World Football: International Stars Ready to Burst onto the European Scene

It's impossible to cover every player who is touted as the next success story. That's what youth academies are for, and every club is in search of the “next” someone.

Be it established stars like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, or emerging talents like Neymar, it's important to be ahead of the competition and sign the brightest prospects at the earliest possible stage.

Unleashing them onto the rest of the world is the next step.

This article picks out three players who are making noise for their clubs and countries, just not at senior level. Not yet, anyway.

Douglas Baggio, Flamengo

In 2012, 17-year-old Brazilian Douglas Baggio de Oliveira Costa scored 72 goals in 53 games. That's impressive, no matter who he plays for. He also emerged from the Copa Rio Championship as the top goalscorer, cementing his place as a player to watch.

He's risen through the ranks to knock on the door of the Flamengo first team, and his development continues to impress. There's absolutely no reason why he can't rise to the same heights as countrymen Ronaldinho and Kaka, and it's Ronaldinho who he most resembles.

He is blessed with great vision, has impressive touch on his passes and has already demonstrated a keen eye for goal. Baggio is contracted at Flamengo until 2015, so his next move will be crucial.

Does he follow Adryan and Mattheus into the Flamengo first team and build his game up with the club that has mentored him, or take a chance and make a move to Europe, taking up one of the big-money offers that will inevitably be thrown his way?

Watching him play, there's no doubt that he could be a success in Europe. He has all the tools to take on the world stage, and has dominated every level of competition so far.

There have already been reports linking him with Real Madrid and Chelsea, which may be a little premature, but there’s no limit to what Baggio could achieve.

Gerard Deulofeu, Barcelona

When Manchester City and Chelsea are reportedly trying to sign a player away from Barcelona’s B team—via The Daily Mail—there’s a fair chance that this player is something special.

Gerard Deulofeu is definitely that.

It’s no surprise to anyone that Barca’s excellent commitment to La Masia has yielded another brilliant prospect, but the speed with which Deulofeu has developed has been particularly impressive.

He signed a sponsorship deal with Nike aged 14, he rose rapidly through the Barcelona ranks and the comparisons to Lionel Messi started to follow him around. What separates him from the other young talents is the way he has adapted his game to cope with each new level of competition.

When he was promoted to the Barcelona B team—at age 17, an achievement in itself—he quickly recognised that the tricks he previously used to great success were unlikely to work at this level. This can be the undoing of a lot of hyped players, and they sometimes struggle to make the adjustments to their game, derailing their confidence in the process.

Not Deulofeu, however. He studied the game and worked on his vision, which enabled him to keep possession without resorting to a thousand step-overs. His form has continued unabated, with 18 goals from his first 28 appearances in the Spanish Segunda this year.

It’s important that Barcelona protect Deulofeu from the media, so it may be a little longer until we see him on the biggest stage. He’s made one senior appearance so far—as a substitute for David Villa in October last year—but his coaches are understandably keen to let him develop at his own pace.

Max Meyer, Schalke 04

Max Meyer has a big challenge ahead of him. Following the likes of Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Julian Draxler is no easy task, yet Meyer has surpassed all expectations so far.

At 17, he is the youngest prospect on this list, but age hasn’t been any kind of barrier to him. He made his Bundesliga debut in February, and with the departure of Lewis Holtby, the stage could be set for Meyer to make his mark on the league.

Meyer’s danger lies in his combination of great close control and excellent instinct. What is often painfully referred to as a “high football IQ” allows him to survey the game while on the ball, making good decisions with passes and getting into the right position to score.

Despite his age, he’s probably the most likely player on this list to see regular first-team action. Schalke would benefit from a player of his skill getting minutes under his belt, and even if he’s not starting games he’d make a useful impact player off the bench.

He has the skill, the ambition and—most crucially—the composure to handle the big fixtures.

In other words, he’s ready.