The 10 best young players of the season

Martial has been exceptional this seasonEvery year we see several young talents spring across the European continent. Some have gone on to become great players and masters of their respective positions. Others have faded away due to a drop in form or suffering several injuries.There is no greater joy for a club when they see one of their own grow from being a youth prospect to a mature and well-rounded player. These days youngsters have begun to play a crucial role in their teams, some of them showing maturity well beyond their age.So we take a look at the best 10 youngsters to have stood out this season

#10 Gianluigi Donnarumma - AC Milan

We start off with the youngest member on this list. At 17, Gianluigi Donnarumma is living the dream representing the club he passionately supports. His performances have been so impressive that he has effectively displaced the experienced Diego Lopez as Milan’s first choice between the sticks.

Keepers are generally considered to get better with age but that rule apparently does not apply to this young phenomenon. The stopper has been a pitcher of concentration and consistency every time he has been handed the responsibility.

In 20 appearances he has conceded only 16 goals and has 7 clean sheets to his name. Italian great Gianluigi Buffon also lauded his performance after seeing him in action when Juventus played Milan.

Donnarumma also became the youngest ever keeper to start a Serie A match when he was 16 last year. There is no doubt he will follow in Buffon’s footsteps if he continues to perform at this level of consistency

#9 Aymeric Laporte - Athletic Bilbao

Aymeric Laporte’s stock has risen quite incredibly over the last year and a half. A product of the famous Basque academy in France, Athletic Bilbao picked him up at a very young age. His talent was there for all to see and he has quickly become a first team regular at Bilbao.

The Centre back has amazing agility and is a fine reader of the game as well as being a brilliant interceptor of the ball. His speed also enables him to recover quickly in tough situations.

Laporte also shows composure on the ball and has a fine passing ability. These attributes have led big clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid to chase his signature. Manchester City are the latest to try and sign the youngster with the club hoping Pep Guardiola will be able to sway the defender into a move.

#8 Leroy Sane - Schalke 04

Leroy Sane has made a huge impact in his club this season. The young midfielder is only 20 but is one of the first names on the team-sheet at his club Schalke. In a season where the players like Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Franco Di Santo have been inconsistent, it’s the youngsters that have helped Schalke reach a respectable position in the table.

The likes of Sane, Max Meyer, and Leon Goretzka have all stepped up really well on the Bundesliga stage. The son of former French footballer Souleyman Sane he has the potential to be one of the best in the world.

The player has already become a German International with his preferred position being the right wing. But he can also play on the left or in the No. 10 position. Sane has amassed 5 goals and 4 assists in the Bundesliga this season and is already being tracked by the likes of Barcelona, Manchester City and Real Madrid.

#7 Ruben Neves - Porto

At the tender age of 18, he is already the captain of Porto. That just shows you how highly the club rate the teenager. It is not an overstatement when saying Neves has achieved more than most kids his age.

The Portuguese youngster plays as a central midfielder for Porto and has excelled this season. He has already featured in 31 games and has two assists to his name. Neves is a born footballer with great positional sense and an eye for a pass as well.

The Porto coach didn’t think twice before handing the youngster the armband as he seemed a natural fit for it. He fended off competition from several experienced first team midfielders for his spot on the team.

Clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal have been rebuffed by Porto as they want to keep hold of their starlet. If he continues to play in this way there is not doubt one day he will be leading his national team as well on the world stage.

#6 Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich

Bayern suffered an injury crisis this season when their regular centre-backs Jerome Boateng, Mehdi Benatia and Sedar Tasci were all unavailable before a game against Bayer Leverkusen.

Pep Guardiola had no choice but to throw 21-year old Joshua Kimmich, a young midfielder who played as a makeshift centre back. But the youngster rose to the occasion and put in a fine and mature display, earning plaudits from his manager for the performance.

Since then Kimmich is playing regularly at the back despite both Benatia nad Tasci being available. Such is the confidence of Guardiola in the youngster and he has repaid the coach’s faith. Kimmich has shown a great eye for a pass as well being extremely composed in possession.

