Youth talents are always prioritised at top clubs across Europe and it comes as no surprise that some of the most successful teams have a strong academy filled with young prospects waiting to break into the first team. The youngsters form the foundation of clubs who look to build for the future and are nurtured with care in the hope that they become world class when they hit their peak.
But a select few players are worth far more than their counterparts and are already branded world-class when they are only in their teens. And clubs are ready to spend millions to bring them into their teams knowing full well that investing in players at such an early age will prove to be fruitful in the long run.
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Here are five players who were worth fortunes when they were just 18 years old.
5) Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – €15m
When looking for young players for their academy, it is not common for clubs to look for players in a separate country, let alone an entirely different continent. But that’s how special this little kid from Rosario, Argentina was and Barcelona, after initially hesitating, convinced his family to move to the city so he could play for the Camp Nou club.
After signing a contract that was written on a paper napkin, Messi joined La Masia and also had the club finance his growth hormone treatment. Soon, he was part of one of Barcelona’s greatest ever youth teams with players such as Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique for company.
Other clubs were starting to take note now and, while Fabregas and Pique left for Arsenal and Manchester United, Messi stayed and rose swiftly through the ranks to eventually make his senior debut for the club aged only 16 years.
In 2005, when he turned 18, Barcelona ensured he signed his first senior contract and coolly inserted a release clause of €150m.
4) Breel Embolo (FC Basel) – €16m
The Cameroon-born striker only just turned 19 in March but is already a player who is highly sought after. So good was the youngster that he was already playing for the FC Basel U-18 and U-21 sides – at the age of 16!
This season, he has scored 8 goals for Basel, including a goal in the Champions League against Maccabi Tel Aviv and two in the Europa League as well.
The striker was scouted by both Bayern Munich and Manchester United while VfL Wolfsburg even bid €27m for him in the January transfer window. The Bundesliga club’s bid was rejected – something Embolo himself was on board with as he looks to play a role in Switzerland’s Euro 2016 campaign.
3) Neymar (Santos) – €18m
When football fans saw a young Brazilian kid humiliating defenders with skill and trickery, they knew he was destined for great things. Santos knew they had a special talent on their hands – a player who could combine well with his teammates, beat defenders one-on-one or, in some cases, beat an entire defence with a solo run that even had rival fans watch on in admiration.
Making his senior debut at the age of 17, his exploits soon drew comparisons with Brazil legends such as Pele and Robinho. As he neared 18, he was already targeted by clubs around Europe. West Ham even had a £12m bid rejected.
He continued to play in Brazil when he was obviously too good for any of the teams in the continent. Soon, it wasn’t a case of if he would move to Europe but when. Real Madrid and Barcelona came calling and eventually, he followed in Ronaldinho’s footsteps and sealed a move to the Catalan club in 2013 to join forces with Lionel Messi.
2) Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) – €23m
When Sergio Aguero made his senior debut for Argentine club Independiente barely a month after his 15th birthday, praise came in from all quarters. In a country known for producing world class forwards, here was a player who had broken a record held by someone known as a God in those parts – Diego Maradona.
It would be his only appearance in the senior team that season, but he would soon play a lot more regularly before sealing a spot in the starting lineup. His final season with the club saw him score 18 goals in 36 games.
Atletico Madrid, a club known to produce prolific goalscoring forwards came in and broke their transfer record to sign him for €23m a few days short of his 18th birthday. He would go on to score 101 goals for the spanish club before moving to cash-rich Manchester City in 2011 for double the fee Atletico bought him for.
1) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – €37m
A hero was born when 16-year-old Everton forward Wayne Rooney scored a last-minute winner against Arsenal to end their 30-match unbeaten run in October 2002. “Remember the name, Wayne Rooney!” crooned the commentator Clive Tyldesley and nobody has forgotten it since.
His worth shot up when he won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2002 and an England debut at 17 saw him shoot to fame. His performances at Euro 2004 only confirmed that he was the finest youngster in his age group to be developed in England.
With Everton not showing any progress to challenge the Premier League’s elite, Rooney handed in a transfer request in 2004. He almost became a Newcastle player before the Merseyside club rejected their bid before eventually accepting a then-record bid for a teenager from Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson took him under his wing and the rest is history.
Market Values taken from TransferMarkt
