5 Potential Candidates for the FIFA Young Player Award 2018

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The Best Young Player Award is an honor bestowed upon young talents who make a mark on the FIFA World Cup. This is an achievement that foretells a player’s caliber and greatness in their contribution to football. Past winners such as Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Michael Owen, Thomas Muller and more recently Paul Pogba are football stalwarts, who were exceptional in their respective careers.

Since 2006, the process of awarding this distinction is done by the FIFA Technical Study Group, a handful of former players, coaches, and football analyst gather from all around the world. The group shortlists the players who are 21 years old are younger and elect the winner on the basis of the player's impressive performances throughout the tournament.

This article here looks at analyzing some of the possible winners for this edition of the FIFA Best Young Player Award.

Ousmane Dembélé - France

Ousmane Dembélé is a winger with immense potential and abundance of pace and skills. Coming from humble beginnings in Northern France, Dembélé's flair and creativity were scouted by Stade Rennes at the age of 13 and within 5 years he rose through the ranks and made his first-team debut. Dembélé started making shockwaves around the footballing world by scoring 12 goals in his first professional season. The season highlights include a hat trick against Nantes in the Breton derby. His performances in the league impressed the whole country and he was awarded the Ligue 1 Young Player Award.

In the next season, he earned a move to German giants Borussia Dortmund where he flourished under Thomas Tuchel. His performances played a crucial role in Dortmund's successful DFB Pokal campaign. He became one of the most exciting prospects in football by making 10 goals and 21 assists in all competitions.

Currently, he is with Barcelona after a record-breaking move, making him the second most expensive player after Neymar. Though he was injured for most of the last season, he still had a few glimpses of brilliance on the pitch and remains inclined to provide more of the same for Les Bleus in Russia.