Euroballs columnists run down the young stars who have caught the eye in Europe this season:
Spain
We may as well start with a goalie, and there is a young man at Valladolid who has caught all the plaudits in this regard. Sergio Asenjo, a 19-year-old who has been capped by Spain at U17, U19 and U21 levels, is already seen as a future international and the heir to Iker Casillas. Big shoes to fill, but Asenjo’s assured shot-stopping and command of his area has attracted the attention of a host of big club since his debut for Valladolid when he was just 18.
Sporting Gijon left-back Roberto Canella is a product of the Asturian side’s cantera and has caught the eye as an ever-present in the Rojiblancos defence. Despite Sporting’s current poor form the 20-year-old has consistently impressed, proving a willing attacker and a robust defender. Athletic Bilbao caused quite some surprise in 2006 when they spent €6m on midfielder Javi Martinez when he was a raw 17-year-old from Osasuna. He had never played a first-team game yet, now, 20, he has matured into an experienced, tenacious midfielder and a regular in the side with well over 80 matches to his name. Tipped for a big future in the Spanish national team.
Up top, Alvaro Negredo is a relative veteran at 23 but is in the form of his life for Almeria, with 15 goals and counting for Hugo Sanchez’s fledgling Andalucian outfit. The former Rayo Vallecano junior spent three impressive seasons in Real Madrid’s B-team without ever really getting a chance at the Bernabau, but he has grabbed his opportunity in Almeria with both hands. Tall, quick and strong, he is a handful for defenders and one should not rule out Real exercising their buy-back clause on him this summer.
Italy
Zdravko Kuzmanović has been on the scene at Fiorentina for a while and the 21-year-old Serbian international has developed considerably since joining the Viola in 2007. He retains a commanding presence in the Viola midfield and has worked up a good understanding with the likes of Ricardo Montolivo and Martin Jorgensen.
Domenico Criscito is a versatile defender who has been the lynchpin for an impressive Genoa team that has one of the best defensive records in the league. A product of the Grifone academy, he is now officially owned by Juventus and is an experienced U21 international. Paolo Maldini, no less, has tipped the calm 22-year-old for stardom and he’s not wrong.
Marek Hamsik is one of several Napoli players to have caught the eye this season. The spiky-haired Slovakian is indeed so highly thought of by his own fans that when he was mugged outside the San Paolo, Napoli supporters tracked the culprit down and recovered his valuables. A two-footed, goalscoring attacking midfielder reminiscent (in play rather than appearance) of Pavel Nedved, he is a precocious talent who you imagine won’t remain in Naples for much longer.
Alexandre Pato will, and you can hold me to this, be European football’s leading striker in five years time. When AC Milan announced his €22m transfer from Brazilian club Internacional, he was just 16. His record of 21 goals in 43 appearances for the Rossoneri is nothing short of outstanding for a player of his age. Diminutive in height but very fast and immensely skilful, Pato has it all. A phenomenal player is in the making – and as an Internazionale supporter, that isn’t easy for me to say!
Germany
They may be bottom of the league, but Borussia Monchengladbach have the brightest midfield talent in the country at the moment in the shape of Marco Marin. 20 in a couple of weeks time, he's been protected by his club boss Hans Meyer, keeping him out of the firing line as Gladbach's general poverty of talent has seen them rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga for much of the season. Marin is among their top scorers and creates far more than his team-mates are able to put away. He's already made his debut for his country, and scored against Belgium in his second appearance, and looks set to be a feature for many, many years, though Gladbach will have to cash on on their prize asset when the season ends.
If you've got the likes of Marin creating opportunities, you need someone to put them away. Leverkusen have that man, Patrick Helmes. Perhaps I'm pushing the envelope of the term 'young' by nominating a 24-year old, but 51 Bundesliga goals in 87 appearances marks him out as a special talent. When Dimitar Berbatov left Leverkusen to pursue his career in England, it was to Helmes that they turned to replace the Bulgarian who had done so well for them. If anything, he's even better than the £30m pound man he replaced.
Borussia Dortmund have the best defence in the Bundesliga at the time of writing, and the star man in there is the Serbian Neven Subotic. He qualifies for the USA as well, having spent much of his youth there and has played at under-17 and 20 level for the States. He's expected to declare for Serbia though, and it won't be long before he's capped. A very athletic centre back, he impressed with Mainz in their brief stay in the top flight before Jurgen Klopp took him with him to BVB. For a 21-year old, he leads the defensive line well and has quickly become the key man at the back in an ever-changing Dortmund back four.
Netherlands
PSV seem to have a bit of a monopoly on young talent at the moment. Much of it is still raw, though it's worth bearing in mind that Ibrahim Afellay is still only 23. Winger Nordin Amrabat is a bit younger and has been boosted more by Dwight Lodeweges tenure in the top job than any other. He has bags of pace, though his touch has let him down on more than one occasion. He is getting better though and when combined with other lads in their early 20s like Afellay, Ola Toivonen and Balázs Dzsudzsák, they've an attacking line-up that will serve them well for years to come.
