Ahead of the Goal 50 announcement next week, we want to know who you think deserves to be named as the greatest midfielder in the world for their performances in 2013-14
As we build up to Monday's big Goal 50 announcement, we want to know who you think was the best midfielder of the past 12 months.If you had said 12 months ago that Philipp Lahm would be in this category, most would have laughed it off as a joke, but Pep Guardiola has turned the Bayern Munich full-back into a superb defensive midfielder, the ying to Toni Kroos' attacking yang. Bastian Schweinsteiger was forced to battle against injury for much of the campaign but his contribution to Bayern's success - and certainly to Germany's World Cup triumph - should not go unnoticed.
Steven Gerrard is another unexpected candidate for best midfielder of 2013-14 after going so close to guiding Liverpool to Premier League glory, but ultimately Manchester City's Yaya Toure prevailed in that regard with his best ever campaign. Aaron Ramsey was the brightest midfield star in England before injury curtailed his campaign, but he managed to return in time to fire Arsenal to the FA Cup.
In Spain, Koke put Xavi and Xabi Alonso in their place by marshalling Atletico Madrid to the title. Rivals Real Madrid were given some consolation in seeing Luka Modric live up to his potential by blossoming at the Santiago Bernabeu. Angel Di Maria also successfully converted into a midfielder from his previous winger role.
Serie A might not have the same prestige it once did, but it still has many of the best players in world football. Arturo Vidal continued to look like the perfect central midfielder, although Roma's Miralem Pjanic - with a more deft and intricate skillset - has gone toe-to-toe with him for talent in the last year.
And finally, who can forget how phenomenal James Rodriguez was at the World Cup? The Colombian lit up Brazil with his Golden Boot-winning performances to back up the talent he had shown in Ligue 1 during his first season at Monaco.
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