Nunez, Timber, Vieira: Best XI of players outside Europe’s top five leagues

It’s all too easy to keep our footballing eyes within the lens of Europe’s top five leagues, and forget that any other football outside of that exists.

Away from the continent, there are top class players plying their trade with huge teams in pursuit of silverware that many people within Europe don’t know much about. Even within Europe, there are leagues and divisions where players are excelling, while flying under the radar.

Be it Brazilian stars coming in from South America, familiar faces finding their feet once again over in Turkey, or the usual crop of mega talents emerging at Ajax, looking beyond the traditional top five leagues makes for a lot of fun.

You don’t actually have to do that much searching to find some of the top talents outside of that top five, with a good chunk of them already still within Europe. Clubs have to move quick to secure the services of these exciting talents, though, with queues often forming quickly, made up of English, German and Spanish sides all wanting in on the excitement.

GIVEMESPORT has put together the best XI of players outside of those top five leagues, and it’s a strong one.

Having been linked with a move to the Premier League in previous seasons, Cakir has stayed put in Turkey and won the country’s top prize, proving instrumental as Trabzonspor were lifted the 2021/22 Super Lig. At 26, he’s coming into the peak of his powers and is finding new levels of confidence and ability.

Mazraoui won’t be outside of Europe’s top five for much longer, with the Moroccan expected to be joining Bayern Munich ahead of the 2022/23 season. In an age where full-backs are among the most important players on the pitch, Mazraoui has proven one of the most influential, with his creative