.

R. Malinovskyi+42.6SsN

50 players · ranked by best potentialCustomise →

#	Player	Team	Age	Season	Rating
1	L. da Cunha Defensive midfielder	Como	25	5441.9%	8810.8%
2	M. Perrone Defensive midfielder	Como	23	4881.4%	889.2%
3	M. Koné Defensive midfielder	AS Roma	25	4741.7%	875.7%
4	A. Atta Defensive midfielder	Udinese	23	50277.9%	8618.1%
5	K. Thuram Defensive midfielder	Juventus	25	453.4%	853%
6	N. Pisilli Defensive midfielder	AS Roma	21	3040.7%	844.2%
7	N. Zalewski Defensive midfielder	Atalanta	24	35120.9%	795.5%
8	C. Casadei Defensive midfielder	Torino	23	37170.8%	7910.5%
9	A. Cambiaso Defensive midfielder	Juventus	26	497.2%	785.5%
10	M. Ellertsson Defensive midfielder	Genoa	24	305.4%	783.5%
11	M. Frendrup Defensive midfielder	Genoa	25	4113.9%	785.2%
12	M. Prati Defensive midfielder	Cagliari	22	30540.4%	7714.1%
13	L. Miller Defensive midfielder	Udinese	19	1667.1%	7746.6%
14	D. Rensch Defensive midfielder	AS Roma	23	2714.6%	7715%
15	Miguel Gutiérrez Defensive midfielder	Napoli	24	24±0%	776.9%
16	G. Gineitis Defensive midfielder	Torino	22	259.9%	763.1%
17	W. McKennie Defensive midfielder	Juventus	27	5550.5%	757.1%
18	A. Jashari Defensive midfielder	AC Milan	23	1266.8%	7424.7%
19	N. El Aynaoui Defensive midfielder	AS Roma	25	2431.4%	734.6%
20	E. İlkhan Defensive midfielder	Torino	22	2048.9%	7357.2%
21	O. Ngom Defensive midfielder	Lecce	22	1728.9%	7319.4%
22	C. Ordoñez Defensive midfielder	Parma	21	1657.5%	7212.9%
23	Y. Musah Defensive midfielder	Atalanta	23	947.2%	7110.5%
24	H. Nicolussi Defensive midfielder	Parma	26	3448.6%	7014.5%
25	M. Pedersen Defensive midfielder	Torino	26	2572%	683.6%
26	P. Masini Defensive midfielder	Genoa	25	2510%	676.8%
27	R. Bellanova Defensive midfielder	Atalanta	26	1766.3%	6723.4%
28	Éderson Defensive midfielder	Atalanta	27	4012.1%	6622.8%
29	D. Oyegoke Defensive midfielder	Hellas Verona	23	850.6%	6545.8%
30	D. Bradarić Defensive midfielder	Hellas Verona	26	197.7%	6511.4%
31	J. Zemura Defensive midfielder	Udinese	26	206.9%	6511.8%
32	E. Holm Defensive midfielder	Bologna	26	3158.1%	647.5%
33	M. Locatelli Defensive midfielder	Juventus	28	5012.8%	6415.3%
34	A. Bernede Defensive midfielder	Hellas Verona	27	40304.1%	623.3%
35	S. McTominay Defensive midfielder	Napoli	29	6619.9%	6119.4%
36	C. Niasse Defensive midfielder	Hellas Verona	26	1574.1%	5811.5%
37	Z. Çelik Defensive midfielder	AS Roma	29	3923.2%	5712.1%
38	T. Koopmeiners Defensive midfielder	Juventus	28	1557.7%	5626.2%
39	M. Marin Defensive midfielder	Pisa	27	1845%	5513.3%
40	N. Moro Defensive midfielder	Bologna	28	214.5%	5416.2%
41	I. Touré Defensive midfielder	Pisa	28	2639.4%	5413.5%
42	Aarón Martín Defensive midfielder	Genoa	29	3715.9%	5128.7%
43	Y. Ramadani Defensive midfielder	Lecce	30	3938.4%	495.4%
44	S. Serdar Defensive midfielder	Hellas Verona	29	3858.6%	4915.5%
45	B. Cristante Defensive midfielder	AS Roma	31	411.5%	4711.4%
46	S. Lobotka Defensive midfielder	Napoli	31	2910%	4618.6%
47	V. Lazaro Defensive midfielder	Torino	30	2815.8%	4426.2%
48	M. Pašalić Defensive midfielder	Atalanta	31	36±0%	4125%
49	M. Politano Defensive midfielder	Napoli	32	3523.1%	3923.8%
50	K. Ehizibue Defensive midfielder	Udinese	31	2524.9%	3729.2%