Ranking the best U-21 players in the world this season
Many top clubs seem to have realized about the rising importance of young players since Kylian Mbappe's breathtaking €180 million transfer to PSG. We even have witnessed several prodigies such as Joao Felix who has a colossal €120 million release clause despite not playing in any of the top 5 European leagues.
These young stars have experienced a start to the career which most players could only dream off. They have enough maturity and consistency to become the best player for their respective clubs, and some of them have even transformed into leaders who have led their sides to clinch major silverware this season.
Now as we are nearing the end of 2018/19 season, let's take a look at 5 wonderkids who have been on fire this season.
#5 Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Havertz has turned into a revelation for Bayern Leverkusen in recent years. He became the club's youngest ever Bundesliga debutant at the age of 17 years and 126 days when he came on as a second-half substitute for Charles Aránguiz in a 2–1 loss to Werder Bremen in the 2016/17 season.
More than a year later, Havertz became the youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to reach 50 appearances at 18 years and 307 days old, breaking the record previously held by Timo Werner. Despite his talent being noticeable since 2016, he shot into the limelight only during the 2018/19 campaign.
He has racked up a massive 16 goals and 3 assists in this year's Bundesliga despite playing mostly as a central attacking midfielder. He also became Leverkusen's standout performer in the European competition despite the club's early elimination in the Europa League's knockout phase, scoring 3 goals and assisting the same amount in the process.
An all-around playmaker who has an excellent dribbling, passing, and goalscoring abilities, Havertz surely has it all to become a future megastar.