Messi, Robben, Ben Arfa... the rest are potential pretenders if we are just isolating dribbling.
Best Dribblers in World Football
- Thread starter IrishRedDevil
- Start date
Tier 1: Messi, Hazard, Neymar, Martial, Dembele, Pogba, Isco
Tier 2: Marcelo, Douglas Costa, Saint-Maximin, Fekir, Mané, Sanchez, Brahimi, Sterling, Sané
Tier 3: Mbappe, Dybala, Iniesta, Bernardo Silva, Verratti, Coman, Modric, Asensio
Tier 2: Marcelo, Douglas Costa, Saint-Maximin, Fekir, Mané, Sanchez, Brahimi, Sterling, Sané
Tier 3: Mbappe, Dybala, Iniesta, Bernardo Silva, Verratti, Coman, Modric, Asensio
Very rough calculations, trying to take into account various methods of dribbling and doing it in different areas of the pitch/context. Really does affect the rating of someone like Robben who on the wing is a demon but out of his comfort zone isn't as stand out as say Messi who can beat players from anywhere on the pitch.
Tier 1 - Messi - Does it anywhere on the pitch, proven dribbler in big games. Best decision maker on the ball, explosive.. only thing missing is tricks/unpredictability, but he's so good without these qualities and for me tricks/unpredictability are not necessary factors in determining a great dribbler.
Tier 2 - Neymar For me he is the modern day king of the Joga Bonito, brazillian style of dribbling, with the tricks and flicks from standing starts, whilst also possessing a strong grasp of the more traditional dropping a shoulder slaloming style of dribbling. He's also comfortable in a variety of positions on the pitch when taking on players, and brings his A game against the best sides.
Tier 3 - Isco
Isco is a beastly dribbler who I didn't expect to score so highly but he is magestic on the ball and very hard to fault his dribbling. He obviously isn't as effective on the wings like the other guys on the list, but in the attacking midfield position he's a monster of a ball carrier and incredibly hard to fault on any score.
Tier 4 - Robben, Ribery, Hazard, Dembele, Mbappe.
Two of these players are still developing but already amongst the best dribblers today IMO though I've probably overrated them. Mbappe is a very good all-round dribbler, with great decision making on the ball and he is starting to pull of some big moments of skill in pressure situations, whereas his rival Dembele is just a pure dribbling maestro whose decision making and big match experience is lacking.
Ribery and Robben are legends, who due to being out and out wingers, probably suffer on the versatility front, but for their own positions, are pretty hard to fault and exceptional ball carriers. If this was just focused on pure running with the ball and effectiveness out wide, they'd leave many contenders for dust.
Tier 5 - Mane/Sanchez
Two of the leading dribbling maestros in the EPL today. Mane for me, if he plays for a bigger side and features in CL regularly can score even higher whereas for me Sanchez has probably peaked as a dribbler and will probably decline going forwards.
Iniesta has to be tier 1
Very nice post @Raees
Don't think Sanchez or Mane are better dribblers than Martial.
Hazard's change of direction is ridiculous.
Hazard's change of direction is ridiculous.
Isco's close control and dribbling ability is absolutely ridiculous. Best in the world at it along with Messi for me.
It's not about what you can do, its about what you can do on weekly basis.
Any proper footballer can dribble against cones, but can they do that against a properly world class defender?
Any proper footballer can dribble against cones, but can they do that against a properly world class defender?
Scary thing is he isn't even the best dribbler of the ball at Real madrid.
Marcelo, Modric and Kovacic are all better.
Kovacic is just ridiculous dribbling the ball at speed.
Most efficient dribbler : Messi, Isco, Iniesta, Willian, Hazard, Modric, Kovacic, Eriksen, Silva, Mata,De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva,Asensio, Griezman, Lemar, Harry Winks, Angel Gomes 
.
Most explosive dribbler: Sanchez, Zaha, Suarez, Ronaldo, Dele Alli, Son Heun Min, Bale, Mbappe, Rashford, Sterling, Nani, Sane, Salah, Douglas Costa, Robben, Bernardaschi, Mane, Reus, Aubameyang, Coman, Perisic, Antonio Valencia.
Most skillful: Neymar, Pogba, Mousa Dembele, Martial, Ousmane Dembele, Zlatan, Ozil, Marcelo.
overall, I think the best in the world at this moment, Messi.
