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#3 Mason Mount | England, Chelsea
England didn’t play particularly well against Scotland in their second Euro 2020 encounter, but the fact that Mason Mount still managed to stand out is a startling example of his quality. I have huge admiration for him because he was as effective as he could be in the circumstances. Looking back on the game, he took the corner that led to John Stones clattering the upright from close range and kept on probing as the game went on. He gave England moments of hope with his refusal to accept the mediocrity around him in that game, as he attempted to find pockets of space to provide the incision they lacked.
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Earlier, I described him as an all-rounder, but he’s gone higher in my estimation. Wherever you play him, you get consistency and a performance from him, which is largely down to his sense of intelligence and versatility. My respect for Mount is growing hugely with each passing game. He’s a household name in England and the rest of Europe after winning the UEFA Champions League, but the more I watch him, the more I see a talent with real depth to his game.
He’s got layers of talent. When you pull one layer away, you’ve got another one waiting and it’s something different. Mount is very hard to shake off the ball and works extremely hard to win it back, all this while also having an awful lot of natural ability in between. He’s very versatile and composed regardless of where he ends up on the pitch.
He’s already up there, but he could develop into a magnificent talent for England as Euro 2020 enters its business end. If he can do something remarkable like score a worldie or pop up with an important goal, that will elevate his profile across the continent. I bow in respect to Mason Mount - the more you ask of him, the better he delivers.
#2 Youri Tielemans | Belgium, Leicester City
Youri Tielemans has a great chance to take his game to the next level at Euro 2020. He’s coming on the back of an outstanding season with Leicester City where he made his mark in the FA Cup final with a wonderful goal to decide the game against Chelsea. He’s already put himself out there, but if you look at the Belgium squad at Euro 2020, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku are bigger names than him.
I watched him at Monaco in his younger days and remember him being a little erratic with his passing. He’s always had great shooting prowess with both feet, but some of his basic passes used to go astray. He’s developed a passing maturity in the Premier League and Brendan Rodgers would’ve definitely had a say in his development so far.
When you look at Leicester City, their wing-backs are involved in the game heavily, which is pretty much the case for Belgium at Euro 2020. He’s got Jamie Vardy to find at club level and another top-class striker in Romelu Lukaku to feed with his long passes for his country, while his role in midfield also allows De Bruyne to move further forward.
I think Tielemans has the belief to dictate the Belgian midfield and how it operates. There’s venom in his feet - he can hit the ball purely and can be a big threat even from 30 yards out. He was rested against Finland with one eye on the Euro 2020 knockouts, as they sat back and sent Belgium sideways for large parts of the game. If he had played, you’d have seen him have a pop or two from distance because he’s a sweet striker of the ball.
There’s a lot of quality players and forward movement around him, so the stage is perfectly set up for him to play a telling role for Belgium in the knockout stages of Euro 2020. I really like him and the game he provides, he’ll look to feed off the talent around him while also adding to his own name and stature in the games ahead.
#1 Pedri | Spain, Barcelona
I think Pedri, from what I’ve seen of him at Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League and Spain at Euro 2020, has made remarkable progress in such a short span of time. He’s a Tenerife lad schooled in a Barcelona team, which has helped him adapt seamlessly to life at the Camp Nou. He played more games for Ronald Koeman last season than most players and has become a key player for Spain at Euro 2020 at the age of 18, which shows how good a talent he is.
The likes of Thiago Alcantara and Koke, who are senior pros and fantastic players in their own right, are being made to sit on the bench, with Pedri being preferred to pull strings in midfield. His reputation is growing fast - he’s got lovely natural ability on the ball and really good footwork. He’s quick on the turn and really crisp in the way he keeps things ticking. Most of all, Pedri is very calculative and has exhibited outstanding spatial awareness - he knows where his next pass is going to be even before the ball reaches him.
He’s also got that desire to be first on the press and win the ball back for his side, which is once again a testament to his education at Barcelona in the past year or so. Coming to his role for Spain at Euro 2020, there seems to be a clear disconnect between midfield and attack. There’s no chemistry there, as Alvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno are not on the same wavelength as him. I’m more inclined to look at the attack as the problem, as Spain have created plenty of chances at Euro 2020, but they’ve scored just one goal so far.
They can seal qualification to the knockout stages of Euro 2020 with a victory against Slovakia, so I’d be really surprised if they leave Pedri out for the game. He’s a lovely operator who is neat on the ball and cheeky with his movement, his ability to find a pass could be crucial to Spain and their hopes of progressing further in the competition.
His elevation in terms of superstardom might not necessarily happen at Euro 2020, but trust me, it will happen. The foundations have already been laid, we’re talking about an incredibly gifted 18-year-old footballer who is a key player for club and country.
As I said earlier with Nicolo Barella, some players just attract your attention, and Pedri is definitely another one of those for me. I wish each of these players the best, I hope they do great things and announce themselves to the rest of Europe and the wider world with their performances at Euro 2020, they deserve it for what they’ve done so far.
Also Read: David James ranks the top 5 favorites to win Euro 2020
