Top 25 players with the most assists in the 21st century

Check it out here as we present the 25 players with the most assists in European football since the beginning of the 21st century.

Scoring goals win games and trophies, but what good would a striker be without a creative partner to provide assists? You could argue this player is every bit as important, if not more.

Some players have even dedicated themselves to supplying assists instead of goals. Kevin De Bruyne and Mesut Ozil, arguably two of the best playmakers of the last decade, have both stated they prefer to create. But that doesn’t always mean you have to give up the goals…

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have proven that, with the pair bagging the most assists since 2000 according to Transfermarkt. Luis Suarez hasn’t fared badly either in a solid third-place.

Footballers with the most assists since 2001

Pos	Player	Assists	Games
1	Lionel Messi	319	862
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	258	1006
3	Luis Suarez	256	713
4	Mesut Ozil	253	653
5	Angel Di Maria	235	695
6	Cesc Fabregas	234	800
7	Xavi Hernandez	230	950
8	Franck Ribery	227	649
9	Thomas Muller	224	667
10	Steffen Hofmann	201	629
11	Andrey Arshavin	201	700
12	Kevin De Bruyne	200	520
13	David Silva	200	754
14	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	196	861
15	Arjen Robben	193	703
16	Neymar	190	501
17	Thierry Henry	190	716
18	Dries Mertens	188	691
19	Dusan Tadic	185	587
20	Andres Iniesta	182	849
21	Eden Hazard	181	675
22	Wayne Rooney	179	862
23	Hulk	178	601
24	David Beckham	176	581
25	Karim Benzema	176	740

Ozil, the best assist-maker?

In terms of assists-per-game, Ozil came out on top with an average of 0.39. While De Bruyne, who is 12th on the above list, and Neymar (16th) followed close behind on 0.38.

Pos	Player	Assists-per-game
1	Mesut Ozil	0.39
2	Neymar	0.38
3	Kevin De Bruyne	0.38
4	Lionel Messi	0.37
5	Luis Suarez	0.36

Cristiano Ronaldo is the Champions League assist king