The best ever? Messi, Pele behind him and then Maradona.
Isco however is untouchable, i think he is very close to Messi minus the scoring.
.Most explosive dribbler: Sanchez, Zaha, Suarez, Ronaldo, Dele Alli, Son Heun Min, Bale, Mbappe, Rashford, Sterling, Nani, Sane, Salah, Douglas Costa, Robben, Bernardaschi, Mane, Reus, Aubameyang, Coman, Perisic, Antonio Valencia.
Most skillful: Neymar, Pogba, Mousa Dembele, Martial, Ousmane Dembele, Zlatan, Ozil, Marcelo.
overall, I think the best in the world at this moment, Messi.
The best ever? Messi, Pele behind him and then Maradona.
Isco however is untouchable, i think he is very close to Messi minus the scoring.
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Maradona > Pele at dribbling.
Pele wasn't even the best dribbler on that Brazil side (Garrincha)
But Pele is the spirit of Ginga, he is nothing like Garrincha who is efficient but he introduces all the maddest skills in world football. Juggling over the defenders, Stepovers, you name it.
Hazard surely massively underrated on that list @Raees. He quite often plays in the hole for Chelsea, and therefore does a lot of dribbling from midfield. One only needs to watch a highlight video to see that he dribbles from central areas almost as often as he dribbles from the left. Messi 1, Hazard 2, then the rest, I'd say.
Yeah the list isn't definitive - still a work in progress. Technically Hazard would be right up there but his lack of big match prowess to date and the fact he was not great when deployed as a 10 have counted against him for me. Not enough evidence of him destroying the best sides but signs are he can do it this season. His performance against Atletico already has me thinking he can score higher.
Too lazy to make any in Detail Analysis but I agree with 2 statements:
1. Messi is on a complete other Level compared to anyone else
2. Martial is our best dribbler by quite some margin and maybe the best in the PL.
1. Messi is on a complete other Level compared to anyone else
2. Martial is our best dribbler by quite some margin and maybe the best in the PL.
Has anyone noticed the evolution in dribbling? Back in the 2000's and even the early 2010's, a lot of the dribblers employed tricks and flicks. Stepovers, elasticos were commonplace [obviously not to the same degree] among the flair players. These days, dribbling is all about close control and body feint. Players just don't bother with tricks anymore.
I feel it's down to two factors:
1) The general speed of the game has gone up, players just don't have the time to engage in step overs. They'd either go past the player using speed or control or just pass it to the nearby player and keep the game fluid.
2) Messi's influence. I honestly feel that most young players these days have Messi and his game as influence. While they still do use tricks sometimes, their dribbling has become a lot more close control oriented.
I might be way off the mark here, but this is what I noticed.
I feel it's down to two factors:
1) The general speed of the game has gone up, players just don't have the time to engage in step overs. They'd either go past the player using speed or control or just pass it to the nearby player and keep the game fluid.
2) Messi's influence. I honestly feel that most young players these days have Messi and his game as influence. While they still do use tricks sometimes, their dribbling has become a lot more close control oriented.
I might be way off the mark here, but this is what I noticed.
Players who dribbled past an opponent at least 3 times per 90 mins last season AND successfully beat their man at least 60% of the time:
Neymar, Adama Traore, Hazard, Allan Saint-Maximin, Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Bonaventura, Oscar Trejo, Alexis Sanchez, Ceballos, Mousa Dembele, Robben, Douglas Costa, Oxlade Chamberlain, Kovacic, Willian.
Neymar, Adama Traore, Hazard, Allan Saint-Maximin, Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Bonaventura, Oscar Trejo, Alexis Sanchez, Ceballos, Mousa Dembele, Robben, Douglas Costa, Oxlade Chamberlain, Kovacic, Willian.
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Meh, dribbling ability should be judged on dribbling against the press, and penetrative dribbling. If you're good at the latter you're also good at the former, if you're good at the former you might not be good at the latter. Pogba for example is great at dribbling in midfield, both against the press and in transition, but he's not a good penetrative dribbler. Isco is the same btw.
Messi and Neymar are the 2 best dribblers in the world, with Messi being the best. Nobody else combines the success rate with the effectiveness of their dribbling.
