Five emerging youngsters who may become big stars
While Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are battling it out for the highest individual prizes on offer, there are some young players coming up and are working to reach the same heights with their extraordinary talents.
With half of the season over already, the onus now quickly shifts towards reaching the latter stages of cup competitions and getting results in the respective leagues. It is for moments like these that the players step on to the pitch and there is no dearth of young, raw talent in world football.
But, there a few names who have turned the eyes of the huge network of scouts, distributed among all the clubs over the world, who are bound for greatness.
#5 Youri Tielemans (AS Monaco)
A Belgian international, Tielemans is a 20-year-old midfielder currently plying his trade for AS Monaco in Ligue 1. He made his move to the French Ligue 1 this summer after a spectacular season with Anderlecht as he led his team to win the Jupiler League.
He ended the title-winning season with Anderlecht with 18 goals and 15 assists from the central midfield which is an indicator of his enormous talent. Despite being a defensively-inclined operator, his high football IQ and supreme technique aid him in finding that key pass to the forward line or bursting forward with quick feet.
A good tackler, Tielemans can tend to be overly aggressive in his approach to stealing the ball from the opponents which is a side of his game that needs to improve.
However, the 20-year-old makes up for this with his wonderful range of passing and other attributes and is certainly, one to carry the torch of the Belgian national team in the future.