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12) Samuel Umtiti
Who is he?: Umtiti is a central defender. The 20 year old plays for Olimpique Lyon in Ligue 1 and has played for the French age level teams. He was a part of the side that won the U20 World Cup in the summer.
Back in 2013: Samuel Umtiti has been an established part of the Lyon team since last season. He has made a number of appearances for the side and almost always finishes 90 minutes for them. Umtiti has been a key part of the Lyon side that has been flailing. Umtiti featured in all of Lyon’s Champions League and Europa League games in mid-2013. Despite the side’s performance being under-par, Umtiti has been a shining star, gaining some valuable experience. He made 5 appearances for the French U20 team in their successful quest for the tournament victory. Sadly, he missed out the final after getting sent off in the semi final win against Ghana. Aside from the U20?s, he also featured for the U-21s in a couple of qualifiers.
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Looking to 2014: Umtiti will be hoping to continue his regular run of games for Lyon in the second half of the 13/14 season, and look to carry that into next season. He is sure to be a regular name in the rumour mills in the summer. A French senior team call-up will remain the objective, but that is unlikely until after the World Cup in Brazil.
11) Stefano Denswil
Who is he? Denswil is a 20-year-old centre-back, currently playing for defending Dutch champions Ajax, and is also a regular with the Dutch youth sides.
Back in 2013: Stefano Denswil spent the beginning of 2013 playing for Jong Ajax (the reserve team) and grabbing the attention of the youth coaches there. They were impressed enough with him to call him up to train with the first-team for the start of the 13/14 season. A month later he was given his first start for the senior side, and he hasn’t looked back since. He has established himself in the first-team, starting 10 of the next 12 games as Ajax rose to the top of the table following a slow start. In the 12 games that he has appeared in, Ajax have kept 7 clean sheets with Denswil an important stoke in that wheel. Denswil also started 5 of Ajax’ 6 Champions League group games, scoring a stoppage time equaliser against AC Milan at the Amsterdam Arena. 2013 also marked the year Denswil established himself in the Dutch U-21 side, starting all the 10 games he was called up for.
Looking at 2014: Having secured a place in Ajax’ first-team, Denswil will be looking to ensure another Eredivisie title and continue with the first-team the following season. As for most, Denswil will be hoping for that coveted call-up to the national team, obviously, post the World Cup.
You can read the Part 1 here
