Ranking the 10 best teenagers in world football
There is no doubting that this era of football has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair have broken almost every record there is to be broken, and will go down as two of the greatest players ever to have graced the field.
This is almost a unique era in football, where two such superstars have competed for success. In the past, we have been lucky to have one player that good. The likes of Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff were in a different league during their careers, and we are fortunate to have seen Messi and Ronaldo compete in this generation.
But their powers are dwindling slightly. Ronaldo is now 33, and Messi is now 31, and the question now is who will take their place on the world stage when they careers are over. Neymar and Eden Hazard were the men touted with replacing them, but they are now 26 and 27 respectively, so they may have passed their peaks by the time the legendary pair retire.
The pressure will be on the younger generation to take their place, and there are a number of candidates to take over as football’s top talents. Here are the ten best teenagers in world football at the moment.
#10 Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
It was a bit of surprise last summer when Sancho chose to leave Manchester City in favour of a move to German side Borussia Dortmund. In doing so he became one of the only English players to play abroad and took what could be described as a huge risk. He was highly rated by Dortmund though, who gave him the number seven shirt, that was recently vacated by Ousmane Dembele.
It wasn’t the easiest start for him at Dortmund, and he was starved of first-team action in the opening months of the season. However, he came into favour later on in the season, and started each of the last four games, showcasing his undoubted talent. It will be interesting to see in the coming years how he develops, as we so rarely see young English players move abroad.