There have always been lists of young players who seem to have the potential to play football at an elite level, some come to fruition, some fail to reach their potential and some are still yet to be decided. If you haven’t heard of Karamoko Dembele, you will soon. At 13 years old he made
The Gladbach captain made his 2016 debut for Die Fohlen vs Hamburg after serving a three-match ban for a red card given in Gladbach’s final game of the Hinrunde vs Darmstadt. In the lead up to this match, much of the discussion regarding Granit Xhaka revolved around not only this much anticipated start but also
Premier League leaders Leicester City along with other clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid are said to be watching French winger Ousmane Dembele. The player has been tipped to be the next big talent to emerge from France. The 18-year old joined Rennes back in 2010, but only signed his
The most outstanding young Ghanaian player in Europe last season was Bernard Mensah. The 20-year-old played for Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes. Mensah is a product of Gomoa Fetteh Feyenoord, now known as the West African Football Academy. His exploits did not go unnoticed as he was snapped up 2014 Spanish La Liga champions Atletico Madrid. He has signed a
Quick Facts: Name: Jeffrey Schlupp Age: 22 Place of Birth: Hamburg, Germany Position: Left back/winger Club: Leicester City Jeffrey Schlupp is undoubtedly the reason why Leicester City are in the English Premier League; so impressive that he has been voted Leicester’s players as the Player of the Year at the end of the 2014-15 season alongside being named
Youngster Moses Odjer is earning good reviews in Italy.The 19 year old player is currently on loan with Salernitana in the Italian second tier.The central midfielder is a product of Tema Youth in Accra. He joined Catania from Tema youth in 2014. Quick facts Name:Moses Odjer Age:19 Place of Birth:Tema Position:Central Midfielder Club: Salernitana (on loan from
In the past few weeks, Riechedly Bazoer’s profile has steadily grown from a precocious talent who has become a prominent fixture in Frank De Boer’s starting lineup to scoring on his debut for the Dutch Under-21 side in its qualifying campaign for the Under-21 European Championship to a much deserved call up by Danny Blind
The average age of a goalkeeper in the Norwegian top division is 27 years, but at Odd BK a 19-year-old is performing so well that he is being hailed as the biggest Norwegian keeper talent since Tottenham legend Erik Thorstvedt. QUICK FACTS Name: Sondre Rossbach Age: 19 D.O.B: 07 February 2024 Position: Goalkeeper Club:
He has barely made his debut in the Norwegian Tippeligaen, but 17-year-old winger Rafik Zekhnini has already impressed enough to be chased by the likes of Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund. QUICK FACTS Name: Rafik Zekhnini Age: 17. D.o.B: 12/01/2024 Position: Left winger Club: Odd BK The rapid left winger ran circles around Dortmund
There may be a few European players feeling left out because they have not been linked with a move to Manchester United this summer, but Aymeric Laporte is not one of them. If reports are to be believed, the Athletic Bilbao defender is the latest in a long line of players that have been the
Name: Robbie Kruse Position: Winger Age: 26 Country: Australia Club: Bayer Leverkusen Troubled start After a troubled start to his professional career, Robbie Kruse has worked diligently and transformed into one of his national team’s most important players. A knee injury ruled the winger out of the 2014 World Cup and his absence was
Ricardo Kishna: Exceptional raw talent. An Ajax youth system product. Future star winger for the Dutch national team. Recently moved to Lazio after having a fallout with Ajax manager Frank de Boer. Can he develop his skills at Lazio under Stefano Pioli? Beginnings At the beginning of his career, Ricardo Kishna joined ADO Den
Kenneth Omeruo may not have featured for Chelsea’s first team in a competitive fixture, but he is highly regarded by manager Jose Mourinho and has been a key member of the Nigeria senior national team since 2013. Still only 21, Omeruo still has his future ahead of him and will be hoping to make an
Chidiebere Nwakali has not been as lucky at Manchester City as his compatriot, Kelechi Iheanacho, but he still remains one of the most talented and promising young Nigerian footballers coming through. Discovered at the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup, Nwakali has shown huge potential and will get regular playing time at Malagueno in Spain’s lower
In the presence of such massive stars as Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Suarez, it’s very easy for other players in La Liga to get lost in the shadows. In fact, the Spanish league is full of technically-gifted players that rarely make the headlines. So, with the start of the new season just around the corner,
When top clubs across Europe last season were scouting Strømsgodset’s Martin Ødegaard they could all report back with two fantastic talents at the Norwegian club. Ødegaard was the first to leave Drammen in Norway and the question now is when – and not if – Iver Fossum will follow in his childhood friend’s footsteps.
20-year old Moses Simon is one of Nigeria’s brightest prospects and is expected to become an integral member of the Super Eagles sooner rather than later. He has already won his first cap, in a 0-1 loss to Uganda in Uyo last March and is expected to feature regularly in Sunday Oliseh’s plans. Quick Facts
Few football fans across Europe, including Norwegians, had heard of Martin Samuelsen when he signed a two-year-deal with West Ham in June. The former Manchester City youth player got his debut in July, and now he is the Premier League player Norwegians look forward to seeing the most as the season kicks off. QUICK
One of the exciting talents that emerged in the Bundesliga recently has been left back Abdul Baba Rahman. The twenty-one year old Ghanaian plies his trade for first division side Augsburg. Baba Rahman is a product of the Dreams Football Academy in Accra. He joined Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko before sealing his first foreign deal
Name: Charis Mavrias Position: Winger Age: 21 Country: Greece Club: Panathinaikos It has been a chastening two years for Charis Mavrias at Sunderland. The Greek winger has made just six senior appearances during his time with the English Premier League club and looks set to depart the Stadium of Light this summer. The Black
It has been quite an 18 months for Independiente captain Federico Mancuello after struggling for years to make a real impact at his boyhood club, the 26-year-old has rapidly helped the club from their darkest hour in the Nacional B back to the Primera, been named club captain and made a goal scoring debut for
Name: Mat Ryan Position: Goalkeeper Age: 23 Country: Australia Club: Valencia Earlier this month Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan signed a six-year deal with Spanish club Valencia, a move that capped two outstanding years in the goalkeeper’s blossoming career. After winning an A-League title with the Central Coast Mariners in 2013 – the first in
If you are a dedicated follower of the Premier League, you will have seen that the last few days the news has been dominated with Chelsea’s interest for John Stones leading to a war of words between managers Roberto Martinez and Jose Mourinho. Would it work for Chelsea, though? Should Everton let him go for
It’s always difficult to judge how a South American youngster will adapt to playing abroad, one reason why, with a few notable exceptions, the transfer fees European sides pay for young Brazilians are generally far below a player’s eventual value. That being the case, reports that Lyon were preparing a bid of €25 million for
The fee of Christian Benteke’s move to Liverpool may have raised eyebrows, but the £32.5 million is reasonable value for the 42 goals he scored from 88 appearances over three years spent in the Premier League. It represents a £25 million profit for Aston Villa who signed the striker from Racing Genk of the Jupiler