Beyond them, Hazard, Dembelé, Robben, Ribery, Douglas Costa, Cuadrado, Carrasco, Mané, Coutinho, Perotti, Alexis, Sterling, Sane, Brahimi, Fekir, Gomez, Ben Arfa....all either great at dribbling or great at using dribbling
Don't understand mentions of Dybala. Good dribbler in open space, but that's that. There's lots of players like that
Then there's guys like Martial and Di Maria who look good but actually are quite inefficient dribblers(i.e. most of their attempts fail, though Martial is improving in this regard)
Messi and Neymar are the 2 best dribblers in the world, with Messi being the best. Nobody else combines the success rate with the effectiveness of their dribbling.
Beyond them, Hazard, Dembelé, Robben, Ribery, Douglas Costa, Cuadrado, Carrasco, Mané, Coutinho, Perotti, Alexis, Sterling, Sane, Brahimi, Fekir, Gomez, Ben Arfa....all either great at dribbling or great at using dribbling
Don't understand mentions of Dybala. Good dribbler in open space, but that's that. There's lots of players like that
Then there's guys like Martial and Di Maria who look good but actually are quite inefficient dribblers(i.e. most of their attempts fail, though Martial is improving in this regard)
He certainly did so against top teams in the PL last season. (I'm leaving it at that because that's the only season I watched him extensively.) But doing it in the CL is missing in his portfolio so far, that's true.
Yup, EPL he's definitely proven even against top sides but it is CL and big international tournaments where he hasn't really done anything of note and that is a higher hurdle to overcome hence why I rated him lower. No reason why he shouldn't eventually dominate those arena's too.. very impressive against Atletico the other night, best I've seen him in europe.
Lol ok.
Martial is in the highest tier. Messi has declined somewhat, otherwise a couple years ago he would be a tier of his own. @Raees post is spot on but a shame it misses Martial.
Feels like pedigree has been omitted from a lot of these lists.
Messi and Neymar aren't only great dribblers - they've proven they can do it on stages bigger than run-of-the-mill domestic footballers, and can and will make fools of top defenders and units in games and moments when the pressure is on to deliver. 'Clutch' as the Americans call it.
I still find Hazard overrated on here. For his supposed profile, what has he actually done in the CL or for his NT? There's no doubt he's a menace in the PL, but that hasn't been a strong league in and of itself for a long time and the number of players who have shone outside it in the aforementioned categories in the last few years... Well.. It's not many, is it?
There are a few dribblers who are great at making mugs of the faceless hordes but get themselves shut out when the levels rise and they're faced with peers who can run and track their movements, feints and intentions, or, when faced with a team who have a plan in place to double or triple up on them, they get exasperated and make increasingly bad decisions.
I think @totaalvoetbal has merit with the categories as ball retention for the sake of the team is very different from penetrative or wide, pace based dribbling and it's rare that a player can do 2 from 3 let alone all 3.
When people talk about 'dribbling' it usually pertains solely to penetrative as that's the hardest and most exciting to do and is also the one that any player with excellent ability in will be on for a hard time as teams lay out specific tactical plans to stop him for a career - that too is a credential for a truly great dribbler; for the opposition to plan for him and he still goes out there and does what he wants ala Messi and Robben in particular.
Messi is easily the best penetrative dribbler on the planet. Easily. It takes an off day or a team playing astutely for 93 minutes for him to not get in.
Robben may be winding down now but how many times has he cut in from the right with seemingly the same moves at the same pace to drive into his trademark position to shoot? That's testament to how good he is at dribbling with intent.
Neymar is like a roll of the dice - compared to the other two, his success rate in big games in taking men on is up and down, but a lot of that comes down to decision making and ego rather than his ability. It's within him mature and make smarter, less individualistic conclusions with the frequency someone like him should have.
Carrasco and Fekir were names that came to mind for penetrative dribbling, but I've been beaten to it by @giorno. Fekir has nothing of repute to say he can do it at the highest levels, but his dribbling talent makes it look a certainty. Carrasco is erratic but when he's on it he's a match for any man 1on1. Not sure how he'd turn out with a profile worthy of being earmarked for specialist treatment though.
