Gradient grades name Casseres, Bellingham and Yamal in Europe's best XI

What happened

No Premier League players were included in a best XI drawn from Europe's top five leagues for the 2026/27 season, according to a Football365 report published on 13 November 2026. The selection was based on player grades compiled by Gradient, which scores players from 0 to 100 according to how well they execute the skills most important to their position. Barcelona and Real Madrid supplied four players between them, while the lineup also featured two former Premier League players and one player on loan from Chelsea.

Report details

The highest-graded player in the exercise was Cristian Casseres Jr of Toulouse, who received 91.3 and was the only player in the top five leagues to score above 90. The Venezuelan was graded in Ligue 1's top five for passing, crossing, duels, one-on-one defending, on-ball attacking and ball control, and only six players had more than his six of an unspecified statistic. Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid was next at 89.7, with the report citing his on-ball attacking grade as the highest in La Liga and noting four goals and three assists in 11 appearances. Pedri of Barcelona also received 89.7, earning the highest midfield grade in Spain for passing and the second-highest for ball control.

In goal, the report named Filip Jorgensen of Strasbourg, who is on loan from Chelsea and was credited with the highest shot-stopping grade in France while facing the second-highest number of shots in Ligue 1. The defence comprised Monaco's Vanderson at right-back (87.5), Inter Milan's Manuel Akanji at centre-back (86.2), Dean Huijsen of Real Madrid at centre-back (86.0) and Raphael Obermair of Paderborn at left-back (81.2). The report described Akanji, a former Manchester City player, as the highest-graded defender in Europe and said his duel grade in Serie A was a major reason another former City player, John Stones, could not get into the Inter side. It said Huijsen was the highest-graded defender in La Liga and also the highest-graded for positioning, forming a centre-back partnership with Ibrahima Konate under Jose Mourinho. Obermair, a 30-year-old Philippines international, was said to have completed as many crosses as Michael Olise while creating 12 chances in eight appearances from wing-back; the report noted that the nine highest-graded full-backs in the top five leagues were all right-sided.

Further forward, Lamine Yamal of Barcelona was listed on the right wing with 86.3, level with team-mate Raphinha on 18 goal contributions, the most of any player, and was the only member of the XI in the top 10 highest-graded players in the Champions League. Marco Grull of Werder Bremen took the left-wing spot with 88.3, having recorded nine goal contributions, the same as Olise and Erling Haaland, with only Harry Kane and Antonio Nusa providing more Bundesliga assists. Igor Matanovic of Freiburg was named at centre-forward with 88.9, edging Harry Kane (88.6) with four goals and one assist for third-placed Freiburg. The report said Atletico's Kang-in Lee and Manchester United's Matheus Cunha were listed as the highest-graded centre-forwards but had not played predominantly through the middle.

The selection is a grading exercise rather than an official award, and the report did not indicate any governing body or competition confirmation. It also did not specify the full criteria behind each positional grade beyond the general description of skill execution. The absence of Premier League players was presented as a notable outcome of the exercise, while the inclusion of less familiar names such as Casseres, Obermair and Matanovic reflected the grading method rather than conventional reputation.