Marouane Fellaini - Technical enforcer

The type of player every team needs

Fellaini is an easily recognisable player who absolutely fits into the "Barclaysman" bracket. He played for a fantastic Everton team, finishing as high as 5th place and reaching the FA Cup final. This earned him a move to Manchester United, where he won a Europa League and even played up front for one of the biggest clubs in the world. That's some career.

To be honest, I was never sure what he was good at outwith the two boxes. A dominant presence in the air, Fellaini contributed greatly both offensively and defensively. Some of his number suggest he was a better player than my "header merchant" assumption.

118 career goals from mostly midfield is very impressive. Not to mention his 13 goal contributions in the 23 games he started as a CF for Manchester United. Not many defensive midfielders ever play up front, but if you compare how effective he was to Mikel Merino today, Fellaini is way ahead. 39 of those goals were game-winning, too. Another huge contribution from a midfield enforcer.

He was also a good laugh. In the Premier League, he went for a duel every 5 minutes on average. In most jobs that gets you the sack, but his role helped take control of the midfield and break up games when need be. He won 61% of all his aerial duels and held significant leads over other midfielders in terms of headers won during his time at Manchester United.

Despite all this, he only received 3 red cards in his Premier League career. In my head that makes him a clever player, and a master of the dark arts. He would have been great for Athletico Madrid, wouldn't he?

Looking back, he had a really great career and made a sizeable impact in the Premier League and national team. How good do you think Fellaini was? Let me know in the comments!