Perhaps Steve McClaren's biggest job in the coming off-season is hanging onto Eljero Elia. Twente have a blend of youth and experience, but much of the experience is coming to the end of it's shelf life while the younger guys are going to want moves to bigger clubs. And the way Elia's played over the last couple of season's, he going to be high up many clubs wanted lists. Playing a classical Dutch 4-3-3, Elia's played on one side with Marko Arnautovic on the other with the veteran Blaise N'Kufo up the centre. Having those wide guys with pace, energy and enthusiasm is vital to how Twente go and with a front three becoming the vogue across the footballing world, they'll be in demand.
While forwards like Luis Suarez and Miralem Sulejmani grab the headlines, much of the good stuff Ajax have done this season has been built on a solid defence. While they were struggling, they were drawing more than they lost because they were so hard to break down and still are. At the heart of that defence is 21-year old Gregory van der Wiel. This is his second full season since making his debut for the club late in the 2006/7 season and he's been undroppable since then. Not the biggest defender, he has a calm, imposing presence and his partnership with Jan Vertonghen, himself only 21 as well, looks like laying the bedrock of an Ajax revival.
Rotten season though they're having, incoming coach Mario Been will still have some talent available to him when he takes over at Feyenoord. Prime among those is Georgino Wijnaldum who, while many older players have been unavailable or out of touch, has played a lot of football for a teenager. He's raw, but has been one bright spark in midfield and is the sort of player the club needs to reassert themselves after a miserable recent period.
France
It'd be too easy to point to Karim Benzema and go "he's dead good he is". And he is, and still very young, but way too easy. Besides, my current favourite at Lyon is Hugo Lloris, the 22-year old goalkeeper. With Gregory Coupet gone from the club having held sway for so long, Lyon snapped Lloris up from Nice and now the only talk of Coupet is to say "Gregory who?". He makes up for his lack of stature by his athletic nature, flinging himself about in all directions. In a position where cliché says players don't mature until their thirties, he reads a game very well indeed already.
Lille have gone well this season and their driving force in midfield has been 18-year old Belgian Eden Hazard whose driving runs and support of the front men typify his game. He's already made two appearances for Belgium, a nation building something for the future on talents like him, Vertonghen, Moussa Dembele of AZ and Marouane Fellaini of Everton.
Oh, and Yoann Gourcuff is still only 22 and can do things like this.
We may as well start with a goalie, and there is a young man at Valladolid who has caught all the plaudits in this regard. Sergio Asenjo, a 19-year-old who has been capped by Spain at U17, U19 and U21 levels, is already seen as a future international and the heir to Iker Casillas. Big shoes to fill, but Asenjo’s assured shot-stopping and command of his area has attracted the attention of a host of big club since his debut for Valladolid when he was just 18.
Sporting Gijon left-back Roberto Canella is a product of the Asturian side’s cantera and has caught the eye as an ever-present in the Rojiblancos defence. Despite Sporting’s current poor form the 20-year-old has consistently impressed, proving a willing attacker and a robust defender. Athletic Bilbao caused quite some surprise in 2006 when they spent €6m on midfielder Javi Martinez when he was a raw 17-year-old from Osasuna. He had never played a first-team game yet, now, 20, he has matured into an experienced, tenacious midfielder and a regular in the side with well over 80 matches to his name. Tipped for a big future in the Spanish national team.
Up top, Alvaro Negredo is a relative veteran at 23 but is in the form of his life for Almeria, with 15 goals and counting for Hugo Sanchez’s fledgling Andalucian outfit. The former Rayo Vallecano junior spent three impressive seasons in Real Madrid’s B-team without ever really getting a chance at the Bernabau, but he has grabbed his opportunity in Almeria with both hands. Tall, quick and strong, he is a handful for defenders and one should not rule out Real exercising their buy-back clause on him this summer.
Italy
Zdravko Kuzmanović has been on the scene at Fiorentina for a while and the 21-year-old Serbian international has developed considerably since joining the Viola in 2007. He retains a commanding presence in the Viola midfield and has worked up a good understanding with the likes of Ricardo Montolivo and Martin Jorgensen.
Domenico Criscito is a versatile defender who has been the lynchpin for an impressive Genoa team that has one of the best defensive records in the league. A product of the Grifone academy, he is now officially owned by Juventus and is an experienced U21 international. Paolo Maldini, no less, has tipped the calm 22-year-old for stardom and he’s not wrong.
Marek Hamsik is one of several Napoli players to have caught the eye this season. The spiky-haired Slovakian is indeed so highly thought of by his own fans that when he was mugged outside the San Paolo, Napoli supporters tracked the culprit down and recovered his valuables. A two-footed, goalscoring attacking midfielder reminiscent (in play rather than appearance) of Pavel Nedved, he is a precocious talent who you imagine won’t remain in Naples for much longer.