Rententative dribblers who basically negate pressing or calm a game and allow others in their team to regain composure are the most fun to watch, for me. They don't tend to hurt the opposition in terms of going through them, but they demoralize them massively and instill great confidence and allow others to orbit them and run ahead with pure belief that they won't lose the ball. Maradona, to my mind is the best dribbler of all time because he could hold the ball for his team until he was fouled, basically, allied to the ease he could go straight through a team on a penetrative run makes him peerless. He had the strength of Zidane, the nimbleness and slight of feet of Iniesta at his peak, the vision of Valderrama and an unparalleled consistency to go with it. In terms of penetrative it's he and Messi at the top of the chain.
Isco is the most fun to watch with retention and also Modric. Veratti seems to have dropped a beat from a couple of seasons ago. I'm glad Moussa Dembelele got a mention.
Of the up and comers the other Dembelele is the player who entertain me the most. I hope he realises his potential and that neither his knees or ankles give up on him. Shame Reus is a broken man now. He would've been in the conversation a couple of years ago.
Messi and Neymar aren't only great dribblers - they've proven they can do it on stages bigger than run-of-the-mill domestic footballers, and can and will make fools of top defenders and units in games and moments when the pressure is on to deliver. 'Clutch' as the Americans call it.
I still find Hazard overrated on here. For his supposed profile, what has he actually done in the CL or for his NT? There's no doubt he's a menace in the PL, but that hasn't been a strong league in and of itself for a long time and the number of players who have shone outside it in the aforementioned categories in the last few years... Well.. It's not many, is it?
There are a few dribblers who are great at making mugs of the faceless hordes but get themselves shut out when the levels rise and they're faced with peers who can run and track their movements, feints and intentions, or, when faced with a team who have a plan in place to double or triple up on them, they get exasperated and make increasingly bad decisions.
I think @totaalvoetbal has merit with the categories as ball retention for the sake of the team is very different from penetrative or wide, pace based dribbling and it's rare that a player can do 2 from 3 let alone all 3.
When people talk about 'dribbling' it usually pertains solely to penetrative as that's the hardest and most exciting to do and is also the one that any player with excellent ability in will be on for a hard time as teams lay out specific tactical plans to stop him for a career - that too is a credential for a truly great dribbler; for the opposition to plan for him and he still goes out there and does what he wants ala Messi and Robben in particular.
Messi is easily the best penetrative dribbler on the planet. Easily. It takes an off day or a team playing astutely for 93 minutes for him to not get in.
Robben may be winding down now but how many times has he cut in from the right with seemingly the same moves at the same pace to drive into his trademark position to shoot? That's testament to how good he is at dribbling with intent.
Neymar is like a roll of the dice - compared to the other two, his success rate in big games in taking men on is up and down, but a lot of that comes down to decision making and ego rather than his ability. It's within him mature and make smarter, less individualistic conclusions with the frequency someone like him should have.
Carrasco and Fekir were names that came to mind for penetrative dribbling, but I've been beaten to it by @giorno. Fekir has nothing of repute to say he can do it at the highest levels, but his dribbling talent makes it look a certainty. Carrasco is erratic but when he's on it he's a match for any man 1on1. Not sure how he'd turn out with a profile worthy of being earmarked for specialist treatment though.
Rententative dribblers who basically negate pressing or calm a game and allow others in their team to regain composure are the most fun to watch, for me. They don't tend to hurt the opposition in terms of going through them, but they demoralize them massively and instill great confidence and allow others to orbit them and run ahead with pure belief that they won't lose the ball. Maradona, to my mind is the best dribbler of all time because he could hold the ball for his team until he was fouled, basically, allied to the ease he could go straight through a team on a penetrative run makes him peerless. He had the strength of Zidane, the nimbleness and slight of feet of Iniesta at his peak, the vision of Valderrama and an unparalleled consistency to go with it. In terms of penetrative it's he and Messi at the top of the chain.
Isco is the most fun to watch with retention and also Modric. Veratti seems to have dropped a beat from a couple of seasons ago. I'm glad Moussa Dembelele got a mention.
Of the up and comers the other Dembelele is the player who entertain me the most. I hope he realises his potential and that neither his knees or ankles give up on him. Shame Reus is a broken man now. He would've been in the conversation a couple of years ago.
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Great post but my table did take into account effectiveness on the big stage.
There should he an automatic ban for putting Messi and Pogba in the same dribbling tier...
