B/R Football Ranks: The 10 Best Teenagers in World Football
April 6, 2020
Who is the best teenager in world football?
Up until a couple of weeks ago, the answer to that question was probably Jadon Sancho, the Borussia Dortmund dynamo who was on track for a 20-goal, 20-assist Bundesliga season until the coronavirus pandemic forced football to pause.
But March 25 saw Sancho turn 20, leaving his teens behind forever and creating a vacancy on the throne—a vacancy B/R has decided must be filled.
A shortlist of more than 40 sensationally talented teens has been reduced to 10 and then ranked on ability now. With Sancho, Joao Felix, Matthijs De Ligt and Kai Havertz all into their 20s, there's space for new names to rise to the fore.
Here they are; get acquainted with them.
Honourable Mentions
Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus, on loan at Parma)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
Sergino Dest (Ajax)
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)
10. Sandro Tonali, 19, Central Midfielder
Brescia
No one believes the Sandro Tonali hype more than Sandro Tonali himself.
Asked in October by Rai Sport (h/t Football Italia) to compare himself to an Italian legend, he went with multiple answers:
"It's tough to pick one of those champions. Maybe a mix of all of them would be perfect. I guess there are similarities with [Andrea] Pirlo in a way, but I also put a lot of grit in there, so maybe more [Gennaro] Gattuso."
Despite playing in a poor side, Tonali has stood out consistently this season, controlling play from deep, protecting the ball well and using both feet to distribute. He scored a glorious free-kick from close to the touchline against Genoa in October too.
He boasts some mobility that allows him to get about the pitch and stick a foot in, in addition to some maturity when competing in tough circumstances—Brescia are nine points from safety as things stand.
9. Gabriel Martinelli, 18, Forward
Arsenal
Martinelli is the epitome of your attacking X-factor. He is a question mark, has explosive unpredictability and is wired to do something—but you can never be sure what.
That he's got 10 goals this season in limited minutes illuminates the kind of impact he tends to have. Jostling for a spot in an attack containing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe isn't easy, but he's been more convincing than the latter two have over the past seven months.
You can play him left, right or centrally. It doesn't matter. Give him the ball, and he'll fashion something, clean or scruffy, when you need it the most—like his goal against Chelsea in January or his cross at the death against Southampton in November.
There's plenty of growing for Martinelli to do, particularly on the aesthetic side of his game, but a player who has his habit of making things happen so frequently is one you can earmark early for the top level.
8. Vinicius Junior, 19, Winger
Real Madrid
There's plenty of finessing for Vinicius still to do, but over the past year we've seen him start to make good on his sky-high potential.
He's heavily involved in games already, demanding the ball and looking to beat players. He's shown the speed, dribbling ability and X-factor that attracted Real Madrid to him in the first place, and he's started some big contests—El Clasico, the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg against Manchester City—and played well in them.
All that's missing, seemingly, is that finishing touch in the box. Once he develops a calmness in front of goal at the Bernabeu—something we have seen while he's wearing Brazil's colours—he'll be a true weapon, with something to offer at the end of his slinking, dazzling runs.
Right now, he impacts games; soon, though, he'll be deciding them.
7. Rodrygo, 19, Forward
Real Madrid
Certain players just look unfazed, no matter the scenario. Rodrygo is one of those.
Aged just 19, having not long moved continents and now playing at one of Europe's most intense and demanding stadiums, you would forgive him if he looked a little nervous.
However, he is calmness personified, and his polished skill set—inclusive of low, curled shots and whipped crosses—adds to that aura. He doesn't rush anything; all actions are measured and precise.
Rodrygo announced himself with a perfect hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League this season but has had to make do with a bit-part role for the most part because of the competition for places.
It seems only a matter of time before he's troubling Zinedine Zidane for weekly selection, though, and his clear bond with Karim Benzema will only help his cause there.
6. William Saliba, 19, Defender
Arsenal (on loan at Saint-Etienne)
2019-20 hasn't been the developmental campaign for Saliba that Arsenal will have been hoping for because of two injuries.
But the Frenchman's talent is not in question, and in the 16 starts he has made for Saint-Etienne this term, he's shown all the traits the Gunners fell in love with last summer.
Saliba's positionally smart, can recover if required, does well in the air and, crucially, looks smooth on the ball.
There aren't many centre-backs who emanate an ultimate calmness, but Saliba is one. It's the key reason why he is reminiscent of Raphael Varane and Virgil van Dijk at times.
Tucked away in Ligue 1, there are many who still won't have had a proper look at this kid. But he's excellent, and it won't be long before the world knows it.
5. Eduardo Camavinga, 17, Central Midfielder
Rennes
Along with Tonali, Camavinga's the only other player on this list who doesn't belong to one of Europe's biggest clubs—but you'd imagine that changes for both of them soon enough.
Camavinga won't turn 18 until November, yet he's already got a year of senior football under his belt. It was on April 6 last year that he made his debut for Rennes, finding his feet at the senior level before breaking out at the start of 2019-20.
He's averaged a combined 5.6 tackles and interceptions per game this season, is a good carrier of the ball from deep and keeps things pretty simple in the passing game. Retrieve, carry, lay it off.
At 6'0" aged 17, he's likely to grow at least a little more, meaning he'll soon cut an imposing figure striding through the centre of the park, locking things down—the kind of player every club wants and needs but not all clubs can afford.
4. Ansu Fati, 17, Forward
Barcelona
Fati has shown over the past eight months that he can kick it with some of the best attackers in world football without a hitch.
He boasts an incredible ability to wriggle out of tight situations, utilising both burst and brilliant ball manipulation to escape from markers. His shooting is good, and we've seen him score with both feet and from different ranges. He can either cut in and strike or hit the byline before crossing.
All of these traits have endeared him to Barcelona players and fans, but the simplest key to his early success is that he has a clear understanding and connection with Lionel Messi—one that €120 million man Antoine Griezmann has yet to develop.
All of this at age 17 is quite incredible.
3. Phil Foden, 19, Midfielder
Manchester City
There are plenty who are frustrated with Pep Guardiola's extreme tempering of Foden's City career, and when you compare it to what Sancho has achieved elsewhere, that's understandable.
Guardiola is adamant Foden will enjoy the career we expect him to, affirming that as recently as March after the 19-year-old stole the show in the Carabao Cup final win against Aston Villa.
It's performances like that which raise expectations and hopes and underline just how talented a midfield schemer he is. There isn't room for him in City's midfield, but post-David Silva there will be, and Foden's remarkable technical talent and tactical awareness will be on show more regularly soon.
Don't let the fact that we don't see him that often fool you; he is a 19-year-old central midfielder who is good enough to play for one of the best teams in the world.
2. Alphonso Davies, 19, Full-Back/Winger
Bayern Munich
Throw it back to October 2019, when the B/R Football Ranks podcast travelled to Munich to speak to Alphonso Davies, and he talked through the challenges facing him as he transitioned from winger to left-back.
"Left-back has to be one of the toughest ones; you need the stamina to defend and attack," he said. "Playing that position, you have to have a lot of endurance. Your positioning has to be spot on as well. If you don't look at your back line, and you're the last guy, you get hammered."
He admitted on the day that he didn't like the position—and has done since, on Instagram Live. Yet in April 2020, he is among the best left-backs in the world, and given his age (19), he's arguably the most valuable one.
He has the recovery speed, positional intelligence and inherent attacking instincts to be a force on the left—and as we've seen against top-tier opponents like RB Leipzig and Chelsea this year, he's putting those tools to work.
1. Erling Haaland, 19, Striker
Borussia Dortmund
It's tough to recall another example of someone making as instant an impact as the one Erling Haaland has early on in his Dortmund career.
A hat-trick off the bench on his debut, two braces in the games that followed and a double against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League—one of which was a true rocket of a strike—have given his side an extremely sharp edge and has transformed its image in the process.
It's the sort of impact only a star can make. Not a rising star. A star—one who is all too happy to take command of a situation and make the difference on a regular basis.
With the pause in effect, it gives teams a chance to get a little more savvy with his tendencies and a little better prepared for his calling cards: that eyebrow-raising blend of speed and strength, his near-post runs across the defender, timed to the nanosecond, and his range of lashed and caressed finishes.
Listen to Sam every Wednesday on the B/R Football Ranks podcast. Subscribe here.
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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