Scouting the Unsung Hotshots of the UEFA Youth League This Season
The UEFA Youth League gives us the opportunity to watch elite clubs' "next generation" in action. The tournament, which pits the 32 Champions League teams' under-19s against one another in the same groups as the seniors draw, stands the firmest test any prospect faces outside of international competition.
Certain clubs have used the tournament to blood untold amounts of youngsters. Chelsea, Anderlecht and Shakhtar Donetsk, for example, have produced dominant sides at that level and have all fast-tracked prospects into the first team following success.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Viktor Kovalenko are two shining examples of how differently it can go from there—one's now firmly on the fringes of the team, while the other is the fulcrum of his side's attack—but the opportunity is there.
At Bleacher Report this season, we've profiled some of the most exciting talents playing in the Youth League, ranging from Paris Saint-Germain's Philipp Lahm-clone Alec Georgen, through Barcelona's midfield hope Carles Alena and on to Juventus' wonderkid Moise Kean. But what of the lesser-known prospects?
There are those who ply their trades for "lesser" beasts but have been extremely productive still. In this piece, we've moved the magnifying glass over the heads of some of the most impressive players so far, most of whom are statistical leaders in one category or another, in order to illuminate their talents.
Mergim Berisha, RB Salzburg
Take a look at Mergim Berisha's season and you'll see the murky, dual-contract world of Austrian football. The Kosovan plays for second-tier side FC Liefering on a weekly basis but joins up with RB Salzburg for their UEFA Youth League games. It's a complicated issue for another time, but the two clubs are essentially entwined, and he's able to play for both.
Berisha tops the Youth League goalscoring charts with seven, having played four games in the Domestic Champions Path. He's also registered the most shots on target in the competition (14). It's impossible to escape the fact he's played poor teams thus far, but in February, when his RB Salzburg side take on a Champions League runner-up, we'll see a true test of his talents.
For now, he's showcasing an assured finish courtesy of some soft feet. He strikes the ball cleanly with his instep and guides shots accurately into corners. His somatotype is a little odd—he's reasonably tall, but in no way a target man—and he has the combination of size and quick feet that reminds of someone like Divock Origi (minus the blistering speed).
He's handy when dropping in off the line, and he tracks back to help recover the ball, but a slight lack of mobility works against him when he tries to surge forward. Against better midfields, he'll be up against it when pushing onward and will be of far greater use as a poacher in and around the box.
Nicklas Rojkjaer, FC Copenhagen
Nicklas Rojkjaer is FC Copenhagen's set-piece master; be it free-kick or corner, he's taking it, and it's going to threaten goal.
A right-footer who consistently cuts in off the left flank, his low, flat deliveries into the box remind of Marc Albrighton's eagle-eyed crossing for Leicester City. Corners are struck with the same part of the foot, causing goalkeepers major issues in tracking while the ball is in flight. He's also happy to hit big diagonals to switch play, injecting some loop into the hit.
His dipping free-kick is a potent weapon, as he's able to drop deliveries from wide into sweet spots to attack—or go for goal himself, lifting the ball up and over the wall. During the UEFA Youth League this season, he's struck the woodwork several times from dead-ball situations and created many chances.
Rojkjaer leads the Youth League in assists (five), averaging one per game. He's also bagged three goals, making him one of the most valuable players in the competition judging by production. While his shimmy and ability to take a man on impresses, he's borderline unstoppable from set-piece situations.
Rui Pedro, FC Porto
Portuguese football finds itself in a peculiar position. For so long the national team have lacked any sort of central striker—an issue that plagued them at international tournaments until Fernando Santos found a way around it this year—and now it appears they've sprouted several options.
The foremost of said options, Andre Silva, is excelling for FC Porto this season, but slightly further down the pecking order sits a colleague by the name of Rui Pedro. He's scored in each of the four games he's played in the Youth League this season, twice bagging a brace to make a total of six, and he has managed it from 12 shots on target. Every other strike goes in; that's a serious conversion rate.
Pedro's movement inside the final third is phenomenal, and he outsmarts defenders twice his size with ease. He's able to create space inside the box remarkably well and often looks all alone despite standing right by the penalty spot—something that drives opposing coaches crazy.
Pedro has scored all manner of goals this season, ranging from one-on-one conversions to headed strikes and pot shots. His balance is phenomenal, and he's one of those "right place, right time" guys who always sorts his feet out first in order to smash home a loose ball in the box.
Fedor Chalov, CSKA Moscow
Fedor Chalov's brilliance in the Youth League has already opened the door to the CSKA Moscow senior side, with head coach Leonid Slutsky judging him ready for the next challenge. He's played portions of three Russian Premier League games and a full 90 minutes against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
His haul of five goals and two assists marks him as one of the most lethal forwards at under-19 level, but the latter statistic doesn't do his passing, vision or creativity justice. At times it seems like he has eyes in the back of his head, and he's able to create chances like few others in his position regardless of age.
Reverse passes, clever backheels and measured through balls seem to be his forte. He holds on to the ball to attract markers to him and open pockets of space, and his team-mates now know to dart into them at speed because of his ability to slip them in on goal. He creates clear-cut chances as frequently as he scores them.
Spatial awareness as strong as his is a rare thing in any footballer—particularly strikers—and some of the things he does in the buildup phase remind of the best creative midfielders to have graced footballing turf. To be able to boast that in addition to a calm, composed finish is quite something.
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