Since the turn of the year – and decade – I have been keeping tabs on young players in Europe’s top five leagues and the Championship. While researching their journeys into senior football, I have also identified perhaps the most interesting teams to follow for any youth development lovers. Below is a pick of them.
Barnsley
If you enjoy observing young players in action, a Championship game involving any of Charlton, Derby, Middlesbrough or Swansea certainly deserves a watch. But it is newly-promoted Barnsley who have particularly caught the attention this season. As many as seven of the starting line-up – including a whole back four and both strikers – for their last league match against Preston were U23 players. They come from England (four), Germany, Denmark and Finland (one each). And while this young side may not prove to have enough quality to prolong their Championship status come the end of the campaign, tomorrow’s trip to League One Portsmouth provides Gerhard Struber’s team with a chance of an unexpected FA Cup run. And a potential encounter with one of Premier League’s big boys at the beginning of March.
Chelsea
Arsenal and Manchester United always seem to give first-team opportunities to their youngsters and it has been no different this season with teenagers Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Brandon Williams all featuring regularly for their sides in the Premier League. However, this time, it is Chelsea who deserve a special mention. While the Blues have not necessarily been associated with young players in the Roman Abramovich era, it has recently changed considerably and surely not only as a consequence of their recent transfer ban. This season, Tammy Abraham (born in 1997) is Chelsea’s top scorer. Meanwhile, Fikayo Tomori (1997), Mason Mount (January 1999) and Reece James (December 1999) have all been heavily involved whereas Callum Hudson-Odoi (November 2000) have arguably been the team’s stand-out performer at the start of the year. And crucially, they have all been a joy to watch. Even if not (yet) every single week.
Cologne
Ahead of tonight’s Bundesliga encounter between Borussia Dortmund and FC Köln it seems everybody is wondering whether last week’s hat-trick debut hero Erling Braut Håland (born in 2000) will make his first start for BVB – alongside fellow 19-year-old Jadon Sancho. Curiously though, Markus Gisdol’s side will arrive at the Signal Iduna Park not only on four consecutive league wins. They also had four U21 players in their first eleven last Saturday. Against Wolfsburg, 20-year-olds Sebastiaan Bornauw and Ismail Jakobs started at centre back and left wing respectively. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Noah Katterbach was deployed at left-back and 17-year-old Jan Thielmann began the match on the right wing. Regardless whether Håland starts or again comes off the bench, there should be plenty of youngsters on show from the first whistle.
Fiorentina
Long gone seem the days of Fiorentina last playing in the Champions League while producing arguably some of Europe’s most intricate football under Cesare Prandelli. This season, Viola find themselves in Serie A’s mid-table. At least though, they have a young team. Italian international Federico Chiesa (born in 1997) and teenage striker Dušan Vlahović (2000) provided the goals while Spanish wing-back Pol Lirola (1997) got an assist in their recent surprise 2-0 win away at Napoli. Furthermore, Polish goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski, Serbian centre-half Nikola Milenković and Italian midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli (all born in 1997) as well as new loan signing Patrik Cutrone (1998) all started the match with forward Riccardo Sottil (1999) coming off the bench alongside Vlahović. Fiorentina now host Genoa on Saturday and then travel to Inter for an Italian Cup quarter-final next Wednesday. Can they somehow reinvigorate their season and still push for a European spot under new head coach Giuseppe Iachini?
Lille
If spending an evening with a Bundesliga game on the screen is not necessarily for your taste, you may as well tune in to Nice vs Rennes tonight (Patrick Vieira has some young players in his team and Eduardo Camavinga should play for the visitors). However, without forgetting Lyon, it is Lille who should probably be deemed a young team to watch in Ligue 1 this season. Christophe Galtier could almost field a full line-up from his U23 players, with only a goalkeeper missing. In fact, it will be interesting to see how many out of Gabriel and Tiago Djaló (centre-halves), Domagoj Bradarić and Mehmet Zeki Çelik (full-backs), Boubakary Soumaré and Thiago Maia (defensive midfielders), Jonathan Ikoné, Renato Sanches and Yusuf Yazıcı (attacking midfielders) and Victor Osimhen (centre forward) start Lille’s Sunday night home clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Real Sociedad
Barcelona and Real Madrid are always going to produce – or sign – world-class youngsters. This season though, you really should take a closer look at the Real Sociedad team. Loanee Martin Ødegaard (born in 1998) has undoubtedly been the star of the show. However, Mikel Oyarzabal, Igor Zubeldia and Ander Guevara – all born in 1997 and all local lads – have also impressed while Aihen Muñoz (1997) has featured, too. What is more, with striker and top scorer Willian José heavily linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur before the end of the January transfer window, it looks like Swede Alexander Isak (1999) and Academy forward Ander Barrenetxea (2001) could now potentially be asked to provide La Real’s two attacking options for the rest of the campaign. They both scored in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey win over Espanyol.
In the picture: young Martin Ødegaard (found here)
BREAKTHROUGH 