5 best young players according to the Ballon d'Or rankings

#2 Kylian Mbappe

Age: 18

Rank: 7th

Kylian Mbappe was not just the youngest player to make the final 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or over the course of the last year – he was the youngest by a long, long way. No-one else in the top 30 was even under the age of 24.

The Paris Saint-Germain attacker made his splash primarily with Monaco at the start of a year in which he broke through in the most spectacular fashion possible. He muscled his way into the starting XI of the principality side, became prolific both in Ligue 1 and the Champions League and helped his club to an unexpected domestic title.

So enthralled were PSG by the young attacker, they signed him on loan at the end of the summer transfer window, with a promise to pay the Stade Louis II side a whopping €160 million before bonuses at the end of the campaign.

Mbappe’s statistics since moving to Parc des Princes might not be quite as spectacular as they were back in Monaco, but he has been asked to play a different role, offering more support to Edinson Cavani and Neymar.

However, when given the chance to take the spotlight, when Neymar has been missing, for example, he has not let head coach Unai Emery down.

Quite simply, he is the most exciting young player in the world today.