Top Youngsters in 2019: Football is a wonderful game. And a few times, it is considered as a better leveler. It doesn’t consider who is the best or who is the newcomer in the game. It just looks for the absolute and abject talent and potential. And talking about the word and potential, it is a seductive word for any player. One can define potential as the capacity of a player to grow into something special in the future.
It is only a few years for a player to be termed as talented and potential. After that period, the payer goes in one of the two ways. That is, one can go into the next level talent or experience a complete downfall. It implies that the player has wasted his talent.
In the below article, we will be discussing those young players in football who attracted a lot of attention in 2019. To identify the player as “youngsters”, we have considered the age criterion of the player is less than 23 years apart from his exceptional performances on the field.
Without further wasting of time, we will look into those players who have been shortlisted as the best young footballers;
#5) Vinicius Jr
Top Youngsters in 2019: The Brazilian international was a fan loved player when he was in Flamengo. The player’s career started to go towards North when his performances attracted the interests of Real Madrid and other European heavyweights.
Vinicius Jr was transferred for a club record of €46 million, the highest amount of fee paid by Los Blancos for a player of Under-20 age. The player made his first appearance back in September 2018 against Atletico Madrid and became the first-ever player of the 2000s to play for Real Madrid.
In total 12 appearances for Real Madrid, panning across all the competitions, Vinicius has scored 2 goals and 2 assists for Los Blancos. The potential of the player has been revealed and is rearing to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo at Santiago Bernabeu.
#4) Frenkie de Jong
The Dutch prodigy has been the real talent in midfield and is a valuable addition to any midfield. Before Frenkie de Jong moved to Catalonia, he enjoyed his best season in 2018-19. The player was named as the Eredivisie Player of the Month twice in the same season.
Considering his performances, Tottenham tried to lure away the player from Ajax Amsterdam. However, the player denied and remained in the Netherlands to develop himself as a complete player.
The player led the team to Ajax’s first domestic double, i.e, league title and cup, for the first time since 2002. Also, the player performed exceedingly well in Champions League where he led the team to semifinals after they did giant killings of Juventus and Real Madrid in knockout stages.
Frenkie de Jong was selected in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League squad of the season and was voted as the tournament’s midfielder of the season.
#3) Matthijs de Ligt
Top Youngsters in 2019: Matthijs de Ligt had a difficult start to his career at Ajax Amsterdam until Davinson Sanchez moved to Tottenham in the summer transfer window of 2017. He became the regular team starter since the departure of Sanchez. As time moved on, the 18-year-old went on to become the youngest ever player of Ajax to wear the captain’s armband.
In 2019, Matthijs de Ligt was a rock-solid at the back for a young Ajax. For Erik ten Haag’s side, he played 33 matches in Eredivisie and had accounted for more than 1 tackle and interceptions per game. Also, in the Champions League, the player was the real inspiration for his side which defeated Juventus and Los Blancos in knockout stages.
He was linked with heavyweights of Europe in the transfer window and he finally moved to Juventus for a record defender. Even though the player has found it hard in Italy, he is settling down and is trying to turn up the things. Can he live up to the hype?
#2) Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho, the former Manchester City youngster, moved from England to Germany for a fee of £8 million in 2017. When he made the debut against Frankfurt in 2017, he became the first Englishmen to play in Bundesliga.
The player signed a new contract in 2018 which will keep him in Germany till 2022. The player went on to become the mainstay at German capital and enjoyed the great October, which was named the “Player of the Month”.
In Bundesliga, the player scored 12 goals and assisted his side 14 times in 26 games. In the Champions League for Borussia Dortmund, he is accounted for 1 goal and 1 assist in five games he played.
The player has been touted as one of the best young wingers and is constantly linked with European heavyweights, Manchester United and Chelsea. Will he move back to Premier League or will stay in Germany?
#1) Kylian Mbappe
Top Youngsters in 2019: The French World Cup-winning attacker has been the talk of the town since his £166 million from AS Monaco to Paris St Germain. However, Kylian Mbappe has lived up to the hype and has been scoring goals for fun in Paris.
The player is seen as the next winner of the big things and is seen as the next Ballon d’Or winner as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is coming to halt. In the French League, the player has been accounted for 33 goals in 24 matches. However, this was not enough to win the coveted trophy of Ballon d’Or. In Champions League, even though PSG bottled up against Manchester United in knockout stages, the player did exceptionally well by scoring 4 goals in 8 games for PSG.
(All stats via transfermarket.co.in and whoscored.com)
