The most exciting teenagers in the world right now aren’t exactly waiting in the shadows, are they? Gone are the days of players making their name in their early 20s. We know the names of nearly every breakout star under 21 worth watching.
The Messi/Ronaldo era is all but over, the credits rolling in retirement leagues for two former GOATs. The race to replicate and reflect them is well and truly on. The next generation are here.
And here they are. Every season, we scour the globe, from top-level academy compilations to the flickery tapes from South America of street-ballers riding tackles from seasoned ankle-crunchers, to compile our definitive list of the teenagers you need to be keeping a close eye on.
But unlike most, we’re not ranking these from the worst to best. That seems counterintuitive, given that some of these stars are yet to taste senior football, while others are the cornerstones of their respective institutions.
As ever, we’re going purely from the heart of how much these players excite us. Whether it’s an attacker so young that they could only possibly modelled their game from YouTube clips of the legends they ape, or a defensive beast so mature that they could redefine the position, every one of these players moves us in one way or another.
So behold, our wonderkids to watch for the coming campaign. Come back in 12 months and see where they are then.
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The most exciting teenagers in world football: 50. Jobe Bellingham
Age: 18 (September 23 2005)
Club: Sunderland
Save from your De Boers, Laudrups and a select few others, siblings don’t tend to grace the elite together in football. The adage of ‘if he can be half as good as his brother’ has weighed like an albatross around the necks of younger bros for years, from Ethan Mbappe to Phil Neville. Jobe Bellingham seems unfazed, however, as his parents split their time between Madrid and Wearside, tracking their kids’ careers.
While the cliche is to want a Jude-like skillset from Jobe, Bellingham the Younger actually does have comparable traits: clever movement and iciness in front of goal being the most eye-catching. Jude Bellingham – once a topper of this list – was a ready-made midfielder in secondary school and we shouldn’t take that for granted: but Jobe is a different man. He isn’t involved on every blade of grass but he may yet become a superstar for his ability to change games with his intelligence in the final third.
49. Francesco Camarda
Age: 16 (March 10, 2008)
Club: Milan
Camarda was 6ft tall at the age of 15. He made his debut during that year of his life, and went viral this year for the most exquisite take-down, swivel and dink against Cagliari that you’re likely to see from any striker, teenage or otherwise, this year.
Such composure in front of goal has been lacking in Italian frontlines since Francesco Totti trudged off into the Eternal City sunset but Camarda has a clear pathway. Milan’s history with youth integration coupled with the gaping void left by LA-bound Olivier Giroud could see Camarda given more opportunities to impress at San Siro this season. Goodness knows Italy need a forward for the next generation.
48. El Chadaille Bitshiabu
Age: 19 (May 16, 2005)
Club: RB Leipzig
Bitshiabu made his senior bow for Paris Saint-Germain in December 2022. His performance was so good that his manager vowed the club wouldn’t be signing defenders, in order to prioritise the wonderkid’s development.
It’s not quite worked out that way (when does it?). Bitshiabu is now at RB Leipzig, following the Castela Lukeba path: he’s a left-footer able to play centre-back or left-back, and with more of that profile emerging in the last couple of years, it seems destined that he’s tailor-made for a return to the elite in the next few years. Perhaps back to PSG, you know.
47. Max Dowman
Age: 14 (December 31, 2009)
Club: Arsenal
Born during the week that Rage Against The Machine reached number one in the UK in protest against the X Factor – yes, really – Max Dowman is one of the youngest players to have ever trained with Arsenal’s first-team. Mikel Arteta is on a mission to crack down on his most talented youngsters departing, and means business getting such a young player in with the senior side.
The technique is exquisite. Obviously he has to mature physically but Dowman assisted four times on his step up to the under-18s, alerting just about everyone to how good he could be. Midfield gems keep spawning out of Hale End right now and Dowman is one to watch over the next few years.
46. Harry Amass
Age: 17 (September 10, 2007)
Club: Manchester United
You can take the Glazers out of running day-to-day operations at Manchester United but removing the bad luck is somewhat harder, as injuries to Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund have shown in preseason. Some things never change.
With left-back a problem position covered by Diogo Dalot, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and even Sofyan Amrabat last term in the absence of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia (remember him?), there may be a spot opening up for Harry Amass. Signed from Watford’s academy last year, the teen is stocky, tenacious and looking for a Mainoo-like glow-up, should injuries bother those above him again this season. He’s technically solid and could be an asset as depth.
45. Assane Diao
Age: 18 (March 7, 2005)
Club: Real Betis
There’s no better way to cap your 18th than with a mazy run through defenders’ legs and scoring on your La Liga debut, right? Assane Diao may not be unique as one of a plethora of exciting young wingers in Spain’s top tier – but he’s one of the most breathtaking.
The teen went onto score on each of his first three starts. He has the pace, the directness and most importantly a fearlessness that could well translate to La Roja’s senior setup, with Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams demonstrating over the summer that Spanish football is changing. It’s players like Diao who are leading the sea change from wide playmakers to slaloming wingers.
44. Jayden Danns
Age: 18 (January 16 2006)
Club: Liverpool
Despite signing Darwin Nunez, Jurgen Klopp gravitated back to a false nine-style Cody Gakpo mere months later. But history tells us Arne Slot is a ‘Santiago Gimenez up front’ kind of guy, who would prefer his strikers to stretch than drift into midfield.
This might be the change that Jayden Danns needs to truly explode. Physically, the forward is cut from a Cavani cloth – but though his movement is exemplary, he’s been focusing on his all-round game under Klopp. With Gakpo likely a winger to Slot, that leaves Nunez as the sole centre-forward – and Danns could be the longterm successor with the kind of ability to bring others into play that recalls Roberto Firmino, with the kind of killer edge needed under the new regime.
43. Martim Fernandes
Age: 18 (June 5, 2006)
Club: Porto
With the Lisbon giants accelerating into the distance with recruitment, Porto are at risk of being left behind in Portugal. Andre Villas-Boas is president, Sergio Conceicao gone and Pepe packed up, too.
Marginal gains from the academy are thus welcome. Martim Fernandes is a throwback full-back capable of bombing down the touchline and delivering a whipped cross, with a tireless engine and the will to get stuck in. It looks likely that he makes the right-back slot his own over the next 18 months, but how he develops could be fascinating: he already looks comfortable cutting infield and at such a young age, could become a phenomenal talent for Portugal.
42. Eliesse Ben Seghir
Age: 19 (February 16, 2005)
Club: Monaco
A brace on his home debut. The youngest Monagasque to do so since Thierry Henry. The headlines write themselves.
Eliesse Ben Seghir is perhaps as exciting as he is because he’s so hard to box, both literally and as a profile. Though he has the swagger of the aforementioned Henry, a close control akin to ex-Monaco star Bernardo Silva suggests he could crystallise as a No.8, No.10 or a winger on either flank. He seems to revel in breaking free from opponents, drawing them close before finding space to accelerate into. He’s not just effective: he’s fun to watch, too.
41. Ibrahim Osman
Age: 19 (March 26, 2004)
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion
They’ve done it again, haven’t they? Ending up in Brighton, via Nordsjaelland and the now-famed Right to Dream academy is becoming a golden route to stardom.
Ibrahim Osman follows Simon Adingra’s lead: similarly ambipedal, unpredictable and comfortable anywhere on the pitch, so long as there’s green space to run into. The idea of the Seagulls luring a press before releasing these two west African wingers is ferocious – and so many of Brighton’s wide options, Osman has intelligence, final product and a frightening ability to accelerate at full pelt from a standstill. He’s raw, but he’s at the best place to develop.
