Top 5 youngsters who took the footballing world by storm in 2013

Raphaël Varane

When Real Madrid bought the talented French defender Varane from the relative obscurity of Lens for around €10 million in the summer of 2011, more than a few eyebrows were raised. After all, talented as Varane was, he was an 18-year-old centre back and there were those who said that Madrid were making a big mistake. But in the last 12 months, Varane has shown just why he could very well be one of the finest center backs of his generation and live up to the words of Zinedine Zidane who described him as “the finest French center-back since Laurent Blanc”.

Although he scored his first goal for the club in September 2011, making him the youngest foreign player to score a goal for the club, it was last season that he finally came of age. On January 30, 2013, Varane made his El Clásico debut in a performance that saw him win over many Madrid hearts. Not only did he equalize and become the second-youngest foreign player to score for Real Madrid in a Clásico match, his defensive display throughout the game was faultless as he held Barcelona at bay. And in the Champions League clash against Manchester United a little later, his performance was eerily similar to a defender on the opposing side, who was, arguably the best centre back at that moment, Nemanja Vidic. Still only 20, Varane still has a long and prosperous future ahead of him.