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Over the course of the 2014/15 season, we saw the emergence of many players around Europe’s top leagues and many of them even went on to have a breakthrough season. The likes of Harry Kane, Jose Gaya, Denis Cheryshev, Karim Bellarabi, Hector Bellerin and many more emerged from their shell labeled ‘promising’ to important first team players.Now the 2015/16 season is ready to kick into gear and all major clubs will be preparing for their pre-season tours. The pre-season fixtures give the youngsters at the club a chance to impress their managers and work their way into the gaffers’ first team plans for the coming season.Many such promising players from around Europe are on the verge of breaking through into the first team of their clubs. So here is a list of ten players who can have a breakthrough season this year.
#1 Jordon Ibe
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Club: Liverpool FC
Age: 19
Position: Winger
Liverpool signed young Jordan Ibe from Wycombe Wanderers when he was just 16 years old. The London-born winger played for the clubs youth squads before making his debut against QPR on the final match day of the 2012/13 season as a starter. Ibe put on a positive display in his first start for the senior side and provided the assist for the only goal of the game which was scored by Philippe Coutinho.
Ibe continued playing for the clubs U21 side during 2013/14 season while occasionally playing for the senior side. In the latter half of the season, he went on loan to Championship side Birmingham and played an important role in helping the club escape relegation.
Last season Ibe was loaned to Derby County, and he went on to score 5 goals in 20 games for the club and helped put them as favourites to gain promotion to the Premier League. However, Ibe was recalled by Liverpool in January and he made his first start of the season for Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby. The teenager was the standout performer in the game and was rightfully named the man of the match.
Ibe is likely to feature more for the Liverpool first team next season after impressing everyone at the club with his performance. If Raheem Sterling leaves the club in the summer then Jordon Ibe could make a case to fill the void left by the England International.
#2 Gianluca Gaudino
Club: FC Bayern Munich
Age: 18
Position: Midfielder
Gianluca Gaudino is a youth product of Bayern Munichs academy which has produced midfielders like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos in recent years.
The teenager, who is the son of former German International Maurizio Gaudino, was promoted to the first team for the 2014/15 season after impressing Pep Guardiola, and the youngster played the full 90 minutes in Bayerns German Supercup match against Borussia Dortmund. Later he made his league debut as a starter against VfL Wolfsburg, which made him the fourth youngest debutant in the clubs history and the Bavarians won the game 2-1.
The youngster made 11 appearances overall for the club last season, but 5 of them came as a substitute. Considering the progress Gaudino has made, Bayern and Pep Guardiola may give him more chances next season, but it may not be at the club as Bayern already have many quality midfielders and add to that, Hojbjerg, who is returning from loan.
Therefore, Gaudino could be sent on loan next season to another Bundesliga club, where he could make a huge impact, just like how Toni Kroos did on loan at Leverkusen and returned to his parent club.
#3 Sergi Samper
Club: FC Barcelona
Age: 20
Position: Defensive Midfielder
Although Barcelonas famed La Masia has produced many players like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and many more in the recent years, it has been a while since an academy player of the club went on to make a huge impact like the above-mentioned players and Sergi Samper could be the man who will finally break the trend.
Samper keeps possession comfortably, is confident on the ball and sharp in mind and these traits of his has drawn comparisons with Sergio Busquets, who is yet another successful graduate of the academy. However, his passing ability and range makes his gameplay similar to how Pep Guardiola played the same role.
The Spaniard made his debut for Barcelona as a starter in a 1-0 home win against APOEL FC in last seasons Champions League group stage match. He also made six more appearances last season and all of them came in the Copa del Rey.
Samper could be on the move in the summer to another club on loan as Barcelona B was relegated last season. So the club would certainly want the 20-year-old to ply his trade in the La Liga itself and come back to the club as a first team material.
#4 Almamy Toure
Club: AS Monaco
Age: 19
Position: Center Back
Born in Mali, Toure played with FC Bourget near Paris before joining AS Monaco as a 14-year-old. After successfully graduating from the clubs academy, he made his debut as a substitute for Layvin Kurzawa after just 35 minutes. However, his first start came as a surprise as he played the full 90 minutes of Monacos amazing 3-1 win over Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. He figured in a few more games for the club and also scored in a 3-1 win over Evian in the league.
Toure is a center back who is often played as a right-back by his boss Leonardo Jardim. The teenager can also play as a holding midfielder. Toure has pace and good passing in his armoury and has proved to be a good defender. In fact, despite his limited playing time, he has already attracted interest from top clubs like Juventus.
The teenagers playing style has drawn comparisons to his teammate Andrea Raggi, French Legend Lilian Thuram and Chelseas Branislav Ivanovic who was also converted to right back from center back.
#5 Hachim Mastour
Club: AC Milan
Age: 17
Position: Forward
Despite not playing a single minute of football for AC Milans senior side, Hachim Mastour is already famous among the football fans. He gained attention in a video for Red Bull, in which he competed in freestyle skills against Brazilian International Neymar.
Mastour is known for his incredible speed and brilliant skills on the ball. Omar Danesi, who is the Milans U17 team coach said that it is impossible to take the ball from Hachim.
Even though Mastour has never played a senior game at club level, despite making the bench once, on 12 June2015, he made his international debut for Morocco as a late substitute, aged 16 years and 363 days and this made him Moroccos youngest ever senior International.
Mastour may be young, but there are huge expectations surrounding the teenager, if the weight of these expectations doesnt hold him down, then we may see something special from the young Moroccan.
