Van Dijk, Ramos, Maldini: The top 50 centre-backs of the 21st century

Who is the best male centre-back of the 21st century?

Is it Paolo Maldini? Many fans’ pick for the greatest defender in history who won the Champions League in three different decades and amassed over 900 appearances for AC Milan.

Is it Nemanja Vidic? The two-time Premier League Player of the Season who became a legend at Manchester United for showing so much commitment that you’d think he’d head a brick if it meant keeping a clean sheet.

Is it Fabio Cannavaro? The last centre-half to win a Ballon d’Or who captained Italy to World Cup glory and showed that size needn’t matter by dominating at Juventus and Real Madrid.

Or is it Sergio Ramos? The juggernaut who captained Los Blancos to three consecutive Champions League titles, scoring over 100 goals from defence and winning 180 senior Spain caps along the way.

It’s a tough question, there’s no denying it, but the team at Copa90 have tried their very best to answer it by running through a fascinating top 50 that they’ve uploaded to their Instagram page over the past few days.

Their choices were made based on the following criteria: the art of defending, personal and club success, personality and cult status, loyalty, stand-out moments and performances this millennium.

Other than that, the list is – of course – subjective, so be sure to join us in debating who the best centre-back of the 21st century truly is by checking out Copa90’s brilliant list and wondering what changes you’d make down below:

50. Bruno Alves

49. Gary Cahill

48. Cristian Chivu

47. Jan Vertonghen

46. Martin Demichelis

45. Aymeric Laporte

44. Miranda

43. Nicolas Otamendi

42. Dante

41. Sami Hyypiä

40. Kolo Toure

39. Toby Alderweireld

38. Luisao

37. David Luiz

36. Raúl Albiol

35. Kalidou Koulibaly

34. Jamie