For me it is Mesut Ozil . He has been best for me every since he joined Madrid. I think moving to Arsenal slowed him down a bit at first but now he seems to find his old self . Incredible playmaker and he can become even more incredible . Always wished for him to join Chelsea . Man we would have been scary force with him in the middle .

I think it is a tight call between Mesut Ozil and David Silva. Silva is extremely underrated for how wel he plays. Ozil is almost strictly a play-maker, whereas Silva can control the entire tempo of the match and is all over the pitch. But if we're talking in terms of play-making ability, I'm going to say Mesut Ozil is the best right now.

DAVID SILVA!

Özil. I don't blame them who say Silva though - I just like Özil too much. But can everyone agree that it's between David Silva & Özil? It's also hard to say, is hamez Rodriguez a playmaker, because he can score so many goals himself too? If he is, then 3rd place would be him. Fantastic player.

David Silva... :)

David Silva for me, but Ozil if I'm looking at this season alone.

I would say Silva overall, but this year Ozil.

David Silva because he is actually consistent.

kevin de bruyne so young and so amazing, damn you mourinho!

Ozil is the Zidane and Pirlo type of player who will play on and on . He will settle well to CM in his 30s while Silva will fade away . Ozils defensive work rate is better than Silvas and he might not be as good of a dribbler like Silva due to Ozils height , but he makes up in other areas being indispensable for Arsenal or any team in the world except Madrid obviously no one is indispensable at Madrid .

If Ozil had players around him Like Aguero instead of Giroud . At MAdrid Ozil was without a doubt best Attacking Mid . It is down to individual but team is also very important . Silva plays in the monster team .

Edit :

Ozil is not consistent because Arsenal is not consistent . If Ozil had consistent teammates ofcourse he would have been more consistent .

If we're talking about "attacking" playmakers, I'd agree with all of you that it's between Silva and Özil. If we, however, consider deep lying playmakers as well, I'd give Modric, Kroos and Verratti a shout, too. I rate the latter very highly.

Messi

^ That's THE answer right there! Messi didn't leave a thing in football that he didn't conquer. If we talk about a certain position, Ozil takes the cake no doubt, however Messi's been consistent since 09. The fact of the matter is that if Messi ever playes the full-back positions, he might takeover as well. That's just me.

Well actually loose the 9 position to Ronaldo, but the 10 ? Probably 1-Messi, 2- Neymar 3- Silva/James...
I personally rate the actual Neymar higher than Silva/Ozil, we can also notice that few teams play with a true 10 in their squad usually responsability in midlefield is shared and balanced between players.

Messi is a tremendous play-maker, but not as good as he used to be in 2009-12. For some odd reason, his play-making skills have deteriorated since then. I'd still say Ozil and David Silva are better than him at play-making.

Players like Verratti, Modric, and Kroos aren't only play-makers, but they're tempo-controllers too. They're of the Zidane mold where they control the entire flow of the game - a skill that is far rarer and more difficult than play-making. David Silva and Messi also have tempo-controlling ability (notably Silva), but Ozil does not. Like @Marcus said, Ozil's play-making ability is purely individual talent - he does not make everyone around him look better but rather uses his ability to open up defenses more.

Tempo-controlling players are harder to find and are more important to a team, but they don't need to be astoundingly good at play-making - just good enough. Modric, Alonso, Verratti, Kroos, and Thiago are all among the best tempo-controllers but all fall slightly short in incisive play-making ability when compared to Ozil, Silva, Messi, and Iniesta.

As for the person who named James... James is an odd one. His play-making ability is not outstanding, and neither does he control the tempo of the game. But his sheer presence makes Madrid a much better team. I believe it is his quick releases, smart play, good positioning, and excellent decision-making that makes him such an effective player. In short: James plays more with his brain than almost all other play-makers in the world. He doesn't take risks and always chooses the most effective choice when making decisions.

David Silva is miles better than Ozil. He has been consistently one of City's best players for years. Ozil has just this season started to show some consistency, but I highly doubt he'll maintain it for long. For me though, I would have to say either Messi, De Bruyne or Iniesta.

natural playmaker:

Kevin De Bruyne

Some pplayers to take into consideration:

Miralem Pjanic
Marco Verrati
Ivan Rakitic

playmakers make us dream!
love the obvious ones
if you like check out sven kums ,the playmaker of belgian champions: aa gent
a wonderful deep lying pirlo style playmaker

Young Messi wasnt a play-maker but a false 9, he started to be influencial after Xavi-Iniesta aging, if we are talking about the number 10 position, few players only come in my mind.

@Dynastian98 good analysis! I agree with all you said. For me, tempo-controlling players are the ones that I find most impressive and most important in teams. When they play it's not always so obvious to see the impact they have on the team (compared to a striker for example), but when they don't play it's amazing how, almost all the time, their team doesn't play as well. In this category the best right now for me are Verratti and Modric.

As for best playmaker right now i would have to go with Silva who, i think, is slightly better than Ozil.

(Ps: And, obviously beeing a little biased but still... in a good day Pastore is an amazing playmaker, who i think, talent wise, is up there with the others but lacks tremendously in consistency)