Who are the next generation of players who could dominate the global game in the next 10 years? By Mark Gleeson.
Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembele and Jaden Sancho … already household names in the world game but either barely into their 20s.
Football’s production line continues to spit out exciting products with enormous potential to go on and become the greats of the game, adding another level of interest for followers of the sport.
Year-in and year-out they keep arriving, some fading as fast as they appear, others taking time to establish themselves, some exploding out of the blocks and a select few going on to stellar careers.
So, which players are among the next generation of footballing superstars? Soccer Club investigates the next set of players who are going to be big!
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund & England)
It is incredible to think Jude Bellingham is only 19 years old; he seems to have been around forever already.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder, an established England international who featured at the World Cup in Qatar, he made his professional debut for Birmingham City just past his 16th birthday and within 12 months had signed for the German Bundesliga giants.
He has become one of the most important players at Dortmund and the talk is he will be signing for one of the continent’s giants in the next transfer window. Many believe he has the ability to become the world’s best midfielder.
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich & Germany)
After a disappointing World Cup, Jamal Musiala continues to impress, at 20, with Bayern Munich, where he is already a major figure. Nicknamed ‘Bambi’ by his teammates, he seems frail, but it is deceptive. He has been described as “robust in combat,” and a team player.
Musiala is already well established in the German national team and is emerging as their key player for the next European Championship, which they host next year.
He can set up goals and score them, making the game dynamic by putting his teammates in a good position or creating situations for himself, with his super dribbling ability and speed that make him formidable in one-on- one situations.
Pedri (Barcelona & Spain)
At the age of 18, Pedri was already indispensable at Barcelona and now in the Spanish national team. Hailing from the Canary Islands, far from the fabled La Masia academy, he nevertheless displays a style that makes him the natural successor to Xavi and Iniesta.
He plays just like them: intelligently, technically precise, always looking to keep the team ticking over and moving forward. He embodies the continuity of the Barça style of the past 15 years.
At the end of 2021, he received the Kopa trophy for the best young talent in world football.
Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid & France)
This season, for the first time since his arrival at Real Madrid, the 20-year-old Camavinga has a string of starts and convincing performances, which now make him much more than just a joker off the bench.
Angola-born, he was already a French international at 17 and a major signing for the Spanish giants from Stade Rennes. Real coach Carlo Ancelotti says: “Eduardo Camavinga is a modern midfielder,” referring to both his attacking and defensive qualities.
Hugo Ekitike (PSG & France)
The 20-year-old moved to from Stade Reims Paris St Germain at the start of the season – a one-year loan with a compulsory purchase option of around 35 million – and with Cameroonian roots, he could yet turn out for the Indomitable Lions, although the French are likely to keep a close check on that.
It has not been easy trying to forge a place in the Mbappe-Messi-Neymar axis at PSG, but injuries have meant more play time towards the end of the season.
Next campaign, he is likely to be a starter and has the potential to add to the galaxy of stars at his club, and in Ligue 1.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli & Georgia)
The exciting 21-year-old Georgian winger has been dubbed “The Georgian Messi”, and netted a third of Napoli’s goals this season, showing a huge variety in how he has found the back of the net as the club march to Serie A success.
“He has this way of taking opponents on and he knows where the goal is, can shoot with his right foot and his left,” Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti said of the wonderkid, who the fans are calling ‘Kravadona’ as they look back to the glory years when Diego Maradona took the club to Serie A success.
Kvaratskhelia had been playing in Russia with Rubin Kazan, but when a FIFA ruling allowed all foreign players to cancel Russian contracts in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, he went home for a month to Dinamo Batumi before Napoli snapped him up.
