In the modern game, the midfield roles have become much more defined. CDM’s these days can be employed as the destroyer, regista or the volante. The destroyer is a player with good reading of the game but no or little technical ability and is basically used to cut down the counter attacks, The regista, is a deep lying playmaker. And the volante is a player with technical ability who can orchestrate the midfield. There’s no doubt that the CDM role has grown in stature since the turn of the century. Look how highly Vidal is rated by his club or even his country. And he has the stats to back him as well. He averages 4.9 tackles per game and with amazing passing accuracy of 87%. Solid and Dependable. He is a constant attacking threat and has shone in possession which pretty rare for a player in his position. The only one who averages more tackles per game is Lucas with 5.2.(No wonder he picks up so many cards! :P) No one else even goes close to these two apart from Lars Bender, who averages 4.4 tackles per game and come out on top with a better interception rate of 2.5. Whereas, Ilkay Gundogan makes up with a higher number of passes per game, not that his tackling stats are any bad.
The impact these players have had on their team is immense. And when we talk about defensive midfielders, how can we forget the likes of Patrick Vieira, Lothar Matthäus, Roy Keane, Rijkaard, Guardiola or even Daniele De Rossi. These are born champions and have played an intricate part in bringing success to their respective clubs. I would say there is absolutely no surprise that defensive midfielders come for around $40 million these days as they are pivotal for the success of any club.