Best available No.6s includes Arsenal target Tonali and two England World Cup snubs | OneFootball

The No.6 role is becoming more important as football teams continue to build around the position all around the world.

Some of the Premier League’s best signings in the 2025/26 season were defensive midfielders.

Martin Zubimendi joined Arsenal and helped them win the league and reach the Champions League final. Hell, until March, the Gunners were on for the quadruple.

Then you had Granit Xhaka’s move to Sunderland, which has gone down as the signing of the season, and Jordan Henderson’s move to Brentford, where the former Liverpool captain made a massive difference on and off the pitch to help the club navigate the transition from the Thomas Frank era to the Keith Andrews era.

Rodri won the Ballon d’Or in 2024, Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo cost £100million+, and so many No.6s are being viewed as the final piece of many puzzles.

It’s actually pretty debatable who is a 6 and who isn’t a 6 these days. Someone like Carlos Baleba, whose best abilities are all defensive, obviously is. Adam Wharton, who holds up defensively, is more of a deep-lying midfielder and also qualifies. And then you have Mateus Fernandes or Alex Scott, who can certainly play there, but haven’t done so as much this season.

It makes this ranking of the 10 best defensive midfielders available to sign pretty difficult to judge.

So, to avoid any problems, we are only including players whose ‘main position’ on Transfermarkt is ‘defensive midfielder’. That actually means there is no Elliot Anderson, who obviously is one. But it can’t be one rule for him and another for someone else.

Anyway…

There might not be as many on the move this summer, but there are still plenty of talented defensive midfielders who could earn big-money transfers over the next three months.

We have ranked the top 10 who are available for transfer. And if you didn’t read all of that, don’t be annoyed at Elliot Anderson’s omission, because the lad doesn’t qualify.

10) Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough)

The Championship player with the highest Transfermarkt value, Hackney is not just destined for the Premier League, but the England squad too. There is some stern competition for places in England’s midfield and there is little chance of Hackney getting in as a Championship player.

Hackney is not expected to be at Middlesbrough next season, with almost every top-flight side reportedly interested. There is even word of RB Leipzig and FC Porto wanting to prise the 23-year-old away from the Riverside.

Hackney recorded the highest average match rating on FotMob (7.64) in the 2025/26 Championship and averaged 2.3 chances created per 90 minutes, recording the second-highest total (83) in the second tier.

9) Danilo (Botafogo)

Since leaving Nottingham Forest last July, Danilo has been in top form and is in contention to start in Brazil’s midfield at the World Cup alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Casemiro, if Carlo Ancelotti decides to play with three in the middle.

If he wants a return to Europe, Danilo deserves it.

8) Casemiro (Manchester United)

It’s difficult to argue that Casemiro did not enjoy the best domestic season of every player here, but his age (33) and current weekly wage (£350,000) drop him below seven players, including four Premier League midfielders.

The five-time Champions League winner was supposedly finished going into the 2024/25 season but was one of very few impressive players under Ruben Amorim before becoming one of the best in the Premier League under Michael Carrick.

Casemiro might not be too coveted by top European clubs due to the two issues previously mentioned. He will probably end up in Saudi Arabia but, if a Champions League club can afford his wages, there’s actually a decent chance he will be worth it.

7) Morten Hjulmand (Sporting CP)

A regular fixture whenever the time comes to rank the best available defensive midfielders, Hjulmand might never get his move from Sporting. Maybe he doesn’t want it. Someone might want to ask him.

The Sporting captain is one of the best players in the Portuguese league and arguably its best midfielder. He completed 91% of his attempted passes in 2025/26 and made 58 tackles, a tally bettered by only 11 players. This guy is the whole package.

6) Carlos Baleba (Brighton)

Brighton and Cameroon midfielder Baleba has been linked with Manchester United over the last year and the Red Devils’ interest clearly had a negative impact on his performances.

Baleba’s form was poor for the vast majority of 2025/26, but the final few weeks of the season were better, which could hoodwink a club with an awful transfer record into shelling out over £80million to replace Casemiro.

United will likely aim higher than Baleba after his disappointing campaign. They can aim as high as they want, but there’s a decent chance they end up signing the Brighton man this summer. Who knows? He could end up being a hit at Old Trafford.

5) James Garner (Everton)

Everton will argue that Garner is not available and there has not been much talk of him leaving. But he is good enough to make the step up to a Champions League club and we’d be surprised if he doesn’t this summer.

Everton being rubbish is what stopped Garner from making England’s World Cup squad – David Moyes said as much – and that is quite the motivation to make the step up.

4) Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal)

Unlike Garner, former Wolves midfielder Neves will be at the World Cup with a team in contention to win the competition.

There was talk of Neves leaving in January for an incredible price in the region of £13million and it was rather surprising that he was not snapped up. Maybe, now bear with us, everything you read on the internet isn’t true.

Neves is now under contract until 2029, but that doesn’t mean he has to stay at Al-Hilal for another three years, though there is no chance the Portuguese playmaker can leave for under £20m this summer.

Four years Casemiro’s junior and on a similar wage, it’s perhaps bold that Neves is as high as fourth, but he is a class player and four years is a long time in football. That is probably the length of contract he would agree if he moves clubs this summer.

3) Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart)

From someone turning 30 next year to a player entering his prime years, 25-year-old Stuttgart playmaker Stiller is a wildcard option for clubs interested in signing a new No.6.

The German has been strongly linked with Manchester United, who need another midfielder on top of Ederson after qualifying for the Champions League.

2) Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)

Another surprise England World Cup snub, Wharton was somehow left out in favour of Jordan Henderson after an excellent season at Europa Conference League winners Palace.

Wharton is only 22 years old and the complete package for a defensive midfielder. There’s no doubt he is ready to step up and take on the role of a top club’s influential No.6.

1) Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United)

Tonali did not have his best season, but Newcastle have been a very dysfunctional team and, similar to Baleba, the idea of moving elsewhere has obviously had a negative impact on his performances.

He was the Premier League’s best midfielder not named Rodri in 2024/25 and will probably become that again (ignoring the Rodri bit) if he joins Arsenal, Manchester City or Manchester United this summer, which he very probably will.