When you are a young player entering the top flight of football, you have the energy to win. Without those years of grind season on season, you have miles of running in your legs. But is this enough? Youth helps but it comes with inexperience. Having endless energy is a boost but it means you have yet to learn your craft. So, when we assess the upcoming talent in football we are looking from those young players with a natural talent and a football brain. Do these players have the raw skills that will be shaped by experience to make them greats of the game?
Alphonso Davis – FC Bayern Munich
The German team has something of a reputation of spotting the best young talent and giving them the opportunity to excel. Davis is one of those stars that came to the German club to be given the opportunity to play. The 18-year-old has done well to establish himself in a talented team. With four appearances, he scored one goal from the wing.
Matthijs de Ligt – Juventus
This 20-year-old defender has had an impressive season for Juventus and shows maturity beyond his years. He is an expensive defender now, having been bought for $84.3 million by Ajax. This is a testament to the strength he will bring to the defence.
Gianluigi Donnarumma – AC Milan
Donnarumma has made 170 appearances for AC Milan and 14 for his country, Italy. For a goalkeeper, at the age of 20, this is unheard of – and demonstrates the sheer ability in this young man. As a goalkeeper, he could easily have 20 more years left in his career. You’d bet on him being the established first choice for Italy for many, many years to come.
Phil Foden – Man City
To thrive at the age of 19 in the Man City team amongst that roster of talent is phenomenal. He is an exciting midfielder with a strong instinct for where the goal is – and boy when he lets rip it hits its target. If Pep Guardiola tells you that you are the “most talented player” he has ever seen, you know that is quite the compliment – especially as he has worked with Messi!
Matteo Guendouzi – Arsenal
The belief is that Guendouzi could replace Viera, a position that Arsenal has been desperate to fill for over a decade. He has big boots to fill, though he has already become a regular in the team. He seems to be essential to Emery’s vision of how Arsenal should play.
Erling Braut Haland – Red Bull Salzburg
He is the son of Man City Defender Haland. The son has made a massive impact at Salzburg, scoring 17 goals in 10 games including 4 hat tricks – this is some record for a 19-year-old. It will be interesting to see how he can improve this next season.
Kai Havertz – Bayer Leverkusen
Under the pressure of the title as the German nation’s next big thing, he has already been said to be world-class. Let’s hope that Havertz can continue to enjoy his game under this sort of scrutiny.
Joao Felix – Atletico Madrid
So, he was bought for $137 million by Atletico Madrid from Benfica. So, you know, he is a pretty good striker all-in-all. He is tipped to be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo – replacing the star as the next cornerstone player of the Portuguese side. At the age of 19 – wow – this is a high price and a big title.
Dejan Joveljic – Eintracht Frankfurt
This young player is hoping for a transfer to Real Madrid, where he will hope to replace Luka Jovic. This is a lot of help for a 20-year-old. But he did score 14 times for Red Star Belgrade last season – so not a bad record.
Moise Kean – Everton
Juventus lost Kean to Everton in the summer of 2019 after he signed for the Liverpool team. He was bought for $32.8 – as he scored 7 times in 17 appearances – those goals are expensive. However, Everton is hoping the 19-year-old will continue to blossom and be their star striker into the future.
Lee Kang-in – Valencia
Lee Jang-in won the Golden Ball as the best player at the recent U20 World Cup. Is there anything else needing to be said about this talented 18-year-old winger.
Andriy Lunin – Real Valladolid
This 20-year-old goalkeeper was a star of the U20 World Cup. He was awarded the Golden Glove and proved himself to be quite the shot-stopper. He kept three clean three sheets and was key to Ukraine winning the whole competition. A high-quality, young goalkeeper is a prized possession for any team – so he has a bright future.
Donyell Malen – PSV Eindhoven
Malen scored 11 goals for his club and his country from the wing. He managed to score five of these goals in a single game. The victims? SBV Vitesse.
Mason Mount – Chelsea FC
Mount has the perfect mentor in his manager Frank Lampard – who else would you want to coach you to become the complete midfielder. He is a genuine superstar and part of an English youth system that offers much for the future of the national game.
