Two young bucks that Manchester United – reportedly – like the look of make the cut this week, while there are also young, bright-eyed representatives from Germany, Spain and France.
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.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace) Age: 21 Position: RB
Key stat: 8 clearances in 1-0 win v Newcastle
The move would just make so much sense. Swap out a waning, aging, converted winger of a right-back in Ashley Young for a player more than 10 years his junior and at least 10 times the defender.
Against – an admittedly goal-shy – Newcastle the 21-year-old was imperious, as he has been so many times during his first full Premier League season.
The Magpies’ record buy, Miguel Almiron, was forced to cut inside or drop deep down Wan-Bissaka’s flank on numerous occasions, with Palace under sustained pressure.
Most tackles in Europe's top five leagues this season:
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 8, 2019
🥇 W. Ndidi -- Leicester (123)
🥈 I. Gueye -- Everton (121)
🥉 A. Wan-Bissaka -- Crystal Palace (115)https://t.co/BwvcOK7fm0 pic.twitter.com/4h3NCim5kz
There’s an air of mystery around the England hopeful’s attacking prowess – he has only provided two assists this campaign, and has never had a shot in anger in the EPL.
However, United’s defence is hardly water-tight, and his 115 tackles and 105 clearances this campaign alone in a bottom-half battling Palace side should be two of the key stats that matter for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this summer.
Youri Tielemans (Leicester) Age: 21 Position: CM
Key stat: 5 goals or assists in last six games after 4-0 win v Huddersfield
Youri Tielemans makes back-to-back appearance in Weekend Wonderkids and it’s easy to deduce why.
While Huddersfield have been less Premier League and more Championship fodder for some time, the way Tielemans has been playing for the last two months, he has proven a match for any midfield in the division.
His wicked curling effort – bamboozling Ben Hamer between the sticks – kicked off the 4-0 rout, but his impact in Leicester’s team goes far beyond mere strikes and assists.
The 21-year-old’s calming presence in midfield opens up space for No10 James Maddison, only 22 himself, whose debut top-flight season has only got better since dovetailing with his Belgian team-mate.
That price tag to prise him from Monaco is going up by the week, as is the number of suitors …
Jean-Philippe Mateta (Mainz) Age: 21 Position: ST
Key stat: 3 goals from just four shots in 5-0 win v Freiburg
It’s hard to miss Jean-Philippe Mateta, even when he’s not scoring hat-tricks. Mainz’s record signing, arriving from Lyon in a deal last summer that could top out at €10m, is 6ft 4in of mostly muscle.
The conversion from Ligue 2 striker to Bundesliga hotshot – he was on loan at Le Havre this year – has not been all smooth sailing, but he put on a clinic of clinical finishing against Freiburg.
Mainz only had 29 per cent possession when all was said and done on Friday, but Freiburg’s defenders couldn’t cope with Mateta’s movement all the same.
The Frenchman first rounded goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow before supplying two clinical close-range finishes. Now in double figures for the year and Mainz almost safe, this could be the confidence booster he needed.
In-form #Bundesliga partnerships 🤝 (season stats)
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) April 8, 2019
Jovic & Rebic
2️⃣6️⃣ goals, 9️⃣ assists
Kramaric & Belfodil
2️⃣8️⃣ goals, 5️⃣ assists
Kruse & Rashica
1️⃣8️⃣ goals, 🔟 assists
Mateta & Boëtius
1️⃣2️⃣ goals, 6️⃣ assists pic.twitter.com/Ru434uLw0B
Juan Soriano (Sevilla) Age: 21 Position: GK
Key stat: 4 victories from four La Liga starts after 2-0 win v Real Valladolid
Soriano will set up camp on the bench again sooner rather than later, but Tomas Vaclik will be peering over his shoulder a little more frequently despite his fine season to date.
The Czech stopper’s recent injury problems have supplied chances to the Andalusia-born Soriano, and the hometown boy produced arguably his finest performance yet in a match that Sevilla were lucky to escape with three points from.
Relegation-battling Real Valladolid pelted Sevilla with all they had, particularly in the first half, and Soriano’s vigil between the sticks is a key reason why they remain just one point behind fourth-placed Getafe.
The 21-year-old’s technique was a little, shall we say, unorthodox at times, electing to punch occasionally when the catch was there. But he made up for one instance with a fine save from a snapshot, and went on to improbably claw another strike from Ivi away from goal.
An able understudy could soon become a La Liga fixture.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide (Angers) Age: 21 Position: AM
Key stat: 28 games without a goal before double in 3-3 draw v Rennes
The only piece of action you’ll have likely seen from this game is the one orchestrated by Hatem Ben Arfa, who despite pouring most of his talent down the drain, can still turn defenders’ legs into liquid on his day.
But Rennes didn’t win – and one of the reasons why is down to a name who will likely only be familiar to Arsenal fans – Jeff Reine-Adelaide.
The France Under-21 international made a few humdrum cup appearances for the Gunners before skulking off to Angers, but on Saturday the former Lens youth product showed why he earned a (brief) stay in London.
After Ben Arfa’s outrageous solo show-off, Reine-Adelaide took centre stage. He showed he can shimmy, too, before unleashing from a narrow angle to level the score up. That was with his left. With his right, he then whipped in a delicious ball to serve up Stephane Bahoken with an easy header.
Reine-Adelaide has similar gameplay/running style as Pogba. He'll blossom now he's getting games in midfield.
— RGA (@Regista_EN) April 8, 2019
Angers found themselves down again deep into injury-time but the midfielder stood up again. Confusion reigned from a set-piece but the 21-year-old anticipated the ball at the far post to nod home.
He may not be as talented as Ben Arfa, but Reine-Adelaide would have half a chance of stardom if he found the consistency.
