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In the world of professional football, few things are as valuable as talented young players and once a youngster shows signs of extraordinary talent, agents and teams fall over themselves in a bid to sign him and build their future around the player.
Phrases like 'catch them young' have been immortalized in the football lexicon while words like prodigy, whizkid, and teenage sensation are bandied about by the media.
History is littered with scores of prodigiously talented young forwards who displayed high levels of performance from their teenage years. Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, and Kylian Mbappe are some of the more notable examples in the last 15 years, while going further back, we find names like Ronaldo de Lima, Raul Gonzales, Michael Owen and probably the greatest of them all; Pele who all held their own on the highest stage from a very young age.
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The heightened pressure for success in the current era means that an ever-increasing amount of responsibility is placed on such young players, with little margins for error or development, and while some revel in the spotlight like Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford, others fall by the wayside (think Renato Sanches).
Every era ushers in its own crop of talented young players from whom much is expected and there are more than a fair share of teenagers in the game today who have shown an immense amount of promise.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting four teenage attacking sensations to watch out for in the coming season.
Also See : La Liga Transfer News, EPL Transfer News, Manchester united Transfer News.
#4 Callum Hudson-Odoi - 18 years (Chelsea)
Callum Hudon-Odoi shot to fame after playing a starring role when England finished as runners up in the 2017 UEFA European U-17 Championship and was also instrumental in their World Cup win at the same level a few months later. For his efforts in the latter competition, he was voted into the team of the tournament.
A Chelsea player through and through, the 18-year-old has been a part of the Blues academy since he was seven years old and helped the club to consecutive FA Youth Cups in 2016 and 2017 as well as the U18 Premier League in 2017.
Given his high-performance levels for the reserves, it was only a matter of time before the Ghanaian-English national made the step up to the senior team and his full Chelsea bow came on January 1, 2018, in an FA Cup clash with Newcastle.
Last season was expected to be the one where Odoi cements his stake in the Chelsea lineup, but despite showing promise on the occasions when he was played and making his international bow, Maurizio Sarri still showed a distinct lack of faith in his abilities.
The Italian gaffer's treatment of the Chelsea youngster was a major cause of consternation between him and the fans and seemingly concerned about his long-term future at the club, Callum Hudson-Odoi sought a way out of Stamford Bridge.
In what was a strong indicator of his esteem, one of Europe's biggest clubs Bayern Munich went all out in their bid to sign the 18-year-old, with the England international even handing in a transfer request all of which were turned down by Chelsea.
Eden Hazard's departure has opened up a world of opportunity for Callum and the appointment of Frank Lampard who showed a high affinity for giving young players a chance during his spell at Derby County bodes well for the youngster's chances.
Indeed, there are reports that Hudson-Odoi is close to signing a new contract with Chelsea, while he could also inherit Hazard's vacated number 10 jersey.
The 18-year-old is expected to feature heavily next season and Lampard would be hoping that he can step up as the club begins a new era post-Hazard.
#3 Vinicius Jr - 19 years (Real Madrid)
Vinicius Jr signed for Real Madrid just 10 days after making his professional bow for Flamengo at the age of 16 in May 2017 and belatedly arrived the Santiago Bernabeu a year later in July 2018 when he clocked 18 (which is the official age for international transfers).
His Los Blancos career, however, got off to a less than ideal start, as erstwhile manager Julen Lopetegui did not feature him at all and demoted the Brazilian to the reserve side.
Vinicius' stock improved massively upon the appointment of Santiago Solari and he was one of the figureheads behind the club's mini-revival in the winter.
By mid-March, Real Madrid's campaign was all but over with the club eliminated from the Champions League and Copa del Rey while they were way off-course in the La Liga race.
Amidst a bunch of criminally underperforming players at the Bernabeu last season, Vinicius offered a glimmer of hope to a despondent set of fans and he was one of only a handful of Real Madrid players who ended last season with their stock improved.
Though he still showed signs of immaturity and needs to work on his work in the final third, the Sao Goncalo native impressed everyone with his enthusiasm and willingness to run at opposition defenders
There is an intense competition for places on the Real Madrid attacking flanks and Eden Hazard's arrival has made it even more so, but big things are expected of Vinicus Jr in the coming years and you should pencil him down as one of the youngsters to watch out for next season.
#2 Jadon Sancho - 19 years (Borussia Dortmund)
The pristine organization and marketable structure of the Premier League mean that young academy English players do not need to go anywhere else. All they need to do is maintain a moderate level of consistency at youth level, get promoted to the senior team and they are guaranteed all the fame and fortune associated with the modern professional footballer.
This is a path well-trodden by thousands of players throughout history and is the reason why English players very rarely leave the shores of the British isle.
As an indicator, despite the popularity of the Spanish league, Kieran Trippier is set to be the only English man plying his trade in Spain's top flight in the coming season while only 20 of his compatriots have played in La Liga in its 90-year history.
Established and matured English players rarely move abroad at the peak of their powers and it is virtually unheard of for a young player to leave England. This has been given as a reason why the average English footballer is seen as technically deficient to their European counterparts but that is beside the point.
In leaving Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund, Jadon Sancho took the path of greatest resistance, making a huge leap of faith to the unknown and it is a decision that has reaped immense dividends.
The 19-year-old was unsure that his long-term future and development would be aided by remaining with the Cityzens owing to the abundance of talent ahead of him and moved to Germany as a result.
Sancho showed signs of his promise as he was slowly integrated into the first team in his debut season with BVB, making seven league appearances in 2017/2018.
He, however, exploded to life during the course of the last campaign, playing a starring role under Lucien Favre as Dortmund almost broke Bayern Munich's stranglehold of the Bundesliga.
In total, he appeared in all of Dortmund's 34 Bundesliga matches in 2018/2019, scoring 12 goals and assisting 14 times for his teammates and his form has seen him go on to become a full-fledged England international.
Dortmund have embarked on a spending spree to augment their squad ahead of their assault on the league next season and once again, Sancho would be crucial to their chances of going all the way.
#1 Joao Felix - 19 years (Atletico Madrid)
Less than a year ago, Joao Felix was turning out for the Benfica B side; but today he is the fourth most expensive player in history after completing a record-breaking €126m transfer to Atletico Madrid from the Portuguese giants.
In his first and only season with Benfica, Joao Felix impressed, scoring 20 goals from 43 matches in all competition for The Eagles to help them win the Portuguese Primeira Liga as well as make it to the quarterfinal of the Europa League.
In the latter competition, Felix scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarterfinal. He was aged just 19 years and 152 days, becoming the youngest player in history to achieve this feat.
His performances did not go unnoticed and virtually every top European club was linked with his signature, with Diego Simeone winning the race to become his next manager.
He impressed in his 30-minute cameo debut against Numancia in a preseason friendly fixture for Atleti before being substituted by injury.
The Colchoneros have undergone a massive squad overhaul as they seek to dethrone Barcelona domestically and Joao Felix is one of the players upon whom their hopes are hinged thus don't be surprised if he takes La Liga by storm.
