Best Young Ligue 1 Players - 2013/14 season

This list contains the Best Young Ligue 1 Players in the 2013/14 season. Note that the players that qualify as ‘young’ are those that were 21 at the start of the 2013/14 season.

GOALKEEPER

Ali Ahamada

ALI AHAMADA | TOULOUSE, FRANCE, 22

Toulouse have been blessed with two good young keepers, but while Zacharie Boucher did have a run of games in the first-team, he was second-choice to Ali Ahamada. Though it must be said that Boucher has been playing the first-team games in the second half of the campaign.

Toulouse won’t be too proud of their campaign but they’ve once again secured a safe mid-table position with Ahamada in between the posts. He kept 5 cleansheets in his 21 games in the first-team, conceding 26 goals in that period. While he was a solid keeper to have in the side, Toulouse’s early Coupe de France exit at the hands of 4th division side, AS Moulins prompted manager Alain Casanova to make the change. But Ahamada can take a lot of positives from the season, and with a goalkeeper as your manager, he couldn’t be in better hands.

DEFENDERS

(L-R) Serge Aurier, Marquinhos, Samuel Umtiti, Layvin Kurzawa

SAMUEL UMTITI | LYON, FRANCE, 20

At just 20, Samuel Umtiti has once again surprised many with his confident & mature performances. Lyon won’t be in the Champions League next season, which is a disappointment, but Umtiti is one of many young positives they can take from this campaign.

Lyon have consistently been flirting with the Champions League spots without overly impressing but Umtiti has been solid at the back. The side have kept 9 clean-sheets with Umtiti a part of the back-four including the impressive win over Paris Saint-Germain. He formed a good partnership with Milan Bisevac in the back-four and has been gaining some good experience from the Serb. Umtiti has averaged nearly 2 tackles per game in the Ligue 1 this season and an equally impressive 2 interceptions per game.

Samuel Umtiti also featured in our list of Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014, coming in at #12 in our list of defenders. The youngster also featured in our #TalentRadar Team of the Week for his performance against Lille. For a detailed Scout Report on Samuel Umtiti, head this way.

MARQUINHOS | PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN, BRAZIL, 19

The Brazilian had built a reputation for himself in Serie A with Roma, and despite being in his teenage years, came with huge expectations, if for nothing else, then for purely the price tag he brought to the French Ligue 1.

Although he has failed to nail down a regular starting berth at the club, a near impossible task with the pool of talent available at the capital club, he has performed consistently well showing his ability to handle the pressure. Marquinhos was a regular in PSG’s Champions League campaign, and was thus subject to constant rotation of squads by Laurent Blanc. He scored his first PSG goal early in the season vs Toulouse and has averaged a good 1.6 tackles per game and nearly 2 interceptions per game. Marquinhos has also been a part of PSG’s domestic cup campaign as they have the Coupe de la Ligue final to look forward to before securing the league. Marquinhos also featured in our list of Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014, coming in at #4 in our list of defenders.

SERGE AURIER | TOULOUSE, IVORY COAST, 21

The young Ivory Coast international has arguably been one of the best performers in the Ligue 1 this season as he has evolved from a right-back to nearly an attack-minded right-winger as the season has progressed.

Serge Aurier has developed into a superb footballer this season, which has even seen him captain his side. He has proved to be a versatile player, playing even at centre-back and right-wing in addition to his regular right-back role. Serge Aurier has played each and every minute of each and every game that he has been available for, missing games only through suspensions. It’s remarkable that playing at right-back, Aurier has been involved in 13 of Toulose’s 41 goals so far. That is more than 31% of the teams goals. His unmarked runs into the box from wide areas have been deadly, and a testament to his attacking nature.

Serge Aurier has featured in our #TalentRadar Team of the Week on three occasions (a joint record), firstly for his performance against Reims, following that up with a good showing against Rennes and then captaining his side against Lille. He was also at #10 in our list of Best Young Players in the month of March.

LAYWIN KURZAWA | MONACO, FRANCE, 21

Kurzawa is one of many young footballers that AS Monaco have utilised as they returned to the first division, proving they aren’t all about expensive World class players.

Apart from a couple of injuries, Kurzawa has been a regular starter at left-back in Claudio Ranieri’s side. With Monaco employing a 4-3-1-2 formation on plenty of occasions, Kurzawa has been the only real attacking threat down the left, while also having to stump up in defence. The youngster has been among the goals as well, scoring five, two of which have come late on, earning his side valuable points. Kurzawa is often seen in places in the box you wouldn’t expect a left-back to be and has also scored twice from his head. His reading of the game has been immense, averaging nearly 3.5 interceptions/game which is more than most centre-backs.