The right back has been recast in recent seasons, becoming one of football\u2019s most adaptable and influential positions. This piece profiles 25 players who illustrate how the role now blends defensive responsibility, attacking invention and positional versatility.<\/p>\n
Noussair Mazraoui provided defensive dependability and useful versatility for Manchester United during difficult spells under Ruben Amorim. Jo\u00e3o Cancelo combined extraordinary ball skills and unpredictability in possession with clear defensive limitations; his career has included spells at Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, a move to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia and an unexpected return to Barcelona in January.<\/p>\n
Nahuel Molina offers steady attacking output for Argentina and Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, bringing World Cup and Copa Am\u00e9rica experience to his club role. Diogo Dalot is defined by effort and tireless running for Manchester United since 2018, capable of being a disruptive presence when at his best.<\/p>\n
Ben White has repaid Arsenal\u2019s investment by offering flexibility at right back and centre back and improving those around him. Nordi Mukiele has quickly adapted at Sunderland after joining from Bayer Leverkusen, combining defensive solidity, adventurous possession play and long throws.<\/p>\n
Ola Aina rebuilt his career in Italy before returning to England with Nottingham Forest, where he balances attack and defence for the Tricky Trees. At Borussia Dortmund, the Norway international on set pieces said, \u201cIt\u2019s not all that difficult,\u201d reflecting a simple but effective approach to chance creation; across the first 20 games of the 2025\u201326 Bundesliga campaign he produced 11 assists.<\/p>\n
Conor Bradley rose through a loan at Bolton to Liverpool, now replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold but needing to manage injuries. Pedro Porro offers exceptional distribution for Tottenham Hotspur while remaining inconsistent defensively; Thomas Frank rated him above every other Spurs player he worked with according to The Times.<\/p>\n
Tino Livramento returned from a career-threatening knee injury to justify Newcastle\u2019s \u00a332 million signing with pace and adaptability. Zeki \u00c7elik has shifted between centre back and wingback at Roma under different managers, while Konrad Laimer transitioned from midfield to right back at Bayern Munich and helped the club win the Bundesliga in 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n
Daniel Mu\u00f1oz has become a key wingback for Crystal Palace and helped them win the FA Cup in 2024\u201325. Dani Carvajal remains one of the most decorated defenders, though his 2024\u201325 season was curtailed by an ACL tear. Marcos Llorente and Matheus Nunes show how midfield traits can flourish at right back; Guardiola said in November 2025 that \u201che can become one of the best [right backs],\u201d when discussing Nunes.<\/p>\n
Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Denzel Dumfries, Jules Kounde, Jurri\u00ebn Timber and Trent Alexander-Arnold each demonstrate different blends of attacking threat, adaptability and defensive trade-offs. After a strong debut season in Spain, one Spanish daily declared: \u201cDavid Beckham Returned to the Bernab\u00e9u.\u201d These profiles underline how the modern right back now shapes games as much with passing and movement as with tackles and marking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Twenty-five profiles that reassess the modern right back: roles, form, injuries and impact. Insights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,961,969],"tags":[1073,1081,1047],"class_list":["post-6894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-international","category-premier-league","tag-acl-injury","tag-adaptation","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}