#6 Andreas Pereira
Club: Manchester United
Age: 19
Position: Midfielder
Born in Belgium to Brazilian parents, Pereira moved to Netherlands to play for PSV Eindhovens academy, before joining Manchester United in 2011. He was a regular for the clubs youth teams from U-18 level to U-21 and the teenager made his senior side debut in 2014/15 as a halftime substitute for Saidy Janko in a defeat against Milton Keynes Dons in the league cup.
Later in March 2015, the Brazilian also made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Juan Mata in the 77th minute, in a 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. At the end of the season, he was also voted as Manchester Uniteds under-21 player of the year.
Pereira represented his country of birth, Belgium, at youth levels, but he received a call up to the Brazilian U-20 side in 2014 and he made a switch to the country of his parents. In 2015, he was named in Brazils squad for the U-20 World Cup and he scored a brilliant individual goal in the final against Serbia to level the score, but his side eventually lost the game 2-1.
The youngster may not get plenty of opportunities at Manchester United next season, but a loan move to a Premier League club will do him a world of good and he could make a case for himself to represent Manchester Uniteds senior side in the future.
#7 Bertrand Traore
Club: Chelsea
Age: 19
Position: Winger/Center Forward
Chelsea signed Traore from French club Auxerre and loaned him to Vitesse in January 2014. The teenager was quick to impress people in Netherlands and went on to score 3 goals in 15 games for the club while predominantly playing on the right wing. But when he was loaned to Vitesse again in the subsequent season, he was deployed as a lone striker. His switch in position didnt cause him a lot of troubleand he finished the season with 17 goals in 36 games for his side.
Despite his young age, Traore has also represented his country, Burkina Faso, in 23 games and has also scored two goals for them. Interestingly his debut for the senior side came when he was just 15 years old!
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is a huge admirer of the teenager, but Traore had issues getting a work permit to play in England under the new Premier League rules, but Chelsea wanted the player to represent the team during the pre-season tour and managed to get his work permit ready.
If Traore can win the faith of his manager during the preseason tour, then he can expect some chances to represent Chelsea or he can expect a loan move to get a taste of English football.
#8 Martin Odegaard
Club: Real Madrid
Age: 16
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Martin Odegaard needs no introduction after his transfer to Real Madrid in January gained a lot of attention. The Norwegian attracted interest from many top European clubs and he went on trial with many of them before eventually choosing to join the Los Blancos.
Aged 13, Odegaard began to train with the first team of his club Stromsgodset in Norway and also had short training visits at Bayern Munich and Manchester United. He played in age categories much higher to his age at that time and in January 2014, it was agreed that the then 15-year-old player would represent the first team.
Despite not being able to train with the first team during day time due to his compulsory education, he eventually made his first team debut on 13April 2014, aged just 15 years and 118 days. This made him the youngest footballer to play in the Norwegian league.
Later that year, he was also called up to play for Norways senior team and in a game against UAE, he became the youngest Norwegian International. Around a month after that, he played for Norway in a European qualifier and this made him the youngest player ever to play in a European Championship qualifier.
Odegaard is quick-footed, well balanced, with pace and surprisingly good shooting ability for someone so young. After his move to Real Madrid, he has trained with the first team and reserves side before making his official debut in the final fixture of the 2014/15 season as a substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo. This made him Real Madrids youngest ever La Liga debutant.
#9 Kelechi Iheanacho
Club: Manchester City
Age: 18
Position: Forward
Manchester City hasnt given first team opportunities to promising young talents after their takeover, but Nigerian Kelechi Iheanacho may be on the verge of breaking into the first team.
Before the 2014/15 season, Manchester City visited USA during the clubs preseason tour, during which the teenager scored one goal each against Sporting Kansas City and AC Milan. But a delay in obtaining work permit meant that he was not eligible to play in England before February 2015.
Once he joined Citys academy, he joined the U-21 side and played in the FA Youth Cup final where he scored, but ended up on the losing side. Later he also scored the only goal as Manchester City beat Porto in the final of the 2014-15 Premier League International Cup.
Although City currently have plenty of strikers in their first team, neither Dzeko or Jovetic is sure to be at the club come next season. Under these circumstances, Manuel Pellegrini might be tempted to promote the youngster and give him playing time in cup games and hope that he can deliver. If the strikers performance in youth teams of both club and country and friendlies are anything to go by, then he could be a future superstar.
#10 Leroy Sane
Club: Schalke 04
Age: 19
Position: Forward
Schalke is famous for producing some of Germanys best players and some notable examples from recent years include Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer, Julian Draxler and Benedikt Howedes, and all of them are World Cup winners.
In addition to these players, the likes of Leon Goretzka and Max Meyer have also broken through into the first team in the last two seasons. So it wont be wrong to say that Sane could follow in the footsteps of these players to become another top player from the clubs academy.
Sane rose to the limelight during the clubs Champions League quarter-final away leg to Real Madrid last season. He came on as a substitute for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 29th minute and scored Schalkes third goal to level the game at 3-3 with a brilliant goal from outside the box that left Iker Casillas bamboozled. He also assisted Huntelaar for the final goal of the game as Schalke nearly gave Real Madrid a shocking exit. In addition to this, the extremely talented teenager has also scored 3 Bundesliga goals despite playing very few games.
The German club is known for giving opportunities to young players and if Sane is given more opportunities, then he could go on to make a huge impact for his side.