Mbappe can dribble as well along with martial.
Pogba being one of them.
Indeed. Meant to tag you but went off on a Maradona tangent and forgot.
It has gone back to the core of what dribbling is, body control, balance, subtle changes of pace and misdirection. It just simply works far better than 15 stepovers and a flipflap, Messi showcases that every time he is on the pitch. Those tricks can be useful but they have to be used sparingly and they are really not a replacement for that core dribbling ability. You see that with someone like Depay, has all those tricks but is a very average dribbler.
Never really thought that Ronaldo was a great dribbler even during probably his peak years for that at Utd. Nani was probably better at his best, Giggs easily.
In 2019 seeing Memphis Delay playing at Lyon makes coming in mind Ronaldinho in his best times. Wish him the best, if he makes it I hope to see him back at Man Utd.
How would this list look like in 2019? Robben and Ribery are out of the debate, Isco has rarely played last season, Dembele hasn't exactly lit the world on fire for Barca and Bale is apparently about to semi-retire in Asia. I also doubt many would still mention Dybala or Martial after last season. Meanwhile, we got many new and young players that could be mentioned.
I think when it comes to end result, Messi still takes it. Nowadays he dribbles not as often as he used to but he's still got the most drive towards goal in his dribblings and is the best at 'making them count', beating multiple opponents and when there's 'no space'.
With Hazard and Neymar, not much has changed. They've closen the gap to Messi a little bit but primarily because of the latter declining slightly. Cristiano has actually turned down the clock a bit, seems to have lost some muscle mass and is now probably a better dribbler than 2 years ago, though he's still nowhere near the best IMO.
A new contender is Sancho who in my book is probably the best behind the three freaks who are at the top for the last probably 6-7 years. He's still very raw and picks the wrong monents to dribble quite often, which reminds me a little bit of Neymar, but when he's at it he probably is as good as anyone. Vinicius Junior belongs in a similar category. Has shown much potential last season but not to the same extent. Also, Sterling has improved immensely and added much end product to his dribbles. Another new contender is of course Sane who could very well be the best dribbler of the EPL, currently.
And then there's also Mohammed Salah who had aMessi-esque season in 2018 and a very good one in 2019. Style-wise probably the closest to Messi as it gets. A rather odd suggestion could be Ben Arfa, who's statistically one of the best in Europe.
When it comes to isolated one on ones on the wing, the player I'd pick is probably a fit Coman. The guy has unreal acceleration and is incredibly hard to defend if you are alone, like an even better version of Douglas Costa. Mane also belings in this category.
Regarding midfield dribblers/pressing resistance, much has changed. Age has cought up with Modric a fair bit and Iniesta has retired. I'd say Modric is still the best but only closely ahead of 'new comer' Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Verratti and Thiago. Gündogan also had a fantastic season for City and looked much more like the agile and seemingly untouchable midfield genius he was in Dortmund's great CL campaign in 2013. De Jong has also shown much promise and is a future contender for the top spot. Havertz, Brandt, Ndombele, Keita, Ceballos and Foden also deserve mentions here.
When it comes to outpacing opponents, Mbappe is the legit successor to Bale. Nobody comes close to him in that regard, not even Sane or Dembele.
So my lists:
Inverted dribblers/takibg on multiple opponents/drive to goal:
Messi
Neymar
Hazard
Sancho
Sterling
Sane
Salah
Coutinho
Dybala
Isolated dribblers/one on ones
Coman
Mane
Douglas Costa
Vinicius Junior
Pace dribblers
Mbappe
Sane
Dembele
Lucas Moura
Werner
Aubameyang
Midfield dribblers/pressing resustance
Modric
Bernardo Silva
Thiago
Arthur
David Silva
Isco
Verratti
de Jong
Gündogan
I think when it comes to end result, Messi still takes it. Nowadays he dribbles not as often as he used to but he's still got the most drive towards goal in his dribblings and is the best at 'making them count', beating multiple opponents and when there's 'no space'.
With Hazard and Neymar, not much has changed. They've closen the gap to Messi a little bit but primarily because of the latter declining slightly. Cristiano has actually turned down the clock a bit, seems to have lost some muscle mass and is now probably a better dribbler than 2 years ago, though he's still nowhere near the best IMO.
