Goal 50: Alisson Becker & Leroy Sané
Goal 50 counts down the world’s 50 best football players of 2018. I created the illustrations for Alisson Becker of Liverpool FC & Leroy Sané of Manchester City
After spending the entirety of his first season at the Stadio Olimpico as Wojciech Szczesny’s understudy, Alisson proved why he had still managed to hold on to the Brazil No.1 jersey with a succession of sensational performances in 2017-18.
Only Jan Oblak and Marc-Andre ter Stegen bettered his 22 clean sheets, as the 26-year-old repeatedly came to Roma’s rescue during their surprise run to the semi-finals of the Champions League, with his heroics ultimately earning him a record-breaking £67m move to Liverpool.
Germany boss Joachim Low would come to regret his shock decision to leave the temperamental but extravagantly talented Leroy Sane out of his World Cup squad, as the defending champions ended up sorely missing the winger’s pace and dribbling skills in Russia.
Sane had been one of Man City’s best players in their dominant Premier League campaign, with a whopping 15 assists and 10 goals.
