<text>  His lack of goalscoring early on in his Barcelona career might have drawn some critics, but Luis Suarez is the best signing of the season in terms of chance creation - ahead even of Barclays Premier League assists king Cesc Fabregas. CIES Football Observatory have compiled the top 12 signings of the season in the top five European leagues for rigour, take-ons, recovery, chance creation, distribution and shooting - using statistics to analyse and narrow them down. And 75million summer buy Suarez comes out on top in the chance creation category ahead of two of the Premier Leagues finest, Fabregas and Swansea Citys Gylfi Sigurdsson. Luis Suarez has been the best signing in terms of chance creation this season, say CIES Football Observatory . Cesc Fabregas is in second place on the chance creation indicator despite his 15 league this season . Here are how the CIES Football Observatory Key Performance Indicators KPIs work: . Chance creation: ability to put team-mates in a good position to score. Shooting: ability to take advantage of goal opportunities through accurate shooting. Take on: ability to create dangerous situations by successfully challenging opponents. Distribution: ability to keep a hold on the game through efficient passing. Recovery: ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through proficient interception work. Rigour: ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through robust duelling. Suarez seems to finally be finding his feet at the Nou Camp, and he scored twice in the 2-1 win at Manchester City in the first leg of Barcas Champions League last-16 tie - but its his work in support of team-mates which has really impressed his manager and supporters since his summer arrival. He has scored just 10 times in all competitions in 24 games, but there is no crisis because of a love for the new Suarez the one who makes their all-star front three of him, Lionel Messi and Neymar tick. That new-found selflessness puts him ahead of Fabregas in terms of chance creation - despite the Chelsea stars 15 assists in the Premier League this season. That has obviously come at a sacrifice though, and Suarez hasnt been able to get close to the No 1 signing in the shooting category: Chelseas Diego Costa. 1. Luis Suarez . 2. Cesc Fabregas . 3. Gylfi Sigurdsson . 4. James Rodriguez . 5. Toni Kroos . Barcelona . Chelsea . Swansea . Real Madrid . Real Madrid . 1. Diego Costa . 2. Antoine Griezmann . 3. Khouma Babacar . 4. Luciano Vietto . 5. Felipe Caicedo . Chelsea . Atletico Madrid . Fiorentina . Villarreal . Eibar . Suarez has moved from a goalscorer role to that of a provider since moving to Barcelona in the summer . Diego Costa left and Fabregas right have formed a deadly combination for Chelsea since signing . Costa is tops the rankings for shooting as shown here by his fierce effort leading to a goal against Tottenham . An impressive 17 league goals put Costa top ahead of Atletico Madrids Antoine Griezmann . Top scorer in the Premier League with 17 league goals, and having played a key part in the Blues Capital One Cup triumph against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, nobody would contest that 32m Costa has settled perfectly into the Stamford Bridge set-up. Behind him is Atletico Madrids Antoine Griezmann who looked to have been signed primarily as the creative force to feed another signing, Mario Mandzukic, but instead has been showing his own goalscoring prowess in a more advanced role. Some more surprising names in that list come from Fiorentina, Villarreal and Eibar in the form of Khouma Babacar, Luciano Vietto and Felipe Caicedo respectively - with West Hams bargain buy Diafra Sakho coming in just outside the top five in seventh. Alexis Sanchez, despite his recent drought, is 12th. 1. Karim Bellarabi . 2. Angel di Maria . 3. Alexis Sanchez . 4. Diego Perotti . 5. Sadio Mane . Bayer Leverkusen . Manchester United . Arsenal . Genoa . Southampton . 1. Xabi Alonso . 2. Cesc Fabregas . 3. Toni Kroos . 4. Gary Medel . 5. Ivan Rakitic . Bayern Munich . Chelsea . Real Madrid . Inter Milan . Barcelona . Karim Bellarabi left is top for take on as he showed by going past Atleticos Guilherme Siqueira last week . Angel di Maria left has struggled to keep up his standards at Manchester United but does well for take ons Xabi Alonso might have been surplus to requirements at Real Madrid but his distribution is valued at Bayern . Fabregas passing ability has helped to bring Chelsea to the level of potential league champions this season . Another surprise name doing well in the distribution group is former Cardiff City flop Gary Medel left Jose Mourinhos summer business has been widely lauded and it is perhaps telling that Fabregas is also second in the distribution indicator, with none of Chelseas former players who moved on making it into the top 12 of any of the categories. Fabregas is only ousted in the list focused on efficient passing by Bayern Munichs Xabi Alonso, who is top ahead of his replacement at Real Madrid, Toni Kroos, in third. Inter Milans Gary Medel, who signed from relegation Cardiff City in the summer is fourth with Ivan Rakitic fifth. Players from the Premier League dominate the take on group, with Angel di Maria second, Sanchez third and Sadio Mane fifth - although all fall in the wake of Bayer Leverkusen trickster, and reported Manchester United target, Karim Bellarabi. 1. Walter Gargano . 2. Wendell . 3. Dusan Basta . 4. Jin-su Kim . 5. Davide Astori . Napoli . Bayer Leverkusen . Lazio . Hoffenheim . Roma . 1. Dejan Lovren . 2. Davide Astori . 3. Michael Keane . 4. Sergi Gomez . 5. Ermin Bicakcic . Liverpool . Roma . Burnley . Celta Vigo . Hoffenheim . Walter Gargano right looks to have been a top signing for Napoli if you trust his recovery stats . Dejan Lovren left surprisingly tops the rigour category despite a difficult first season with Liverpool . Burnleys Michael Keane left is another surprise name on that list after moving from Manchester United . While there are some surprise names on the lists, perhaps the biggest is Liverpools 20m centre back Dejan Lovren, who somehow finishes top of the rigour category for ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through robust duelling. Lovren, widely regarded as a transfer flop, finishes ahead of Romas Davide Astori - who also scored highly in the recovery category - and Burnleys Michael Keane. And Rafael Benitez seems to have done good business in signing Walter Gargano for Napoli. He tops the recovery category with only one English-based player in the top 12, Manchester Uniteds Daley Blind - in 12th place. Manchester Uniteds Daley Blind is the only top 12 player in terms of recovery from the Premier League . 