Passing is one of football’s most fundamental skills, but judging the Premier League’s best passers requires more than counting completed passes.
Centre-backs tend to record high totals because they regularly exchange possession in relatively safe areas. Creative midfielders attempt more difficult passes, meaning their completion percentages can be lower despite their greater attacking influence.
The best passers must therefore be assessed across several categories. Accuracy matters, but so do progressive passing, chance creation, long-range distribution, through-balls, assists and the ability to retain possession under pressure.
This ranking combines performances from the opening weeks of 2026/27 with evidence from the completed 2025/26 season. As the current campaign is still in its early stages, previous-season data provides a larger sample and prevents four or five matches from determining the entire order.
Statistics are correct as of September 19, 2026 and will change as the season progresses.
The Best Premier League Passers in 2026/27
Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United
Martin Ødegaard, Arsenal
Rayan Cherki, Manchester City
Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool
Declan Rice, Arsenal
Pascal Groß, Brighton & Hove Albion
Elliot Anderson, Manchester City
Cole Palmer, Chelsea
Granit Xhaka, Sunderland
James McAtee, Nottingham Forest
1. Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes remains the best candidate for the title of the Premier League’s leading passer.
The Manchester United midfielder recorded 21 assists during the 2025/26 season, comfortably the highest total in the competition. He also led the league for expected assists and finished well ahead of the field for key passes.
Those numbers demonstrate the scale of Fernandes’ creative responsibility. He is regularly asked to produce the final pass, switch the direction of an attack and move possession into dangerous areas.
Fernandes is not the safest passer in the Premier League. He frequently attempts difficult through-balls and ambitious forward deliveries, meaning he will naturally surrender possession more often than a player…
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