We’re counting down to the last 5 prospects who will have a major impact and have a breakthrough year which will certainly determine the future. To do so, a few criteria have been considered. Firstly, there are no specific age criteria but all are young players.
Secondly, all the players that have already been in the limelight in the past or are already at a good level with their club with no transfer on the cards that will evolve their careers. Some of these players are – Leon Goretzka, Max Meyer, Bernardo Silva, Ante Coric, Youri Tielemans, Marko Pjaca and Piotr Zielinski.
Following the list of the 20 hottest prospects to look out for in 2017 – Part 3 (10 – 6), here’s the final list from 5 to 1.
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#5 Manuel Locatelli
AC Milan has had a rather drastic dip in quality and stature in the last few years. The financial struggles have seen the club turn a blind eye on first team quality and cast their focus on getting past the financial hurdles. This move has seen them lose a couple of world class players like Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
They even managed to let slip one of the finest players in the world at the moment from their grasp, Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
But things are about to change for AC Milan. The reduction in expenses meant quiet investment in their youth system and the dividends are paying off now. Along with the excellent acquisition of AS Roma’s Alessio Romagnoli, since the start of last season, Milan has seen the rise of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Davide Calabria, and Manuel Locatelli.
While Donnarumma has grabbed an immense amount of limelight deservedly and is considered as the heir to Gianluigi Buffon. And this season, Locatelli has broken into the first team due to the injury to Riccardo Montolivo. From his first substitute appearance, he’s become a vital core to the team and fans are hoping that his spot does not go back to Montolivo.
Sitting currently in a defensive midfield role, Locatelli, despite his lack of strength, has been instrumental in the progress Milan has made this season. Their first victory over Juventus since 2012 has to be credited to him, for his jaw-dropping strike from distance.
Locatelli’s strengths lie primarily in his ability to tackle and break up play, but he also possesses the vision to find the right pass. This season is a breakthrough season for the young Italian, and the return of Montolivo in a couple of months should not dislodge Locatelli from the centre of the park.
#4 Kylian Mbappe
The player that is exciting French and AS Monaco fans all over is their latest prodigy, Kylian Mbappe. Like Locatelli, last year was the year that the 18-year-old broke through into AS Monaco’s first team and has been regularly involved in their season so far.
Hailing from a football background, Mbappe started in the youth academy of AS Bondy, before having a stint at one of the most famous institutions, Clairefontaine. The Cameroon native was sought after by a host of clubs including Real Madrid, but he chose the Principality of Monaco as his destination and stepping stone to achieving his goals. Roughly 13 months ago, at the age of 16 years and 347 days, he broke Thierry Henry’s record of being the youngest player to appear for AS Monaco.
Two months later, he broke another of the French legend’s records becoming the youngest goalscorer in the club’s history. Playing for the French U-19 squad in the European Championships, Mbappe scored five goals on the way to the title, which included practically single-handedly carrying France past Portugal in the semi-finals.
Now a part of AS Monaco’s first team, Mbappe has played in 11 games so far in the league, 1 in the French Cup and 25 minutes over three appearances in the Champions League. In the time he’s been on the pitch this season, the youngster has breached the opposition net six times, including a hat-trick in the cup and more impressively, laid on six assists as well.
The centre-forward, capable of playing on the wings as well, is a genuine threat in front of goal possessing an abundance of pace and dribbling skills while also being two-footed. His relatively unknown qualities are his exceptional passing, unselfishness and vision, as can be seen by his assists this season.
As goes with all talented youngsters, he has been heavily scouted by the bigger European clubs but for now, Mbappe is a superstar in the making and the next year will see him settle into the first team and setting the pitch alight.
#3 Gelson Martins
Much has been written of the emergence of a wave of potentially world class youngsters from Portugal recently. Their Euro 2016 squad put a few of those in the spotlight like Renato Sanches, Raphael Guerreiro, and Andre Gomes amongst others. A frighteningly good winger remains in the shadows, but not for long. Gelson Martins has deservedly got the top European clubs interested this season.
Any young winger bursting onto the scene in Portugal is compared to Cristiano Ronaldo. And so is Gelson Martins. Both have been developed at Sporting’s famous youth academy but Gelson instead is rather similar to another Sporting FC graduate, Luis Nani. Nani and Martins both have their origins in the island, Cape Verde, but besides geography, their playing style is rather alike.