The youngster has featured in 26 matches this season already also collecting an assist along the way. He continues to improve and play at a consistent level which will only propel the youngster to achieve even more success.

#5 Hector Bellerin - Arsenal

Bellerin is such a familiar face in the Arsenal squad these days that you forget he is only 20 years of age. The full-back broke into the first team towards the middle of the 2014/15 season after Mathieu Debuchy was injured.

Since then Debuchy has been loaned out and no other player has been able to knock Bellerin of the left back position. The young Spaniard is another product of Barcelona’s youth system and followed in the footsteps of fellow countryman Fabregas joining Arsenal in 2011.

Bellerin has been a consistent performer for the club and is quickly becoming a very mature player in that role. He has so far only missed two games in Arsenal's entire Premier League campaign playing the full 90 minutes every time he has started. Along with speed and pace the full-back also has an eye for a pass after notching up 6 assists in all competitions this season

#4 Kingsley Coman - Bayern Munich(On loan from Juventus)

Kingsley Coman was a talented player, frustrated of not getting chances at Paris Saint-Germain which resulted in him transferring to Juventus. But he found first-team appearances hard to come by in Turin as well.

He was ultimately signed on a two-year loan deal by Bayern Munich which was puzzling considering the number of stars that are present in that Bayern team. With injuries to Robben and Ribery, Coman got his opportunity and he has grabbed it with both hands.

The young Frenchman has impressed Pep Guardiola and has become a first-team regular this season. In 26 appearances across all competitions, Coman has five goals and seven assists this season. The winger is known for his mazy dribbles, trickery and pace on the right wing.

In 2015, he finished second in the Golden Boy award only behind Anthony Martial. The winger has expressed his desire to stay at Bavaria despite Guardiola deciding to leave in the summer.

#3 Anthony Martial - Manchester United

If there is one shining light in Manchester United’s under par season it has been 19-year-old Anthony Martial. Several eyebrows were raised when he was bought for a whopping £36 million from AS Monaco at the start of the season, but he has more than justified that price tag.

Barring David De Gea he has arguably been the standout performer in a disappointing season for the Red Devils. Martial has scored 7 goals and assisted 4 in 2015/16 and is the club’s second top scorer behind only Wayne Rooney in all competitions

He burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion, by scoring a wonderful goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford on his debut. He continued to perform consistently in the first half of the season but the goals have slightly dried up, something that is understandable considering he has played almost every game in United’s fixture list.

#2 Dele Alli - Tottenham Hotspur

Delle Ali‘s rise to fame is similar to that of fairytales. A youth prospect at his former club MK Dons he made his debut aged only 16. The midfielder was part of the team that famously thrashed Manchester United 4-0 last season.

Since then several scouts from big clubs tracked his progress but Tottenham Hotspur beat their competitors to his signature in January of 2015. That itself was a big thing for a youngster like Alli but he has surprised everyone by cementing a first team position this season under Mauricio Pocchetino.

He has already received an England call-up aged 19! Alli has played a crucial role in Tottenham’s title charge this season. In 27 appearances in the league, he’s scored 7 goals and assisted a further 6.

He is also one of the players who has clocked a lot of minutes, playing in almost all of Spurs’ games in various competitions. If Tottenham do win the league this season it will be thanks in no small part to this young man’s heroics

#1 Julian Weigl - Borussia Dortmund

Julina Weigel is one of the surprise talents in Germany. He was signed from the 1860 Munich in the second division in the summer of 2015. But no one expected the player to play such a crucial role in Dortmund's midfield this season.

The club boasts the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Nuri Sahin and Moritz Leitner but Weigl has become a first team regular despite the competition from his fellow teammates. He has been very impressive this season making several tackles and with an incredible passing accuracy of 92%! That’s astounding for a boy of only 20!

Even Pep Guardiola has been very impressed showering high praise on the midfielder. The manager has predicted him to go on and become a regular for the German national side.

The youngster is well suited to play a passing game and is very composed in possession. Dortmund have been transformed to play a brand of possession and attacking football under their new coach and Weigl has been an important part of the team.