2015 draws to a close and VAVEL UK present our first ever Top 50 Players in the World.

Voted for by both editors and writers at VAVEL UK, we have produced a refined list of the best players of this year. Today, we'll reveal the 10th best player of 2015 with Number One on January 1st, New Year's Day.

Keep following to see who has made it and who hasn't. There were some lengthy discussions over who slipped into this list.

You can see the Top 41-50 here. You can see the Top 31-40 here. You can see the Top 21-30 here. You can see the Top 11-20 here. Jerome Boateng came in at number ten, here. Manuel Neuer came in at number nine, here. Sergio Aguero came in at number eight, here.

And so, for the seventh best player in the world, Kevin de Bruyne.

Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Vfl Wolfsburg/Belgium)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Vfl Wolfsburg/Belgium)

7 - Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Vfl Wolfsburg/Belgium)

Well, what a year it has been for Kevin de Bruyne.

In 2015, we saw him flourish in an ever-improving Wolfsburg side, as they stunned many critics and raised questions as to whether the Bundesliga is as one-sided as everyone assumes it to be.

How things were..

Rewind back to the winter of 2014, and, Chelsea were seemingly happy to let him go for a transfer profit - as he was increasingly frustrated by his lack of first-team opportunities, the way in which José Mourinho treated him, the whole experience wasn't a particularly nice one in west London.

So, he made the wise career choice to seek first-team football elsewhere. Wolfsburg, and the rest of Europe, watched in awe as he propelled the Germans to new heights - in doing so, unsurprisingly attracting interest elsewhere.

The story of progression

16 goals and 28 assists in all competitions, not to mention breaking a Bundesliga record [for assists] along the way, it was only fair that the talented Belgian was receiving all the plaudits he deserved.

Chelsea's decision to let him depart Stamford Bridge, for a reported sum of £18million pounds at the time, is continually looking a more and more silly agreement now.

After all, his consistency in the final third and a ruthless in-front of goal merited a big-money switch to Manchester City this past summer. An eyewatering fee of £52.5million was completed, and he's continued in the same vein as last term too.

Already a contender for signing of the season, the 24-year-old has slotted seamlessly into life in England's top flight - and with 38 international caps to his name with Belgium, he's only going to get better.

Quotes

de Bruyne's new manager, Manuel Pellegrini, has had nothing but praise for the talented midfielder since his arrival at Eastlands in late August. Despite admitting his signing was a risk, he called him "the perfect player" after his last-gasp winner against Sevilla in their Champions League group stage fixture.

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