Using Opta-powered league leaderboards, we’ve picked the standout ball carriers in the purest sense, the players completing the most successful take-ons in 2025/26 as of today.
Premier League: Mohammed Kudus (Tottenham Hotspur)
The current gold standard of “beat your man” is Mohammed Kudus.
The Premier League’s own analysis piece last month listed Kudus as the player with the most successful dribbles and attempts in Europe’s top five leagues, ahead of Kylian Mbappé, Ander Barrenetxea, and Lamine Yamal.
Zoom forward to this week, and the Opta leaderboard hosted by Diario AS has Kudus joint-top in the Premier League on 34 successful dribbles, level with Jérémy Doku (Manchester City), with Yankuba Minteh and Iliman Ndiaye next (27 each).
What makes Kudus different from other dribblers is his understanding of contact.
Kudus dribbles through contact instead of around it, with quick double touches to wrong-foot, then hips and shoulder to ride tackles.
That’s why his take-ons often break a line and hold off the recovering defender, crucial for those interested in in-play betting, as whenever he’s playing, he’s able to create spaces and chances for his teammates.
LaLiga: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
As of this week’s Opta tally, Lamine Yamal leads LaLiga with 32 successful dribbles, ahead of Barrenetxea (29) and Mbappé (28).
That’s the current, real-time picture of Spain’s best 1v1 outlet.
For scale, the teenager already built a historic platform last season, where he logged 161 successful dribbles in 2024/25, almost double the runner-up (Dodi Lukébakio, 84).
So his present lead isn’t a blip; it’s the continuation of a trend that started last year.
The main difference in Yamal’s prowess as a dribbler is all in the hips and the pause.
He’ll decelerate into a defender, sell the body feint, and explode off the outside of the boot; that’s the reason the high raw volume without needing endless stepovers.
Bundesliga: Yan Diomandé (RB Leipzig)
Another teenager is the current dribble leader in Germany.
Yan Diomandé sits atop with 29 successful dribbles in this year’s Bundesliga Opta ranking.
The chasing pack includes Antonio Nusa and Bazoumana Touré.
The eye test is matching the numbers. In Leipzig’s 3-1 victory over Stuttgart last week, Diomandé was decisive in both chance creation and scoring, part of a burst of form that has pushed Leipzig up the table.
First step and repeat acceleration are his signature moves.
Diomandé doesn’t just win the first duel, he strings two or three micro-dribbles in the same carry, which is why Leipzig also leads the team charts for successful dribbles.
Serie A: Alexis Saelemaekers (Milan)
Italy is a two-horse race for now.
The Opta leaderboard has Alexis Saelemaekers from AC Milan and Arthur Atta (Udinese) joint-first on 30 successful dribbles.
We’ll plant the flag with Saelemaekers given his role profile, with higher-line touches against set blocks and more game-state pressure, though it’s a genuine shared lead at the time of writing.
Saelemaekers doesn’t have something that differentiates him from the typical dribblers.
However, a player like him is crucial in Serie A, where low-block density is high, so wide 1v1s that force double teams are gold, as they open chances in the middle of the attack.
Ligue 1: Yann Gboho (Toulouse)
The French rankings are Ligue 1 at its finest: a blend of star clubs and breakout profiles.
At the top right now is Yann Gboho (Toulouse) with 29 successful dribbles, ahead of Matthis Ablien (Nantes, 24). That’s completed dribbles, not just attempts.
Looking at the per-90-minute stats, it’s important to note two more names: Lass Coulibaly.
The winger from Auxerre FC has only played 200 minutes across nine matches, but he’s among the most efficient dribblers of the league, with 4.5 successful dribbles per 90 minutes and a 71.4% rate.
Gboho loves the half-space receive, then attacks the full-back’s front foot.
The angle of his first touch sets up the inside-out finish or the slip to the overlapping runner.
A Quick Note On Definitions
We’ve prioritised successful take-ons (completed dribbles) as the cleanest dribbling metric across leagues.
Opta powers the leaderboards we’ve cited (hosted on the Premier League site and AS.com’s rankings pages), making them consistent enough for cross-league comparison.
