The top performing players from the 2016-17 season have been revealed based on Spreadex’s Player Performance make-ups – and the results are perhaps not what most football fans would have expected.

The top 10 players are as follows:

1. Mesut Özil
Arsenal’s German midfielder, often criticised for his apparent lackadaisical attitude, made more attacking passes than any other player in the top flight plus weighed in with eight goals and nine assists.

2. Eden Hazard
Only Wilfried Zaha was fouled more than Chelsea’s Belgian wizard, who scored 16 goals and contributed five assists during the Blues’ title-winning season.

3. Alexis Sánchez
As well as scoring 24 goals and producing 10 assits, Arsenal’s Chilean magician also had a further 25 shots on target that were saved and hit the woodwork on seven occasions.

4. Christian Eriksen
Often left in the shadow of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, Eriksen’s eight goals, 15 assists, 37 shots on target saved and 33 shots off target saw the Dane come out as the top Spurs player in the Spreadex rankings.

5. David Silva
Man City’s twinkle-toed playmaker came second only to Özil in the number of attacking passes made plus scored four goals and created seven assists.

6. Paul Pogba
Many felt the £90m man man had a disappointing season with only five league goals and four assists, but the Frenchman also had 27 shots on target saved, 37 attempts off target and hit the woodwork six times.

7. Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne topped the assists charts with 18 and also hit the woodwork more than anyone else in the top flight last term (nine times). He also scored six league goals.

8. Granit Xhaka
Another oft-criticised Arsenal midfielder, Xhaka nevertheless ended the season with the third-highest number of attacking passes made plus two goals and two assists.

9. James Milner
Somewhat surprisingly, Milner came out as the top-rated Liverpool player despite playing at left-back. Thanks to being on penalty duties, he scored seven goals and added three assists.

10. Fernandinho
Another surprise inclusion given the Brazilian only scored twice and had one assist, the Man City midfielder came out highly for attacking passes completed.

The ratings were based on: 25 points awarded per goal scored, 10 per assist, 10 for hitting the woodwork, 5 per shot on target (which didn’t score), 5 per blocked shot in the 6 yard box, 3 per free-kick won, 2 per shot off target and 2 per attacking pass completed in the opposition half.

The full list of each club’s top five players is shown below.