20 Starlets Who Have Fallen off the Map in the 2014/15 Season

Here are 20 football prospects who have fallen off the map in the 2014/15 season.

Please note the following points:

• The prospect has to be aged 22 years or younger.
• The 20 players will be subjectively ranked via the degree to which their development has stalled relative to their projected upside.

Long-List Cuts

English centre-forward/central midfielder Nick Powell, 21, Manchester United.

Spanish left-forward Keita Balde, 20, Lazio.

French left attacking midfielder/centre-forward Hervin Ongenda, 19, Paris Saint-Germain.

Montenegrin central midfielder Marko Bakic, 21, Fiorentina.

German defensive midfielder/centre-back Niklas Stark, 20, Nurnberg.

20. Zakaria Bakkali (PSV Eindhoven)

PSV Eindhoven's Belgian right-forward Zakaria Bakkali, 19, may have switched to the left flank in order to succeed the departing Memphis Depay.

Bakkali's career path is hazy, whereas Depay is headed for the top at Manchester United.

PSV Eindhoven technical director Marcel Brands has frozen Bakkali out of the team.

"We have given [Bakkali] a good proposal and showed him a good view on the future. We won't do anything more," Brands said, per Voetbal International (h/t Gerrit van Leeuwen at Sky Sports). "It is yes or no."

Bakkali tried to strong-arm PSV Eindhoven, only to be made an example of by Brands, which serves as a warning to other promising prospects to extend their contracts or risk not playing.

19. Neal Maupay (Nice)

Nice's French centre-forward Neal Maupay, 18, has not scored a goal in Ligue 1 since March 15, 2014.

Maupay is a clear example of how strenuous it is to overcome an anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

It is proving to be career-debilitating for Maupay, whose career goals per game in Ligue 1 has now dropped to 0.12.

To think he was once scoring goals as a 16-year-old.

18. Josip Radosevic (Napoli)

Napoli's Croatian defensive midfielder Josip Radosevic, 21, arrived with the reputation of being a future world-class No. 6.

Radosevic was never given a start and averaged 13.4 minutes per Serie A game.

The silver lining for Radosevic is being loaned out to Rijeka, a club that resuscitated the career of Andrej Kramaric. 

17. Serge Gnabry (Arsenal)

Arsenal's German right attacking midfielder Serge Gnabry, 19, is striving to prove he can bounce back from injury.

He has a low centre of gravity, takes the ball past opposing defenders and looked like he would be Arsenal's next breakout star.

Next season is going to be make-or-break for Gnabry.

16. Bryan Cristante (Benfica)

Benfica's Italian central midfielder Bryan Cristante, 20, is proving AC Milan management right for offloading him.

You would have thought Cristante, a technically brilliant footballer, would have been a perfect match at AC Milan, a club in rebuilding mode.

But AC Milan thought otherwise. 

Cristante has been a squad player in his first season at Benfica.

15. Vitinho (CSKA Moscow)

CSKA Moscow's Brazilian right attacking midfielder Vitinho, 21, has endured a drastic fall from grace.

As a 19-year-old, he was worth €9.5/£8.1 million. Two seasons, 15 Russian Premier League games and one goal later, he is exiled on loan at Internacional.

He started 13.3 percent of games he was involved in at CSKA Moscow, which suggests he probably was not a signing approved by the coaching staff.

It might have been made by management thinking he would be a cash cow.

14. Bruma (Galatasaray)

Galatasaray's Portuguese right attacking midfielder Bruma, 20, was expected to be a star.

However, he has often been in the background. When he was given chances in the UEFA Champions League, he failed to capitalise. 

The same has applied in the Super Lig—he's scored once and provided two assists in 19 games.

13. Viktor Fischer (Ajax)

Ajax's Danish centre-forward Viktor Fischer, 20, has battled back from a long-term injury.

Fischer scored a brace in a 3-0 win over Cambuur up front after walking his mum onto the field on Mother's Day.

He is learning on the fly after being shifted to the No. 9 position.

12. Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United)

Manchester United's Belgian midfielder Adnan Januzaj, 20, has no set position.

Is he a No. 9, No. 10 or No. 11? 

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has raised the possibility of Januzaj being converted into a centre-forward.

But why change Januzaj's position when Memphis Depay, a natural scorer, is the more logical option of playing up front?

11. Salih Ucan (Fenerbahce)

Fenerbahce's Turkish central midfielder Salih Ucan, 21, has been granted so much free-time on loan at Roma.

What is the point of having Ucan in Roma's squad if he is not going to be given a chance?

Just 74 minutes of Serie A playing time over three games is not enough to determine if Ucan can make the grade in Italy's top flight.

This season has been a write-off for Ucan.

10. Doria (Marseille)

Marseille's Brazilian centre-back Doria, 20, is an example of faulty management. 