A new contender is Sancho who in my book is probably the best behind the three freaks who are at the top for the last probably 6-7 years. He's still very raw and picks the wrong monents to dribble quite often, which reminds me a little bit of Neymar, but when he's at it he probably is as good as anyone. Vinicius Junior belongs in a similar category. Has shown much potential last season but not to the same extent. Also, Sterling has improved immensely and added much end product to his dribbles. Another new contender is of course Sane who could very well be the best dribbler of the EPL, currently.
And then there's also Mohammed Salah who had aMessi-esque season in 2018 and a very good one in 2019. Style-wise probably the closest to Messi as it gets. A rather odd suggestion could be Ben Arfa, who's statistically one of the best in Europe.
When it comes to isolated one on ones on the wing, the player I'd pick is probably a fit Coman. The guy has unreal acceleration and is incredibly hard to defend if you are alone, like an even better version of Douglas Costa. Mane also belings in this category.
Regarding midfield dribblers/pressing resistance, much has changed. Age has cought up with Modric a fair bit and Iniesta has retired. I'd say Modric is still the best but only closely ahead of 'new comer' Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Verratti and Thiago. Gündogan also had a fantastic season for City and looked much more like the agile and seemingly untouchable midfield genius he was in Dortmund's great CL campaign in 2013. De Jong has also shown much promise and is a future contender for the top spot. Havertz, Brandt, Ndombele, Keita, Ceballos and Foden also deserve mentions here.
When it comes to outpacing opponents, Mbappe is the legit successor to Bale. Nobody comes close to him in that regard, not even Sane or Dembele.
So my lists:
Inverted dribblers/takibg on multiple opponents/drive to goal:
Messi
Neymar
Hazard
Sancho
Sterling
Sane
Salah
Coutinho
Dybala
Isolated dribblers/one on ones
Coman
Mane
Douglas Costa
Vinicius Junior
Pace dribblers
Mbappe
Sane
Dembele
Lucas Moura
Werner
Aubameyang
Midfield dribblers/pressing resustance
Modric
Bernardo Silva
Thiago
Arthur
David Silva
Isco
Verratti
de Jong
Gündogan
What's Rashford then, a dribble the ball out of play dribbler?
The lad United have signed, Dan James, is probably as quick as Mbappe, possibly even quicker over the first ten yards. He doesn't look that great when he needs a trick to beat a man but when it's open space no one can catch him. I've not seen a player close down defenders like he does before either, the defenders just don't expect it.
Also I think Loftus Cheek (depending on how he comes back from his Achilles injury) will be one of the best dribblers through midfield. I thought he bossed it against Frankfurt in the Europa League semi final in that regard.
Martial can also pull off some crazy skill based dribbles when he's in the mood.
Wow, that's crazily fast. Do you think he'll grab a starting spot?
Yes, Martial can be great and has all the potential but right now I don't really think he ranks among the very best. However, he definitely had some incredible runs. That assist vs Germany comes to mind.
Will keep an eye on Loftus Cheek, haven't seen that much of him TBH. But I think he belongs in an even different category alongside Pogba, Naby Keita, Milinkovic Savic etc.
I think he will start because of his physical qualities. Ole wants to play a high intensity high pressing style and presses like crazy. He topped all the fitness tests in pre-season. He does lack quality and decision making though but I think he'll be a good system player. I doubt he'll ever be a world beater as such.
Yeah I agree on your take on Loftus Cheek, he fits more in that drving midfielder mould.
I haven't seen Pogba mentioned here much, incredible midfield dribbler.
No, not even close, and he's far from a great dribbler in general. He is very smart with it though, which makes him appear better than he is
It's not odd at all, Ben Arfa has always been a ridiculous dribbler. Too good at it for his own good in fact
Salah and Dybala are smart dribblers. They don't belong on that list, they're not even close
It's funny how the best at *enter any attacking ability* and the top answer is always Messi. Bar probably only heading.
He’s actually quite poor. It’s the reason why you see him 80% of the time shielding the ball with the defender sitting on his back in possession. He has fancy flicks and long strides here and there but definitely not a ‘dribbler’ that can keep himself off contact
Mbappe doesn't even come close to Ben Arfa or Saint-Maximin in dribbling numbers playing in the same league as them, definitely not worth a mention.