The battle to be crowned European Assists King for the 2021/22 season is well over the halfway mark now and there is a familiar face at the top of the leaderboard.
Thomas Müller has been the man to beat over recent years, impressively being named the continent’s top creative player for two straight seasons despite the Bundesliga having only 34 games rather than the 38 of many other major leagues.
Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2021-22
Müller therefore headed into this season as one of the top candidates to produce the most assists in Europe.
European Golden Shoe: 2021/22 standings and award history
The 2021/22 European Assist King award will be won by the player who provides the most assists in the top-five European leagues – the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
Lionel Messi at PSG: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2021-22
There are no coefficients or scales used for these leagues – just ranking the most goals created by each player in the top-five leagues condensed into a single table.
We will also track the players who produce the most assists in each of those five divisions individually, so stay tuned to this page for the latest standings throughout the campaign.
MOST ASSISTS IN EUROPE 2021/22
Thomas Müller leads the race to be crowned the most creative player in Europe, but Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Christopher Nkunku make up an impressive trio chasing him in the standings.
Bayern forward Müller has the most assists in Europe’s top five leagues with 16 for the Bundesliga season as he seeks a historic third straight European Assists King title.
However, the 32-year-old’s numbers have slowed dramatically at a pivotal stage of the campaign and his last league assist came back on January 15.
Sunday’s 3-0 away win over Bielefeld passed without Muller registering a goal involvement.
It was his 10th consecutive Bundesliga appearance for Bayern without getting an assist.
The experienced attacker has led the standings for much of the season and still went into the recent International break with a lead of five over his closest rivals.
But Mbappe has now cut that advantage to just one assist, while Messi and Nkunku are within three at the top.
PSG striker Mbappe has scored six goals and added four assists in his last three appearances in Ligue 1.
With 15 top-flight assists, the World Cup winner has already more than doubled his total for last season and registered the best tally of his career to date.
PSG still have six matches to play compared to four for Bayern, so at this rate Mbappe has every chance to stop Muller’s incredible run in this award, even though he did not create a goal in the win over rivals Marseille at the weekend.
Messi is still in with a chance as well after he sensationally set up three of the six PSG goals scored at Clermont Foot on April 9.
While he has struggled to score goals in France, Messi has continued his career trend of being a superb creator, with 13 Ligue 1 assists to his name this season.
In-form RB Leipzig star Christopher Nkunku joined Messi on 13 by creating a goal in the 1-0 win at Leverkusen on Sunday. He already has four assists in the month of April.
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has the most Premier League assists with 12 and he completes the top five.
There is then an impressive quintet with 11 assists: Ousmane Dembele, Mohamed Salah, Karim Benzema, Marco Reus and Benjamin Bourigeaud.
Dembele and Benzema are tied for the lead for goals created in the Primera Division, while Reus joined the group by claiming two assists as Dortmund thumped Wolfsburg 6-1 in the Bundesliga.
Barcelona winger Dembele is finding form at the right time. Since February 20, he has racked up nine assists in only eight La Liga games.
That remarkable streak included two assists in the 4-0 El Clasico victory over Real Madrid and one in the dramatic 3-2 win at Levante on April 10.
Muller’s Bayern team-mate Joshua Kimmich reached double figures last week, while Domenico Berardi (10) has the most assists in Serie A so far this season.
2021/22 European Assist Kings
Who had the most assists in previous seasons?
2020/21: Thomas Müller, Bayern (19 assists)
2019/20: Thomas Müller, Bayern (21 assists)
2018/19: Eden Hazard, Chelsea (15 assists)
2017/18: Kevin De Bruyne, Man City (16 assists)
Thomas Müller has been named the European Assists King in each of the last two seasons (2019/20 and 2020/21), as he recorded 40 assists across those campaigns in the Bundesliga.
The Bayern star finished five assists clear of joint runners-up Harry Kane and Filip Kostic last season, with 19 goals created in total.
Premier League Golden Boot: Current standings and past winners
Iago Aspas (13) had the most assists in La Liga last season, while Ruslan Malinovskiy and Memphis Depay (both 12) topped the assist charts in Serie A and Ligue 1 respectively.
Muller’s first crown came when he had 21 assists to only just beat Lionel Messi, who had 20 in La Liga 2019/20 for Barcelona. Kevin De Bruyne was another to narrowly miss out after he also set up 20 goals and topped the Premier League charts.
The award for most creative player in Europe in 2018/19 went to Eden Hazard. He had 15 assists for Chelsea, meaning he narrowly beat Jadon Sancho (14) and Ryan Fraser (14) to the award.
De Bruyne had the most assists in Europe during 2017/18. He created 16 goals for his Man City team-mates. Leroy Sane (15), Dimitri Payet (14) and Luis Alberto (14) all narrowly missed out.
What is an assist?
An assist in football is usually credited to the player who plays the final pass or cross before a goal is scored. A player may receive recognition for creating a goal by being awarded an assist even if the pass or touch they have made to set up the goalscorer is unintentional.
There can be slight differences in how assists are recorded and allocated depending on the criteria of each official competition. For example, if a player’s pass towards a goalscorer takes a deflection on its way to the intended target, an assist is often not credited. A player who wins a penalty that is then scored does not usually get an assist either.
As well as a recognised official statistic, assists are often important in fantasy football games and betting markets.