We're just about to get to the Top 10 but first we have just one more player to highlight from this year's 'Playmaker 72'.
It's certainly been no easy task, but - just to clarify - our '72' is less a roll call of the best footballers in the EFL and more a tribute to those players who have enjoyed the most memorable seasons while racking up the most impressive stats.
Whatever the criteria, we're confident in our selections of the most outstanding players through the Championship, League One, and League Two and welcome any debate on the subject!
Up next, a creative force for Leeds United this season who may yet help take them back to the Premier League...
Georginio Rutter's season didn't end quite as brilliantly as it had been for the majority of the campaign.
The French youth international played through the pain barrier due to a hernia injury having surgery on it in March.
Since then Rutter hasn't been flying as he was previously been then neither have Leeds United as a whole in truth. It's also worth noting that despite having hernia surgery, the 22-year-old has only missed one single league game all season.
We shouldn't dwell on a young forward's inconsistency, it's par for the course. What we should do instead is celebrate what a great first full campaign the club-record signing has had for the Whites.
Georginio Rutter - Every Goal & Assist (23/24) #LUFC #EFL pic.twitter.com/iB3TebJBLw
— LUFC Reels (@LUFCReels) April 5, 2024
Rutter has been one of the key parts of the dynamic Leeds United attack under Daniel Farke. The former Hoffenheim player finished the regular Championship with 15 assists in total, only Ipswich Town's Leif Davis managed more (18).
Couple that healthy assist tally with Rutter's goal tally of six and you have 21 goals and assists in total – putting him in the top ten for direct goal involvements in the Championship.
Rutter's creation was key to Leeds' season and the numbers back it up. In total, Rutter made 31 'goal-creating actions' according to the boffins at FBref, that's joint top in the entire second tier alongside Leicester's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Looking further into the passing stats, Rutter made 85 key passes (ninth highest in the Championship) and made 28 throughballs – no one else in the division made as many.
As well as his passing, Rutter is happy to take on his defender. In fact, only Sunderland's Jack Clarke has more take-ons (148) than the Leeds man (127) in the league.
And generally, defenders struggle to have an answer which is why Rutter was the most fouled player in the league (receiving 113 fouls in total) making it all the more impressive that he missed just one league game.
"He's a pretty emotional player, a confidence player who feels it," manager Franke said when asked about Rutter's stuttering end to the season.
"It was quite normal the first games he played more or less without training and was not there with his best and this impacted his confidence.
"We tried to give him some confidence, but he's 22 a few weeks ago, for him it's the first full season in English football."
It's some wise context to add to Rutter's season which has overall been a great one that could get even better should he help Leeds through the play-offs.
12: Gabriel Sara 13: Marlon Pack
14: Macaulay Langstaff 15: Ephron Mason-Clark 16: Dan Kemp
17: Joe Taylor 18: Eiran Cashin 19: Ali Al-Hamadi 20: Jack Clarke
21: Isaac Olaofe 22: Carl Piergiani 23: Jaden Philogene 24: Alfie May
25: Will Evans 26: Jamie Reid 27: Morgan Whittaker
28: Conor Chaplin 29: George Thomason 30: Mickey Demetriou
31: Stephy Mavididi 32: Marc Leonard 33: Josh Sheehan
34: Matt Smith 35: Kwame Poku 36: Illan Meslier 37: Aden Flint
38: Ronnie Edwards 39: Josh Sargent 40: Alex Gilbey 41: Ben Sheaf
42: Jobe Bellingham 43: Devante Cole 44: Jacob Greaves 45: Paddy Lane
46: Herbie Kane 47: Dan James 48: Archie Collins 49: Karamoko Dembele
50: Haji Wright 51: Dan Crowley 52: Cameron Brannagan 53: Aaron Collins
54: Andy Cook 55: Connor Shaughnessy 56: Jannik Vestergaard
57: Willy Gnonto 58: Ellis Simms 59: Charlie Hughes 60: Fatawu Isshaku
61: Sam Hoskins 62: Paul Mullin 63: Chris Martin 64: Omari Hutchinson
65: Isaac Hutchinson 66: Sam Tickle 67: Ben Hinchcliffe 68: Michał Helik
69: Lewis Wing 70: Rob Apter 71: Kyle Walker-Peters 72: Alex Palmer
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NameGeorginio Rutter Born/Age2002-04-20(22 -yrs-old) Nationality France  Martinique PositionForward | |
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