Although most of the attention in world football goes to the goal-scorers and the playmakers who grace the highlight reels and pile up the counting statistics, more appreciation has been given to defensive midfielders in recent years.
Players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Declan Rice are going for massive transfer fees, others like Rodri and Ryan Gravenberch are winning or have been in contention for prestigious awards, and even fantasy football has increased the attention on and appreciation for the humble No. 6.
These players are often vital to the success of their teams, and there’s a reason why all the Big Six clubs in the Premier League have been pushing so hard for top defensive midfield talent.
Here are the six most important midfield anchors to their respective Premier League clubs, ranked in order. Ascribing importance is difficult and isn’t necessarily solely about the quality of the particular player, so this is more of a ranking based on how much that player means to their team, rather than a comparative analysis of which players are better or worse in a vacuum.
6. Enzo Fernandez, Chelsea
Enzo Fernandez just slides onto this list ahead of a few other standouts at the Big Six Premier League clubs, as well as young Crystal Palace phenom Adam Wharton, who will undoubtedly be one of the hottest names on the summer transfer market next year.
Although you could argue that the importance of each Chelsea defensive midfielder is split by the fact that the Blues have two great No. 6’s and even a deep bench with the likes of Dario Essugo and Andrey Santos providing quality backup, those arguments aren’t necessarily decisive ones.
Because of how Chelsea play and because of their thin and untrustworthy defense, Enzo Maresca and the Blues put a lot on the collective plates of their anchoring midfielders, Fernandez included.
Under Maresca, Enzo has slowly shed the “transfer bust” tag, which isn’t easy to do since the Blues spent more than nine figures to bring him in from Benfica. He offers a great deal in terms of his playmaking solutions from deep and technical range of passing.
Chelsea need Enzo in the build-up phases. They rely a lot on him to have strong performances, including in terms of his ability to offer end product with shots from outside the box or well-timed through balls to the forwards, whether wide or interior.
5. Ryan Gravenberch, Liverpool
Ryan Gravenberch was the best deep-lying midfielder in the 2024/25 Premier League season, which was his first. He quickly established himself as a crucial player for Liverpool after essentially rotting on the bench, so even though he was supposed to be a bargain signing for Bayern Munich a few years ago from Ajax, he ended up being an even bigger bargain at Anfield.
Liverpool ran away with the Premier League title, and Gravenberch’s ability to turn in possession, be an outlet for his teammates when building up, and eat up blades of grass without losing the ball were a huge part of that.
Importantly, the 23-year-old showed a willingness to do the dirty work defensively, and he is highly capable at reading the game despite his young age. Gravenberch is in the 95th percentile among all midfielders in interceptions, highlighting his quality defensively.
Liverpool have a stacked roster, but because they have gone so far in terms of stockpiling superstar attacking talent, that actually places even more importance on Gravenberch to be the strong, foundational base of the spine of the entire team.
4. Joao Palhinha, Tottenham
Almost by default, new Tottenham loan signing Joao Palhinha is launched into the top three of the Premier League’s most important defensive midfielders, because, without him, Spurs would be in shambles from a structural standpoint.
Tottenham had to sign Palhinha – or some other great defensive midfielder – at almost any cost this summer, and, immediately, the Portuguese international has paid dividends for Spurs.
Though the loss to Bournemouth highlighted this team’s worst tendencies in terms of organization, the early returns on the combined 5-0 aggregate victories over Burnley and Manchester City paint the picture of an improved Spurs side under manager Thomas Frank.
Palhinha is a huge part of that. He is proven in the Premier League, having been one of the elite 6’s in English football for a couple of seasons at Fulham before his ill-fated move to Bayern Munich.
The 30-year-old veteran averaged 4.2 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game with an outrageous 4.6 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game in back-to-back seasons for the Cottagers before joining the Bundesliga giants.
Those numbers show that Palhinha is one of the best pure ball-winners in the world. He is a one-man wrecking ball going back and forth the pitch, and yet he provides stability both in and out of possession, making the lives of the rest of his midfielders much easier.
3. Declan Rice, Arsenal
On paper, Declan Rice is the most talented defensive midfielder in the Premier League, and while his move to Arsenal didn’t swing the momentum of the Premier League title race fully from Manchester City to Arsenal, thanks to Liverpool, the Gunners have looked significantly better than their main title rivals of old since the start of the 2024/25 season.
Anyone who even questions Rice’s quality at this point is reeking of pure bias, as the England international displayed his individual quality on the international stage this past spring, producing an all-around masterclass against previous Champions League winners Real Madrid.
Rice is a Rolls Royce of a footballer with his calm passing, exquisite reading of the game, strong positional sense, leadership skills, and technical quality as a scorer from outside the box.
Although Arsenal brought in Mikel Merino last season and Martin Zubimendi this summer to provide Rice with two of Real Sociedad’s finest midfielders of the last five years, Rice is still the main man and the one with the quality to truly grab a game by the scruff of its neck.
2. Moises Caicedo, Chelsea
So far in the 2025/26 Premier League season, Moises Caicedo has been one of the league’s best players, and, really, save for a tricky first season at Stamford Bridge, that’s where the Chelsea and former Brighton defensive midfielder has consistently been.
If Palhinha is the best pure ball-winner in the Premier League as a tackler, then Caicedo is the all-around footballer whose main task happens to be winning possession for his team.
Caicedo and Palhinha are neck-and-neck statistically in terms of winning possession, though Caicedo has him beat so far in the 2025/26 campaign through three matches with 4.0 tackles and 2.7 interceptions per game.
There’s also the matter that even though Caicedo is only 23, he’s a more intelligent covering defender at Palhinha and even better at marking players. He sees the game at almost an innate level, and there’s a reason why some of the biggest defensive midfield legends in world football history, like ex-Chelsea man Claude Makelele, view Caicedo as a player of the highest quality on their plane.
He really is. And he offers more than defensive quality, too, as he is better as a creator than he gets credit for and is an excellent progressor of the ball, ranking among the better 6’s in the Premier League in terms of fouls won.
1. Rodri, Manchester City
Even though Caicedo is coming for Rodri’s crown and is a lot closer to the top spot than some Premier League observers would like you to think, it would be akin to malpractice to presumptuously rank anyone else above the Manchester City superstar at this point.
He won the Ballon d’Or from his position for a reason, and even if you could squabble and say that Jude Bellingham had a more impressive year but was undone by his own foolish fanbase’s fawning over Vinicius Junior, the fact that Rodri won the award above two bigger names and was even in strong contention in the first place are both major backings of his talent.
But, unfortunately for Manchester City, the most vindicating example of Rodri’s Ballon d’Or victory and prowess as a defensive midfielder – and the reason why he is the unequivocal No. 1 on this list despite the quality of the likes of Caicedo and Rice – is how woeful City were without him.
No team relies more on one player than Man City rely on Rodri, because their entire team and system falls apart without the Spanish international directing traffic from deep and setting the base of the team.
Rodri has reached a status where he is even more important to Pep Guardiola tactically than Sergio Busquets was at Barcelona, and because of his athleticism and ability to change games as a goal-scorer and creator, he might end up being the better player.
Although Rodri has been eased back into action in 2025/26 and Manchester City have looked as poor as they did last season, he is, until further notice, the biggest game-changer at the position and the saving grace for City. His health and ability to get back on form are of paramount importance to Pep’s chances.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2011. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has contributed to sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. Joe’s work has appeared in ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Sports Illustrated. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling, respectively.