| 1 |  N'Golo Kante | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Mali | Al-Ittihad Club | 1991 | €5.0m |
| 2 |  Marten de Roon | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands | Atalanta BC | 1991 | €5.0m |
| 3 |  Nemanja Gudelj | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Serbia Netherlands | Sevilla FC | 1991 | €3.0m |
| 4 |  Thiago Mendes | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama | 1992 | €3.0m |
| 5 |  Gustavo Cuéllar | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Colombia | Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense | 1992 | €2.5m |
| 6 |  Allan | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil Portugal | Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas | 1991 | €2.0m |
| 7 |  Marcelo Brozović | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Croatia | Al-Nassr FC | 1992 | €10.0m |
| 8 |  Casemiro | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil Spain | Manchester United | 1992 | €10.0m |
| 9 |  Nampalys Mendy | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Senegal France | Watford FC | 1992 | €1.8m |
| 10 |  Mohamed Elneny | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Egypt | Al-Jazira Club | 1992 | €1.8m |
| 11 |  Granit Xhaka | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Switzerland | Sunderland AFC | 1992 | €12.0m |
| 12 |  Pierre Lees-Melou | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France | Paris FC | 1993 | €6.0m |
| 13 |  Callum McGregor | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Scotland | Celtic FC | 1993 | €5.0m |
| 14 |  Benjamin André | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France | LOSC Lille | 1990 | €5.0m |
| 15 |  Geoffrey Kondogbia | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Central African Republic France | Olympique Marseille | 1993 | €7.0m |
| 16 |  Mario Lemina | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Gabon France | Galatasaray | 1993 | €7.5m |
| 17 |  Wilmar Barrios | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Colombia | Zenit St. Petersburg | 1993 | €8.0m |
| 18 |  Wataru Endo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Japan | Liverpool FC | 1993 | €8.0m |
| 19 |  Jordan Henderson | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | England | Brentford FC | 1990 | €2.5m |
| 20 |  Mikel Vesga | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | Athletic Bilbao | 1993 | €2.5m |
| 21 |  Laurent Abergel | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France | FC Lorient | 1993 | €2.5m |
| 22 |  Jens Jönsson | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Denmark | AEK Athens | 1993 | €1.8m |
| 23 |  Mats Rits | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Belgium | RSC Anderlecht | 1993 | €1.8m |
| 24 |  Thomas Partey | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Ghana | Villarreal CF | 1993 | €14.0m |
| 25 |  Fabinho | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Al-Ittihad Club | 1993 | €15.0m |
| 26 |  Nabil Bentaleb | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Algeria France | LOSC Lille | 1994 | €6.0m |
| 27 |  Leandro Paredes | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | CA Boca Juniors | 1994 | €5.0m |
| 28 |  Gregore | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Al-Rayyan SC | 1994 | €5.0m |
| 29 |  Erick Pulgar | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Chile | CR Flamengo | 1994 | €5.0m |
| 30 |  Kaan Ayhan | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Türkiye Germany | Galatasaray | 1994 | €4.0m |