As we pause for the last international break of the campaign, it appears the perfect time to take stock of the season’s top performers. Here are the current assist leaders in Europe’s leading leagues this season.
Bundesliga: Leroy Sane, Alejandro Grimaldo (11)
Leroy Sane and Alejandro Grimaldo lead the Bundesliga for goals created this season, with the duo having been influential figures in the title challenges of Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.
Sane’s game has evolved from the explosive young winger who won back-to-back Premier League titles at Manchester City, with the 29-year-old now tasked with drifting more centrally to make things happen. His 11 assists are the best return of his Bundesliga career and a joint-leading total among players in Europe’s top five leagues.
Alejandro Grimaldo has matched Sane this season in an extraordinary campaign from the Leverkusen left-back. Signed from Benfica on a free transfer last summer, he has nine goals and 11 assists in 26 league appearances under compatriot Xabi Alonso at the BayArena.
✨ Alejandro Grimaldo under Xabi Alonso in the Bundesliga this season:
????️ 26 games
⚽️ 9 goals
???? 11 assists???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????. ???????? ✗ ???????? pic.twitter.com/uutmnPwbjk
— PurelyFootball ℗ (@PurelyFootball) March 25, 2024
Arguably the signing of the season across Europe, he has been a shining light in Leverkusen’s title challenge. Die Schwarzroten are 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and closing in on a first-ever German title.
Eredivisie: Luuk de Jong, Joey Veerman (11)
PSV Eindhoven are cantering towards the Eredivisie title with Peter Bosz’s side 10 points clear at the summit and unbeaten after 26 games.
Boasting the division’s two most creative players certainly helps, with PSV duo Luuk de Jong and Joey Veerman having 11 assists each during the 2023/24 campaign.
Luuk de Jong is the ???????????????? player to have registered double figures for both goals (22) and assists (11) in the Eredivisie this season. ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/Ni9vgwIoIs
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 24, 2024
De Jong has rolled back the years during a stunning season for the striker, who has 22 league goals in addition to his 11 assists. The 33-year-old has netted 31 times in all competitions, just one short of his career-best haul of 32 scored in 2011/12, 2015/16 and 2018/19.
Premier League: Ollie Watkins, Pascal Gross, Kieran Trippier (10)
The race for the Premier League’s Playmaker of the Season award is a tight one with three players tied at the top on 10 assists.
Kieran Trippier has reached double figures for assists for the first time and the Newcastle right-back will have his sights set on breaking Trent Alexander-Arnold’s single-season record for a defender (13), set in 2019/20.
Brighton’s Pascal Gross continues to be one of the most under-appreciated footballers in the division and has produced the most assists of his career to date, as has Ollie Watkins who is firing Aston Villa’ push for a top-four finish.
Ollie Watkins in the Premier League this season:
▪️ 16 goals (2nd)
▪️ 10 assists (1st)
▪️ 2,568 minutes played (most for an outfield player)???? pic.twitter.com/XcYx03sHkZ
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 19, 2024
Watkins has been directly involved in more goals than any other player in the Premier League this season, having also scored a career-best 16 goals.
La Liga: Alex Baena (9)
Alex Baena’s breakout season has seen the Villarreal winger earn international honours, with the 22-year-old marking his debut for Spain with a goal against Cyprus in September.
Baena has been the most creative player in La Liga this season with nine assists for The Yellow Submarine, helping keep alive the club’s hopes of European qualification after a challenging start to the campaign. He also provided three assists during Villarreal’s run to the Europa League’s last 16.
This man Alex Baena is probably the best young midfielder in La Liga this season. What a talent, he can literally do it all. ????????????
His season is going too under the radar for my liking. ???? pic.twitter.com/ZRJjVpTew5
— LaLigaExtra (@LaLigaExtra) March 10, 2024
Serie A: Olivier Giroud (8)
Olivier Giroud continues to age like a fine wine in Milan.
The 37-year-old has 12 goals and a league-leading eight assists for AC Milan in 2023/24, keeping the club ahead of a tightly-contested chasing pack in the race for Champions League football.
France’s record goalscorer has continued to influence games well into the twilight of his career, averaging a goal involvement every 92.6 minutes in Serie A this season. He is out of contract at the end of the current campaign with MLS side Los Angeles FC interested in signing the striker.
.@_OlivierGiroud_ leads Serie A in assists this season with 8.
[via @SerieA] pic.twitter.com/Pu7ab2h0Cr
— MilanData???? (@acmilandata) March 23, 2024
Ligue 1: Ousmane Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (7)
Another former Arsenal and Chelsea forward thriving in the latter stage of his career, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has rediscovered his form since signing for Marseille last summer.
The 34-year-old has been a brilliant addition for Les Olympiens, scoring 23 goals in all competitions and providing nine assists.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has 23 goals and 9 assists in 38 games for Marseille this season.
He is the current UEFA Europa League Top Scorer with 9 goals and 2 assists in 9 games.
He is 34 years old.
He only had 3 goals and 1 assist in 21 games for Chelsea last season. pic.twitter.com/ZhoJOgr6GX
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) March 17, 2024
His seven in Ligue 1 are a joint-leading total, alongside Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele.
The Frenchman has struggled to find the net since arriving from Barcelona in the summer but has been a regular source of ammunition for Kylian Mbappe and company in Luis Enrique’s forward line.
Read – Picking the best over-30 team in the Premier League
See more – Ranking the five best centre-backs in the world right now