Since the start of 2020, I have been monitoring the progress of young players in Europe’s top five leagues. The coronavirus pandemic has provided an opportunity to sum up some of the very first findings.
First, I have been tracking under-23 players (born in 1997 or later) who directly influence the outcome of games, i.e. score and assist goals.
So far in 2020, a total of 176 different players aged 23 or under have scored and assisted a cumulative number of 371 goals in Europe’s top five leagues.
Let’s begin by looking at goalscorers.
As you can see below, the highest number of under-23 goalscorers, i.e. players who have scored at least one league goal so far in 2020, can be found in the Bundesliga.
Those 32 Bundesliga goalscorers are also the most influential when it comes to the actual number of goals they have all scored, not far ahead of their Premier League and Ligue 1 peers, but significantly surpassing their La Liga and Serie A counterparts.
Erling Haaland currently sits top of the best under-23 goalscorers in Europe’s top five leagues in 2020, ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Kasper Dolberg.
Let’s now take a look at assist makers.
Here, the Bundesliga are top once more with Serie A again bottom.
The 28 Bundesliga assist makers have also provided nearly three times as many assists as the 13 Serie A assist makers.
Jadon Sancho is currently the best of the best under-23 assist makers in Europe’s top five leagues in 2020, ahead of Christopher Nkunku, Kai Havertz and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Finally, let’s see the two put together.
Part 2: The Most Influential Teenagers
In the picture: OGC Nice striker Kasper Dolberg is the perhaps surprising name among the most influential under-23 players in Europe’s top five leagues so far in 2020 (found here)
BREAKTHROUGH 