Every season, many players around the world enjoy their breakthrough seasons and more often than not, these players are teenagers. Some of these teenagers quickly go on to become crucial first team players and some others take their time to settle in. Of course, not every player who breaks onto the scene goes on to become a superstar.
That being said, some of the best players there are today, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, started garnering fame as teenagers. Their fantastic performance at such a young age set them apart from the rest of the crowd and every season, there are a few teenage sensations from around the world, who stand out and make people take notice with performances that defy their age.
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The 2016/17 season was no different as some top class prodigies took giants strides forward in their career. So here is an XI comprising of the best teenage players of the season.
Disclaimer: Some of the players on the list turned 20 during the course of the season.
Goalkeeper
Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan)
The last few years have been really difficult for AC Milan fans but if you ask me what has been the silver lining for the Rossoneri, it’s the performance of their sensational teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
He shares the same first name as one Italy’s greatest players and arguably the best goalkeeper of the 21st century - Gianluigi Buffon.
Donnarumma, who made his debut for Milan aged 16 years and 242 days and has now gone on to make 71 appearances for the seven-time European Champions while also being capped thrice by the Italian senior team. The best part is that he turned 18 years old in February 2017.
The Italian stopper has started and finished all league games for Milan this season while keeping 12 cleansheets and also making 128 saves! His saves per goal is a mind-boggling 3.12!
Fullbacks
Benjamin Henrichs (Bayer Leverkusen)
Bayer Leverkusen had a horrible season for their usual standards as they finished 12th in the league. One of the bright spots of their season was the performance of their academy products Benjamin Henrichs and Kai Havertz.
Henrichs played 29 league games for Leverkusen in 2016/17 making 101 interceptions and 68 clearances. His brilliant progress with Leverkusen was also rewarded with a cap for Germany back in November 2016.
The German who turned 20 in February 2017, has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich as a long-term replacement for the recently retired Philipp Lahm.
Theo Hernandez (Deportivo Alaves)
Theo Hernandez spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Deportivo Alaves from Atletico Madrid playing 31 times in the league. He made 42 interceptions, 73 clearances, scored one goal and made 3 assists during his loan spell but most importantly, got himself on the radar of many of Europe’s top clubs.
The 19-year-old left back has been heavily linked with a move to Atletico’s rivals Real Madrid in the summer with many sources even reporting that a deal has already been agreed.
It remains to be seen if the rumours are true, but young Theo has earned his time in the limelight with a wonderful breakthrough season.
Centre backs
Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig)
Dayot Upamecano is another benefactor of the brilliant youth policy adopted by RB Leipzig and its sister club Red Bull Salzburg. The 18-year-old Frenchman was a part of Red Bull Salzburg’s squad from 2015 and went on to become a key player for the Austrian Champions this season before making a move to RB Leipzig in January.
The standout factor for the teenager is his composure and the ability to read the game so well at such a young age. He averages 3.37 interceptions per game and 6.89 clearances per game in the Bundesliga this season despite playing just 11 games!
Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)
Matthijs de Ligt was promoted to the senior team only in October 2016 but has already caught the attention of people everywhere.
The 17-year-old defender was instrumental in Ajax’s run to the final of the UEFA Europa League starting 6 of the last 7 games in the tournament and coming on as a half-time sub in the other. His personality and charisma has already endeared him to the Ajax fans.
During the second half of the season, he became a starter in defence in both league and Europa games. In March, he made his debut for Netherlands senior team despite starting only two league games for Ajax before his international debut.
Aged just 17, there is plenty of time for this young man to become a fearsome defender.
Central midfielders
Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht)
Youri Tielemans turned 20 on May 7, 2017 but that shouldn’t exclude him from this list. The Belgian International has already made 185 appearances for Anderlecht scoring 35 goals. He has also been capped thrice by Belgium which is quite incredible considering the abundance of quality midfielders in the Belgium national team.
Tielemans enjoyed the best season of his career this time around scoring 18 times from midfield in 53 matches. In league matches alone, he scored 13 goals and provided 11 assists in 37 games which was rewarded with the honour of Belgium’s footballer of the year award.
Anderlecht did well to keep hold of the highly-rated midfielder for song long but Tielemans has already completed his move to newly crowned French champions for the 2017/18 season.
Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Germany’s ability to keep producing talented midfielders is amazing and the latest to join this list is 17-year-old Kai Havertz of Bayer Leverkusen. He made his debut on October 15, 2016, becoming the club’s youngest-ever debutant and on April 2, 2017, he became the club’s youngest goalscorer when he scored against
Having made his UEFA Champions League debut in the first leg of the Round of 16 game against Atletico Madrid as a starter, Havertz famously missed the second leg as the date of the match clashed with the examination period at his school. Although it is a funny story, it also emphasises how much progress he has made at such a young age.
His style of play has drawn comparisons with Mesut Ozil whom he looks up to. Let’s hope Havertz can also become a player as a good as Ozil.
Wingers
Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund)
Ousmane Dembele is one of my personal favourites for the 2017 Golden Boy award given for the best U21 player in Europe. Dembele, who turned 20 a week ago, made sure Dortmund didn’t feel the absence of Henrikh Mkhitaryan who left for Manchester United.
He was irresistible to watch this season. In all competitions this season, he has scored 9 goals and provided 20 assists. He has created 63 chances in the league this season and completed 105 take-ons with an average of 4.64 completed take-ons every 90 minutes. To put that into perspective, Lionel Messi averages 3.78 completed take-ons every 90 minutes.
Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
Joining Dembele in this team is his clubmate Christian Pulisic. Although the American is two years younger than Dembele, he already has 13 international caps and 4 goals to go with it.
With the departure of Mkhitaryan, series of injuries to Marco Reus and the addition of Champions League football, Pulisic got a lot more game time this season. He scored 5 goals and provided 9 assists in all competitions this season despite starting only 22 games.
Pulisic was signed by Dortmund when Jurgen Klopp was the club’s manager and the German tried to sign Pulisic again at Liverpool. That speaks volumes about how highly rated this teenager is.
Strikers
Kylian Mbappe Lottin (AS Monaco)
This kid needs no introduction. Monaco’s teenage sensation, Kylian Mbappe, has taken the football world by storm after what has been a sensational breakthrough season. The 18-year-old forward has 24 goals and 8 assists to his name in all competitions this season.
Mbappe is also one of the nominees for the Golden Boy award 2017 and is sure to go head to head with his compatriot Ousmane Dembele for the prestigious honour.
The teenager made headlines when he scored five goals in four consecutive Champions League games against Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund to help Monaco progress to the semifinal. In the semi-final, he scored Monaco’s only goal of the tie and also became the only player to score a goal against Juventus in the knockout stage. That’s something the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr couldn’t do.
In Ligue 1, despite starting just 17 games and making a further 12 substitute appearances, he finished the season with 15 goals and 8 assists. This made him the fifth highest goalscorer and the seventh highest assist provider in the league.
Kasper Dolberg (Ajax)
Kasper Dolberg was spotted by Danish scout John Steen Olsen who also spotted players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Christian Eriksen for the Dutch club.
Despite playing only three games for Danish club Silkeborg IF, he became an important member of the Ajax starting XI in the 2016/17 season. In 37 starts and 7 further substitute appearances, he scored 22 goals for the Dutch giants but could only help them finish runner-up in both the league and Europa League.
Dolberg is one of the most promising players in the current Ajax team and it will be interesting to see how long they can keep the player on their books.
This is how the final team looks.
