In recent years, the Belgium national football team has been blessed with an array of talent. Hailed as Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’, the squad consists of superstars like Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, arguably one of the finest defenders in the Premier League, Toby Alderweireld, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and so on.
Adding to this experienced bunch are potential world-beaters and wunderkinds already excelling at their respective clubs or are likely to do so in the near future. For the purpose of this article, any Belgian player aged 23 or below who is either already established in the club and national team set up or has bags of potential has been considered.
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#1 Romelu Lukaku
When a former team realises their mistake in selling a player and is interested in bringing him back to the club, it can be said that the player turned out to be special. Real Madrid activated their buy-back clause for Dani Carvajal a year after selling him to Bayer Leverkusen and more recently, did the same with Alvaro Morata. Similarly, Manchester United bought back Paul Pogba for a world record fee acknowledging their mistake in letting go a world class talent.
Chelsea let Lukaku slip away by selling him to Everton and as Ronald Koeman confirmed, Everton’s best bit of business in this summer was to stave off Chelsea’s interest in the £75 million-rated Belgian. It is a testament to his talent and development over the last few years.
Also read: 5 players sold by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea currently doing well in the Premier League
Whether it was on loan at West Brom, or at Everton, Lukaku has overcome his slight inconsistencies to constantly deliver and has now matured into one of the finest strikers in the Premier League, right behind the likes of Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa.
With 85 league goals since moving to West Brom on loan for the 2012-13 season and 22 international goals, Lukaku is a phenomenon in front of goal. And he is now being directly coached by Belgium’s assistant coach and one of the best Premier League strikers ever, Thierry Henry. Just 23 right now, and with over a decade of football left, Lukaku has a long way to go and can be pivotal for any Champions League team he opts to move to and for Belgium’s golden generation.
#2 Youri Tielemans
One of the most highly rated prospects in world football is the Anderlecht prodigy, Tielemans. A central midfielder by trade, Tielemans has been in the public eye for quite some time now.
The 19-year-old made his debut for Anderlecht at the age of 16 in both, the Belgian Pro League and the Champions League, becoming the youngest player to achieve the latter accomplishment. With over 130 senior appearances to his name, Tielemans is already a well-established name and is touted to become one of his generation’s best prospects.
The Belgian teen has been a back-to-back Belgian Young Professional Football of the Year while also winning the Belgian Talent of the Year award in 2014.
He is comfortable across all the central midfield roles, while also having a keen eye for goal with 17 so far. Akin to Santi Cazorla, he acts as the foundation of his team’s attack, usually playing a supporting role and not directly contributing upfront.
The world is at his feet, and soon he will have the choice to choose amongst the top European clubs his next destination on his road to stardom.
#3 Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco
Emerging from the academy at Genk, Carrasco got his breakthrough at Monaco during their ascent from a Ligue 2 side to Ligue 1 contenders. The Belgian prodigy was snapped up by Atletico Madrid for roughly €20 million in the summer of 2015.
Carrasco gradually grew into the team and Diego Simeone’s formation, but it took until the latter stages of the season for him to grab a spot in the first XI. On a personal note, Carrasco’s season ended on a high becoming the first Belgian to score in the Champions League final but all in vain as Atletico lost out in the penalty shoot-out to Real Madrid.
Carrasco, 23 now, has since become a mainstay in the national team as well as Atletico Madrid and has this season, been given an increased impetus to score goals in Simeone’s tweaked formation.
With seven goals in 15 appearances across all competitions for Atletico and three for Belgium since the Euros ended, Carrasco has truly risen to the occasion and is showing why he is so highly rated. His manager was quoted saying to Goal.com, “He has grown with hard work and sacrifice on his part, beginning to reach his potential.”
Carrasco, recently linked with Manchester United, is a hugely talented winger and is on his way to becoming one of the premium wide attackers.
#4 Michy Batshauyi
Michy Batshuayi, a trademark no.9, is currently serving as the backup to one of the most feared strikers in world football, Diego Costa. It has been a gradual rise for the Belgian from his days at Standard Liege to Marseille to London.
Since his early days, Batshuayi has been prolific in front of goal. Introduced in the Belgian Pro League at the age of 17, the teenage amassed 44 goals by the time he departed for the French coast. In two seasons in France, the Belgian notched 33 goals, 23 of which were scored in the second season alone placing him right behind the likes of Ibrahimovic and Lacazette.
Batshuayi has since taken a peculiar step into his ascension in the footballing world by becoming a big money signing for Chelsea but has been consistently on the bench this season. While more suitable moves were possible, this is just a minor blip in the rise of a striking beast fighting with Lukaku and Benteke for the Belgium starting spot.
#5 Adnan Januzaj
Another youngster to surface through the Anderlecht academy, Januzaj is one of two aspects that Manchester United fans look positively upon from the David Moyes era, the other being the signing of Juan Mata.
Inducted into the match-day squad for the first time by Sir Alex Ferguson for the manager’s final game in charge, the future looked bright for the then 18-year-old. David Moyes instantly valued the holding Reserve’s Player of the Year winner and provided him with his debut in the Community Shield.
Since then, Adnan has had a trajectory similar to the one Federico Macheda had in his United career. On his first start in the Premier League, the Belgian stunned the Sunderland faithful with two goals, including a splendid volley to inspire a comeback from a goal down.
His debut season earned him plaudits, a new five-year contract, and the No.11 jersey, famously donned by Ryan Giggs for over two decades. Since the departure of Moyes, Januzaj has hit a downward slump, in form and confidence.
He was shipped out to Borussia Dortmund on loan but had a miserable year and has now coincidentally moved to Sunderland on loan to revive his stagnating career. While there may be comparisons with Macheda’s career trajectory, Januzaj remains immensely talented and is just 21 years old. With time on his side, the Belgian should grasp this opportunity at Sunderland and attempt to forge a route into Mourinho’s plans.
