Ranking the best U-21 players in the world this season

Many top clubs seem to have realized about the rising importance of young players since Kylian Mbappe's breathtaking €180 million transfer to PSG. We even have witnessed several prodigies such as Joao Felix who has a colossal €120 million release clause despite not playing in any of the top 5 European leagues.

These young stars have experienced a start to the career which most players could only dream off. They have enough maturity and consistency to become the best player for their respective clubs, and some of them have even transformed into leaders who have led their sides to clinch major silverware this season.

Now as we are nearing the end of 2018/19 season, let's take a look at 5 wonderkids who have been on fire this season.

#5 Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Havertz has turned into a revelation for Bayern Leverkusen in recent years. He became the club's youngest ever Bundesliga debutant at the age of 17 years and 126 days when he came on as a second-half substitute for Charles Aránguiz in a 2–1 loss to Werder Bremen in the 2016/17 season.

More than a year later, Havertz became the youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to reach 50 appearances at 18 years and 307 days old, breaking the record previously held by Timo Werner. Despite his talent being noticeable since 2016, he shot into the limelight only during the 2018/19 campaign.

He has racked up a massive 16 goals and 3 assists in this year's Bundesliga despite playing mostly as a central attacking midfielder. He also became Leverkusen's standout performer in the European competition despite the club's early elimination in the Europa League's knockout phase, scoring 3 goals and assisting the same amount in the process.

An all-around playmaker who has an excellent dribbling, passing, and goalscoring abilities, Havertz surely has it all to become a future megastar.

#4 Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)

Many have believed that Pep Guardiola made the biggest mistake of his career after the Spaniard allowed Sancho to join Borrussia Dortmund in 2017. The English starlet was always enormously talented since his Manchester City Academy days.

He arguably became the academy's standout talent at the time due to his remarkable goal contributions. Bought by Dortmund for just €8.7 million in 2017, Sancho endured a difficult debut season in the Bundesliga, starting only 7 times under Peter Stoger.

Fortunately, he made a breakthrough in the 2018/19 campaign. Lucien Favre regularly put him into the first team, and the Englishman repaid his Manager's trust in an excellent way. The 19-year-old has transformed into one of the world's most wanted talents and has seen his value skyrocket up to more than €100 million.

He has racked up 11 goals in the Bundesliga this season and became the player with the most number of assists in the league at just 19 years of age. However, his Champions League spell was considerably less impressive compared to his domestic success as he just had a single goal and an assist throughout the competition.

#3 Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)

The Dutch defender is destined for big things

The Dutch starlet has witnessed such a successful season with Ajax despite his club crashing out in the Champions League semifinals. De Ligt started his career from the Dutch giant's renowned academy and has been with his boyhood club since.

He has quickly established himself as one of the world's most prominent defenders and guided Ajax to the Europa League final in his second season with the senior team. He also became the first defender to win the Golden Boy award in 2018 thanks to his outstanding displays.

A tall and imposing defender who rarely makes mistakes, de Ligt has led Ajax to the league title with the second best defensive record in the league. Apart from his impressive defensive strength and exceptional fitness, the Dutch talent also has outstanding leadership qualities.

He became the youngest ever captain in a Champions League knockout game at 19 years and 186 days old, commanding a bunch of veteran players such as Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone in the match against Real Madrid. The Ajax board recently confirmed his departure amid interest from numerous European superpowers such as Barcelona.

#2 Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

The French megastar has garnered considerable attention from the public since he was just a 17-year-old Monaco starlet. His sensational form at Monaco had led to his colossal €180 million transfer to PSG. He had a decent debut season at PSG, scoring 13 goals and providing 8 assists for his team in just 27 appearances.

However, he has seen his productivity skyrocket in the 2018/19 campaign as he amassed 30 goals and 7 assists from just 22 starts. Many even believe that the 20-year-old would end Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's dominance at the Ballon d'Or award someday.

He was one of the youngest players to win the World Cup with the French National Team, finishing the tournament as one of the best players in the competition, scoring 4 goals in the process. Mbappe also became arguably PSG's best player in the Champions League as he was directly involved in 9 goals throughout the competition.

Unfortunately, his wastefulness against Manchester United in the second leg of the Round of 16 tie ultimately ended his Champions dream for the current campaign.

#1 Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool)

The Liverpool starlet has been no less than sensational this campaign. His reputation has soared high since he got promoted to the Red's first team. He had endured some difficulties in his debut season due to the competition from Nathaniel Clyne, making just 18 appearances as a starter.

Fortunately, Arnold had a golden opportunity to cement his place in the team after Clyne suffered a lengthy injury. He did not waste the chance and quickly became Klopp's most reliable player at the right back as he left Clyne with no place to come back.

A pacey fullback who is equipped with a superb vision, Arnold racked up massive 13 assists in the Premier League alone, higher than any other defender in the league. He also became a standout performer in the Champions League and registered 4 assists from 12 matches.

Apart from his outstanding contribution towards the Liverpool's attack, his defending has been equally excellent as he has registered 2.1 tackles, 2.1 clearances, and 1.2 interceptions per game. Overall, he deserves to be on the top spot of this list thanks to his progress at both domestic as well as European competitions.

Edited by Debjyoti Samanta