30. Jack Hinshelwood
Age: 19 (September 8, 2006)
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion
Of all the unmeasurable metrics, perhaps footballing IQ is the most nebulous of traits. It elevates an Iniesta from La Masia but it’s not a tangible quality that can be pointed to in terms of goals, assists or checklist contributions.
Pascal Gross was perhaps the biggest example of it in the Premier League for years, with his Dortmund move signalling a chorus of “perhaps Brighton will miss him more than some realise” from those who, you know, actually watch the Seagulls. Luckily, Jack Hinshelwood is cut from a similar cloth, with a reading of play that belies his 19 years and an ability to alter his game depending on his role. Perhaps most fun to watch though, is the effortless with which he clips passes forwards: another trait difficult to measure on paper, but glorious to watch in action.
29. Ayman Kari
Age: 19 (November 19, 2004)
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
FourFourTwo has been at the front of the Ayman Kari hype train for a while now. Patience is required with this talent, but having seen him in senior action with Lorient last season, hope is still high for him to become a top-level midfielder.
Football is played with your mind as much as your feet, after all. Kari only does what needs to be done, keeping his movements and actions as minimal as possible: he’s mastered the basics of what a midfielder should do at an age in which most players try and over-elaborate. The Frenchman plays like he’s controlling the play with a joystick. He may well go under the radar for another few years yet but he’s a stunning footballer for one so young.
28. Cavan Sullivan
Age: 14 (September 28, 2009)
Club: Philadelphia Union
The United States’ sum contribution to football – proper football – underwhelms for many, still, for a nation of 334 million people and the launch of the sport 30 years ago Stateside with a World Cup. Some top goalkeepers, sure, Christian Pulisic and a couple of notable Fulham strikers… but some still cry of a real lack of technical brilliance.
Getting the call from Manchester City, therefore, is a big deal for Philly-based Cavan Sullivan: it’s even bigger that he’s just 14. Like a bleach-blond Bernardo Silva, he has the pausa in his game to stop on the spot and toy with defenders, possessing a swagger rarely seen from Americans playing this game. His penchant to strike from range might be what makes headlines across the pond, but his ability on the ball is what City are banking on.
27. Assan Ouedraogo
Age: 18 (May 26, 2006)
Club: RB Leipzig
It’s very modern of German football that a Schalke wonderkid has left for RB Leipzig, with the former flirting with the third tier. But Assan Ouedraogo is a throwback Knappenschmiede graduate, showing levels that the likes of Mesut Ozil, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane suggested while in Gelsenkirchen.
He’s played all over: left-wing and as a No.10, but will likely develop into a No.8 in time, with his off-ball work needing a little time. Ouedraogo is stunning, however: a powerful runner, offering height and aerial threat, and able to shoot on either foot. With physical midfielders thriving once again in football after Pep Guardiola reinvented the position in the 2010s, Ouedraogo’s path could be interesting as an attacking threat able to bully and bustle.
26. Eli Junior Kroupi
Age: 18 (February 8, 2007)
Club: Lorient
The sweet spot between instinct and decision-making is what makes an elite striker. Someone who knows the best place to place, as the picture is shaping up. While France have produced plenty of clinical forwards in recent times, Eli Junior Kroupi is one the more interesting from this perspective.
Kroupi’s intelligence is his strongest suit. He wants the ball played to him rather than running onto it – yet he’s lethal and icy in the penalty box. This is a player who excels in the pockets, can drop deep to associate and make the defining run into the area to finish chances. There aren’t too many of his profile around: and that could make him invaluable in the coming years.
25. Arthur Vermeeren
Age: 19 (February 12, 2005)
Club: Atletico Madrid
Arthur Vermeeren is just 19 and already a complete footballer. It’s not just in the awareness of what goes on around him, his ability to affect higher or deeper on the field: he’s a leader in buildup and creative in the final third.
That Atletico managed to snare him relatively unchallenged may come back to haunt those who had their eye on the teen. Vermeeren represents the future of Belgium’s midfield, and he may well become the cornerstone of Los Colchoneros’ next step under Diego Simeone.
24. Sverre Halseth Nypan
Age: 17 (December 4, 2006)
Club: Rosenborg
The Santi Cazorla comparisons are there, if only because Nypan is supremely good on either foot. Really though, the Norwegian is more akin to Frenkie De Jong in style, leading a struggling Rosenborg at the age of just 16 years old, as the giants have floundered of late.
Nypan reads the game beautifully, accelerates with purpose through the centre of the pitch and can pick a pass, to boot. To have put his club on his back is what impresses most, though. Nypan has all the talent of a top-level No.8 – and seemingly the mental strength to match.
23. Rico Lewis
Age: 19 (November 21, 2004)
Club: Manchester City
To call Rico Lewis nothing more than Kyle Walker’s heir would be a disservice – however much the veteran right-back is an idol to the Manchester City academy product. Lewis has already stepped in for Walker on occasion, taking Joao Cancelo’s mantel in the squad following the Portuguese’s wobbly, yet you feel like he’s destined for whatever Pep Guardiola chooses at any given moment.
The Catalan doesn’t often trust youngsters like this, having deployed Lewis in midfield in a top-two clash against Arsenal last term. The teenager is composed, physically adept and very intelligent, turning his hand to any task his manager throws at him. He’s a new breed of full-back – assuming, of course, that he ends up as one.
22. Archie Gray
Age: 18 (March 3, 2006)
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Arguably the best talent in the Championship has been snapped up by a top-six side. As if that’s not exciting enough, he was playing out of position for most of the season. And while Archie Gray could probably do a decent shift in place of Pedro Porro mind, Ange Postecgolou no doubt has higher aspirations.
Gray is a unicorn: a midfielder with supreme vision and the ability to carry the ball, but with an aggressive streak that separates him from the rest. He’s the bite and the brilliance at once, and at 6ft tall, he may yet be moulded into a physical monster able to anchor at No.6 or box-crash. Watching Spurs field him and Lucas Bergvall together might be transformative for their future.
21. Roony Bardghji
Age: 18 (November 15, 2005)
Club: Copenhagen
Rooney is a name that Manchester United fans forever adore. After knocking them out of the Champions League, Roony… is not.
Bardghji announced himself during that campaign for his intensity, his guile and his will to step into the spotlight when needed. He’s one of a number of Scandinavian creators currently lighting up European football – and with the likes of Anthony Elanga, Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Dejan Kulusevski vying for spots in the Sweden national side, there could be a revolution underway for the Blue and Yellow.