Alexandre Pato will, and you can hold me to this, be European football’s leading striker in five years time. When AC Milan announced his €22m transfer from Brazilian club Internacional, he was just 16. His record of 21 goals in 43 appearances for the Rossoneri is nothing short of outstanding for a player of his age. Diminutive in height but very fast and immensely skilful, Pato has it all. A phenomenal player is in the making – and as an Internazionale supporter, that isn’t easy for me to say!
Germany
They may be bottom of the league, but Borussia Monchengladbach have the brightest midfield talent in the country at the moment in the shape of Marco Marin. 20 in a couple of weeks time, he's been protected by his club boss Hans Meyer, keeping him out of the firing line as Gladbach's general poverty of talent has seen them rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga for much of the season. Marin is among their top scorers and creates far more than his team-mates are able to put away. He's already made his debut for his country, and scored against Belgium in his second appearance, and looks set to be a feature for many, many years, though Gladbach will have to cash on on their prize asset when the season ends.
If you've got the likes of Marin creating opportunities, you need someone to put them away. Leverkusen have that man, Patrick Helmes. Perhaps I'm pushing the envelope of the term 'young' by nominating a 24-year old, but 51 Bundesliga goals in 87 appearances marks him out as a special talent. When Dimitar Berbatov left Leverkusen to pursue his career in England, it was to Helmes that they turned to replace the Bulgarian who had done so well for them. If anything, he's even better than the £30m pound man he replaced.
Borussia Dortmund have the best defence in the Bundesliga at the time of writing, and the star man in there is the Serbian Neven Subotic. He qualifies for the USA as well, having spent much of his youth there and has played at under-17 and 20 level for the States. He's expected to declare for Serbia though, and it won't be long before he's capped. A very athletic centre back, he impressed with Mainz in their brief stay in the top flight before Jurgen Klopp took him with him to BVB. For a 21-year old, he leads the defensive line well and has quickly become the key man at the back in an ever-changing Dortmund back four.
Netherlands
PSV seem to have a bit of a monopoly on young talent at the moment. Much of it is still raw, though it's worth bearing in mind that Ibrahim Afellay is still only 23. Winger Nordin Amrabat is a bit younger and has been boosted more by Dwight Lodeweges tenure in the top job than any other. He has bags of pace, though his touch has let him down on more than one occasion. He is getting better though and when combined with other lads in their early 20s like Afellay, Ola Toivonen and Balázs Dzsudzsák, they've an attacking line-up that will serve them well for years to come.
Perhaps Steve McClaren's biggest job in the coming off-season is hanging onto Eljero Elia. Twente have a blend of youth and experience, but much of the experience is coming to the end of it's shelf life while the younger guys are going to want moves to bigger clubs. And the way Elia's played over the last couple of season's, he going to be high up many clubs wanted lists. Playing a classical Dutch 4-3-3, Elia's played on one side with Marko Arnautovic on the other with the veteran Blaise N'Kufo up the centre. Having those wide guys with pace, energy and enthusiasm is vital to how Twente go and with a front three becoming the vogue across the footballing world, they'll be in demand.
While forwards like Luis Suarez and Miralem Sulejmani grab the headlines, much of the good stuff Ajax have done this season has been built on a solid defence. While they were struggling, they were drawing more than they lost because they were so hard to break down and still are. At the heart of that defence is 21-year old Gregory van der Wiel. This is his second full season since making his debut for the club late in the 2006/7 season and he's been undroppable since then. Not the biggest defender, he has a calm, imposing presence and his partnership with Jan Vertonghen, himself only 21 as well, looks like laying the bedrock of an Ajax revival.
Rotten season though they're having, incoming coach Mario Been will still have some talent available to him when he takes over at Feyenoord. Prime among those is Georgino Wijnaldum who, while many older players have been unavailable or out of touch, has played a lot of football for a teenager. He's raw, but has been one bright spark in midfield and is the sort of player the club needs to reassert themselves after a miserable recent period.
France
It'd be too easy to point to Karim Benzema and go "he's dead good he is". And he is, and still very young, but way too easy. Besides, my current favourite at Lyon is Hugo Lloris, the 22-year old goalkeeper. With Gregory Coupet gone from the club having held sway for so long, Lyon snapped Lloris up from Nice and now the only talk of Coupet is to say "Gregory who?". He makes up for his lack of stature by his athletic nature, flinging himself about in all directions. In a position where cliché says players don't mature until their thirties, he reads a game very well indeed already.
Lille have gone well this season and their driving force in midfield has been 18-year old Belgian Eden Hazard whose driving runs and support of the front men typify his game. He's already made two appearances for Belgium, a nation building something for the future on talents like him, Vertonghen, Moussa Dembele of AZ and Marouane Fellaini of Everton.
Oh, and Yoann Gourcuff is still only 22 and can do things like this.
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