#6 Jason Denayer – Belgium
An impressive spell at Galatasaray on loan from Manchester City, combined with injuries to defenders Vincent Kompany, Dedryck Boyata and Nicolas Lombaerts, means that 20-year-old Jason Denayer now has an assured place in the heart of Belgium’s defence.
The RSC Anderlecht academy player first made a splash on the European scene with a great loan spell at Celtic in 2014, which culminated with the Scottish club winning the title and League Cup, and Denayer walking away with the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
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Nicknamed “the new Kompany” due to the similarities between both their career graph and their style of play, Denayer is a physically imposing, and fast ball-playing centre half cut from the same cloth as the injured Belgian captain whom he is replacing.
While the unenviable task of shackling tricky Italian forwards and an in-form Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the group stages might be arduous given his lack of international pedigree, a good showing could very well cement his place in the national squad and also guarantee a big future at the club level, and a chance to impress incoming Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