Gelson is a tricky winger with incredible dribbling ability, providing accurate crosses and making inverted runs inside the box. Unlike Nani, Gelson possesses the strength to beat an opponent in a match-up of strength.
Like Mbappe, Martins has excelled for the Portugal youth teams, shining in the 2014 UEFA U-19 Championship as well as the U20 World Cup. He guided Portugal to the runners-up spot in the former tournament, grabbing a goal of the tournament contender on the way and his incredible quality was on display again at the World Cup where he scored a ‘trivela’ goal.
This season has seen Martins establish himself into the Sporting first team. As per whoscored, with a rating of 7.42 in Liga NOS, he has been Sporting’s second best player after Sebastian Coates. With three goals and six assists in 24 appearances, the winger may not be prolific but his importance to the squad is evident and he is on his way to becoming one of the finest talents in the game.
#2 Thomas Lemar
Yet another star has emerged from the Principality of Monaco this season. Monaco’s excellent 2016-17 campaign has seen some fabulous talents burst onto the scene and grasp their chances. It can be debated that the best of the lot is Thomas Lemar, a winger cum attacking midfielder that was prized away by Monaco from the Caen academy in 2015. As mentioned in the previous segment of this series of articles, France possesses some of the world’s best youngsters and Lemar is yet another proof of that statement.
Signed to replace the exciting Anthony Martial, Monaco has struck gold once again. As per whoscored, Lemar has been Monaco’s best player alongside Tiemoue Bakayoko, who is rated number 8 in this series, and his direct contribution in the attacking aspect has been exceptional.
A return of eight goals and five assists in 26 appearances have earned him a rating of 7.51 per game as per whoscored making him the 6th best player in the league.
In his first season at Monaco, he has settled into the team and established himself in the first-team setup. This season has shown that he is a pivotal figure in the squad, becoming one of their best players. Lemar has stepped up to the level and even exceeded the level expected of him in the past year and a half at Monaco, and there is definitely an even brighter future for him.
The next half of this seasons will cement his place as one of Ligue 1’s stars and he could even bag the player of the year award if he manages to help Monaco even further, by leapfrogging over first placed Nice.
#1 Alejandro Grimaldo
The number 1 prospect primed to attract the attention of all the top European clubs and fans across the globe is Alejandro Grimaldo. The Spanish left-back, currently plying his trade at Benfica, hails from the banks of Turia river in Valencia, Spain.
His youth career commenced at his hometown club, Valencia before he moved to Barcelona’s La Masia at the age of 13. Over the next seven years, Grimaldo established himself in the academy and became the youngest to appear in a Segunda Division game at the of 15 years and 349 days. He went on to amass 92 appearances for Barcelona B in the next four years and was also given the captaincy armband.
But at the end of 2015, Grimaldo publicly criticised Luis Enrique for not communicating with him even once and expressed his dejection of not being promoted to the first squad despite the injury to Jordi Alba. This led to him transferring to the Portuguese giants for just over a £1 million in January 2016.
The calculated decision by Benfica is set to reward them handsomely in the coming future. Until the end of the 2015-16 season, Grimaldo was limited to just a few appearances but his playing time has significantly increased in the current campaign.
In his 12 appearances this season, Grimaldo has established himself as the first choice at left back and has put in exemplary performances that have already garnered traction in the transfer columns. As per whoscored, Grimaldo leads the squad with the best ratings per game in both, the Liga NOS and Champions League, 7.77 and 7.35 respectively. His rating in the domestic league puts him atop the list of all the players in the league too.
He can be considered a modern full back that exploits the flank to support the attacking unit, and has scored two goals and two assists this season. But his defending statistics prove that he is more than capable at the back too. Comparing the players in the Benfica squad per game, Grimaldo has the third most tackles (2.4), second most interceptions (2.6), third least fouls given (0.4) and the most clearances after the centre backs (1.8).
To put it into perspective, his defensive statistics are superior to his former club’s first choice left-back, Jordi Alba in all the aspects. Granted that comparing two players in very contrasting leagues may not be justified, but it only adds value to the growth and potential Grimaldo has shown since leaving for Portugal.
Accustomed to the playing style of Barcelona, it is no wonder that Pep Guardiola is just one of the suitors knocking on the door of this prodigious talent.
