By now, hopefully you've already read through the latest edition of the ESPN FC 100. If you haven't, please check it out. Don't come back until you do...
... OK good. You're back -- and you're probably mad. Not, like, actually, mad, but enveloped by the brief-but-pointless, feel-it-right-in-your-chest, acute rage that only comes from reading a ranked list that wasn't developed by one devious individual, but rather by a large group of people, myself included, who threw in their votes.
None of us even agree with the list we voted on because, well, none of us voted on the exact 100 in the exact order that it appeared. Do I think Ousmane Dembele should be considered the fourth-best winger despite, you know, never consistently actually playing soccer? Do I view Julian Brandt as a top 20, let alone, top-six attacking midfielder in the world? Do I wonder if anyone else realizes if Dusan Vlahovic, a striker who doesn't do much else beyond scoring goals, scored eight non-penalty goals this year? I'll let you figure out those answers just based on my tone.
Now that the list is out, we can keep arguing about it, but we can also have some fun with it.
Two months ago, I looked at the starting lineups of all the recent Champions League finalists and analyzed how those players were acquired. So, we're gonna take that same approach and apply it to the 90 players on the ESPN 100. (There are 10 managers on the list, too.)
You want to acquire one of the best players in the world? Here's how you do it.