Shooting into Stardom: 5 Players who are having a breakthrough campaign this season
The 2019/20 football season has been a great watch, to say the least, from the fans’ perspective. The league tables throughout Europe have witnessed contrasting fortunes. On one hand, we have Liverpool romping home to their first Premier League title, while on the other side, we are witnessing close fights in Italy, Spain and Germany.
Lazio, the unlikely leaders in Serie A are looking to end Juventus’ eight-year league dominance while Real Madrid hold a slender one point lead over holders Barcelona in the LaLiga. A similar tight fight is being witnessed in Germany as well with Dortmund and Leipzig keeping perennial champions, Bayern Munich, on their toes.
Amongst the players, while the usual suspects have continued to shine above the rest, a few unlikely heroes have emerged who've managed to catch the fans’ attentions. These players have made this season their own and thereby, are attracting the attention of the biggest clubs.
However, one successful season doesn't guarantee a career. For every Trent Alexander-Arnold, there is a Luka Jovic (Real Madrid) and Krzysztof Piatek (Hertha Berlin) who have struggled to make an impact on the biggest stage this season after having brilliant campaigns last year.
Like the above-mentioned talents, the ones that make this list are fairly young and have been showcasing their talents consistently this season in front of a wide range of audience.
Honourable Mentions: Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester City), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
#5 Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
There was a lot of buzz around Lautaro Martinez when he decided to move to Europe from Racing Club in the summer of 2018. The likes of Real Madrid and Arsenal showed their interest in the young Argentine before Inter Milan snapped up the wonderkid for a fee of $25.7 million.
Like every other youngster making a transition to European football at a very young age, Martinez struggled in his first season at the San Siro. He managed a measly return of nine goals in 35 appearances last campaign, playing mostly second fiddle to fellow Argentine Mauro Icardi.
However, with the departure of Icardi and the arrival of Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United at the start of this campaign, the 22-year old has shown the kind of form that made Inter shell out the big money for him. The two strikers have combined to score 39 goals thus far, with Martinez contributing 16 of those goals, almost doubling his tally from last campaign with one-third of the season still remaining.
His club form has also been translated on the international stage with the youngster netting eight times in 13 appearances in 2019. The only disappointment this season would be Inter’s group-stage elimination from the Champions League, a tournament where he finished as his side’s top scorer with five goals.