Surely, Marseille knew about the egocentric, prideful and "my way or the highway" approach of Marcelo Bielsa.

Why sneak Doria past Bielsa?

It makes no sense, because it is a wasted investment, and it ruined Doria's European experience.

"I found out about the Doria signing on Monday afternoon when he was arriving for his medical," Bielsa said, per Hamish Mackay at the Daily Mail. "I opposed it."

Bielsa won out and Doria is now on loan at Sao Paulo.

9. Otavio (Porto)

Porto's Brazilian central attacking midfielder Otavio, 20, is not seen to be up to the standard of Oliver Torres or Ruben Neves.

If Otavio was, he would have been given a chance to make an impression at Porto.

Grafting at Porto B, Otavio is now on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes.

Will his experience at Porto be as topsy-turvy as Juan Iturbe's?

8. Stipe Perica (Chelsea)

Chelsea's Croatian centre-forward Stipe Perica, 19, should have tried to overcome adversity on loan at NAC Breda rather than run away from his problems.

Yes, he is playing at a better and bigger club in Udinese, but he is not a focal point.

He is strong and skilful, but he is playing without any confidence. He is currently on an 11-game run in combined Eredivisie/Serie A play without a goal.

7. Timo Werner (Stuttgart)

Stuttgart's German left attacking midfielder/centre-forward Timo Werner, 19, is a dynamic footballer.

He looks the part and you see potential greatness in him.

Though, he routinely chokes in front of goal, which is a red flag if he wants to make it as a No. 9. 

Werner has only scored three goals in 1,620 minutes over 30 Bundesliga games this season, hence why he receives such negative coverage from German sports magazine Kicker.

He is placed at No. 208 out of 209 footballers in Kicker's Bundesliga player rankings.

6. Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord)

Feyenoord's Dutch central midfielder Tonny Vilhena, 20, has reluctantly accepted backing up Jordy Clasie, Karim El Ahmadi and Lex Immers this season.

Even though Vilhena has an all-round playing style, he is not seen as starting quality under Feyenoord manager Fred Rutten.

Unless Rutten gets fired, Vilhena needs to consider his future during the summer transfer window.

5. Lucas Ocampos (Monaco)

Monaco's Argentinian left-forward Lucas Ocampos, 20, is not thriving on loan at Marseille.

He averages less minutes per Ligue 1 game at Marseille (41.6) than he did at Monaco (32.8). He has been played across the field and has interchanged from starter to substitute.

His career will become more stable when he starts producing an end product.

4. Simone Scuffet (Udinese)

Last season Udinese goalkeeper Simone Scuffet, 18, was being compared to living legend Gianluigi Buffon.

Now Scuffet is backing up Orestis Karnezis under Udinese manager Andrea Stramaccioni.

"We studied a programme of gradual growth [for prospects] and [Scuffet understands]," Stramaccioni said, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia). "Even Buffon, after his great debut for Parma, went back to being behind Luca Bucci the next season."

It has been a disappointing campaign for Scuffet, who has the potential to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

3. Richairo Zivkovic (Ajax)

Ajax's Dutch centre-forward Richairo Zivkovic, 18, broke out for Groningen last season.

He scored 11 goals in the Eredivisie while starting 48.5 percent of the games he was involved in. This season, he dropped down a tier, playing for Jong Ajax in the Eerste Divisie.

Sure, he has scored 18 goals in 25 games, but he may feel it is a season lost since he has regressed instead of progressing. 

2. Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Shakhtar Donetsk's Brazilian left-winger Bernard, 22, has a multitude of problems he needs to address:

• Lack of stamina: drifts in and out of games and is generally the first player to be subbed off.
• Bernard is as mercurial as Jefferson Montero is for Swansea City. Montero is a journeyman, whereas Bernard was projected to be one of the best Brazilian prospects of his generation.
• Can Bernard's body sustain the rigours of top-flight European football? 
• There are concerns over Bernard's commitment

Bernard could be to Shakhtar Donetsk what Lucas Severino was to Rennes.

1. Julian Draxler (Schalke)

Schalke's German left attacking midfielder Julian Draxler, 21, made one irreparable mistake last October.

Hurdling Paul Verhaegh's challenge caused Draxler to tear his hamstring 10 seconds into Schalke's 1-0 win over Augsburg—he has been playing catch-up ever since.

This is why his rating from German sports magazine Kicker is unflattering.

He does not qualify for Kicker's Bundesliga player rankings, but his current rating in theory places him at No. 187 out of 210 footballers.

Draxler has scored two goals and provided one assist in 632 minutes over 12 Bundesliga games this season.

"We played really badly. I don't know what was wrong with us," Draxler said after Schalke's 2-0 defeat to Koln, per FourFourTwo. "You're not going to win games in the Bundesliga like that." 

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.