Most Promising Players of 2016: How Did Their Careers Develop?

2024-09-22 12:24 © AFP

Promising players often "negate" the bold forecasts made for them.

They simply disappear from men's football or become mediocre players due to various factors.

The website "FourFourTwo" compiled a list in 2016 of the 59 most promising footballers on the planet, and looking back at it now may evoke surprise.

The leader of the list was then-Tottenham representative Dele Alli, whose career has declined, and the English player now serves as a free agent, talking with Liverpool’s Everton team.

The path of forward Kylian Mbappe turned out quite differently—registered at number 44, the Frenchman made a stunning leap and is now regarded as one of the best football players in the world.

The most promising (U-21) football players in the world in 2016:

59. Jesus Vallejo, 19 (Eintracht Frankfurt)

58. Thiago Maia, 19 (Santos)

57. Kasper Dolberg, 19 (Ajax)

56. Benjamin Henrichs, 19 (Bayer Leverkusen)

55. Jorge Meré, 19 (Sporting Gijon)

54. Andre Horta, 19 (Benfica)

53. Demarai Gray, 20 (Leicester)

52. Malcom, 19 (Bordeaux)

51. Leon Bailey, 20 (Genk)

50. Vincent Koziello, 20 (Nice)

49. