Weekend Wonderkids: Arsenal target Havertz, Real Madrid destroyer Douglas Luiz make cut

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • A Manchester City loanee who rattled Real Madrid, and a Real Madrid loanee who broke a long goal-scoring duck, make the grade in the latest edition of Weekend Wonderkids.

    The aim of this column is to shed light on the players, aged 21 or under across Europe’s top five leagues, who aspire to lead the game into a bold new era.

    The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Rashford and Ousmane Dembele are sure to regularly pop up but as every week passes, we hope to sift out a few starlets who may have gone unnoticed.

    Without further ado, here’s our five picks from last weekend’s action.

    DOUGLAS LUIZ (Girona)

    Key stat: 91 per cent pass accuracy, better than Toni Kroos, in 2-1 win v Real Madrid

    The one – and perhaps only – problem Pep Guardiola is itching to solve at City is how to replace Fernandinho when Father Time finally stops the clock on his midfield lynchpin.

    Douglas Luiz is beginning to present himself as a viable answer. Much to Pep’s ire, the Brazilian was forced to go on loan to Girona for the second straight season after he was refused a British work permit over the summer.

    The 20-year-old had thus far not produced a campaign that suggests he would seamlessly fit into City’s midfield – indeed he has committed more fouls than made successful tackles in La Liga.

    But where better to prove your worth than at the Bernabeu. Luiz retained the ball better than anyone on the pitch, with more than 90 per cent of his passes finding a Girona shirt despite going up against all-star midfielders Toni Kroos and Casemiro.

    If he wasn’t passing around them, he was dribbling – completing five successful ones – and delivered a couple of timely interventions in defence, too.

    He also sparked the move that led to Portu’s winner for Girona. On this evidence, City will be winners next season – as long as he’s let into the UK.

    BORJA MAYORAL (Levante)

    Key stat: First league goal in 2019 in 4-1 win v Celta Vigo

    At least someone with Los Merengues connections was having fun this weekend. Long overdue fun, too, as Mayoral’s stat sheets were beginning to gather dust thanks to a dry patch in front of goal.

    The 21-year-old had to wait until the 89th minute against Celta Vigo to end that particular rut, shifting feet expertly before burying from a tight angle. The 88 minutes that preceded the goal were rather good as well.

    Mayoral dropped deep to split open the midfield in a move that led to Jose Luis Morales’ opener – it was almost Benzema-esque – and he again showed his tenacity to win the ball before making a precision assist to Morales for the third.

    It was the complete striker’s performance and Celta simply could not keep up with him, bringing the Spaniard down four times. One wonders where this version of Mayoral has been hiding all season.

    He shouldn’t rest easy, though. Mayoral must deliver many more times between now and May to convince Madrid he’s worth a long-term space among their cluster of stars.

    KAI HAVERTZ (Bayer Leverkusen)

    Key stat: Fifth goal in six league games in 2-0 win v Dusseldorf

    No Bayer Leverkusen player has racked up more minutes in the Bundesliga than the 19-year-old Kai Havertz. Perhaps no player in German football shows more promise.

    The teenager’s willowy frame certainly has space to fill out, but his shoulders are broad enough to carry Leverkusen to the fringes of the top four and he delivered another fine display against Dusseldorf.

    Of late, Havertz has been operating deeper in midfield and it has offered him more influence over proceedings without taking away his natural goal-scoring instincts.

    The unique beauty of his play lies in his intelligence and timing. For his goal, he calmly laid the ball off to his defence before sauntering up field. The languid playmaker still didn’t look like a threat until the shortest of bursts saw him latch onto Kevin Volland’s cross.

    If rumours are to be believed, Arsenal want him to replace Mesut Ozil in the summer. Intriguing for infuriating? Sounds like a fair swap.

    FEDERICO CHIESA (Fiorentina)

    Key stat: 5 key passes in 4-1 victory v SPAL

    SPAL were in thrall to Federico Chiesa on Sunday. According to whoscored.com, the rising Italy star totalled five key passes and three successful dribbles in a performance that gave opposition wing-back Mohamed Fares fits.

    That’s not what his display will be remembered for, though. The 21-year-old was at the epicentre of a VAR storm when a goal was not only ruled out for SPAL, but a penalty awarded for Fiorentina at the other end.

    A typical jinking Chiesa run ended with him being fouled in the penalty box, but referee Luca Pairetto let play on before consulting VAR – and play was only stopped when SPAL scored. From potentially 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go, SPAL crumbled to a 4-1 defeat.

    The VAR incident

    Chiesa’s performance was a fine one all-round. Shoulders hunched and head down, the son of Enrico often looks a little awkward on the run – but not as awkward as his opposite number. One standout moment came when he turned Fares inside out and hurtled a ball towards the back post, only for Marco Benassi to somehow contrive to miss it.

    Early in the game, he was guilty of stopping to admire his pass when he could have converted a rebound. We’ll let him off the hook this time …

    MAXIME LOPEZ (Marseille)

    Key stat: 101 touches in 2-0 victory v Amiens

    Maxime Lopez makes distribution looks so easy at the base of Marseille’s midfield.

    Of the 21-year-old’s 85 attempted passes, 81 found the intended target as OM dwarfed Amiens in the possession stats by 60 per cent to 40. One of those balls teed up Florian Thauvin to crash home Marseille’s opener.

    Mario Balotelli’s arrival from Nice is the headline act, but much of the Ligue 1 club’s upturn in form can be put down to Lopez’s usage alongside the impressive Morgan Sanson in Rudi Garcia’s newly implemented 4-4-2.

    Dimitri Payet has quite frankly been a waste of space in a No10 role and his injury has forced a reshuffle, with the versatile Lopez so far providing more than enough creativity from deep.
    NEW wonderkids

    Recommended