Yaya Toure
After winning many honours in 2009, this was the year where Yaya Toure established himself as one of the most valuable players in the world.
The giant 27-year-old defensive midfielder was offloaded by Spanish giants Barcelona, but became the highest-paid English Premier League player ever, with a weekly wage of an astonishing £221,000 at Manchester City.
He added another feather to his cap by scoring for Ivory Coast at this year's World Cup finals.
Toure left Barcelona with a second La Liga title, although he had lost his place in the midfield to Sergio Busquets.
But he bounced back in a big way, joining City for a fee of £24m in a five-year deal worth £55m overall with City coach Roberto Mancini calling Toure a "fantastic signing".
He had an automatic place in the City line-up as the club climbed into the top four in the Premier League.
While the World Cup finals were largely forgettable for Ivory Coast, Toure played every minute of his team's three matches.
As well as finding the back of the net in the Elephants' 3-0 defeat of North Korea, he set up Didier Drogba for their consolation goal in the 3-1 loss to Brazil.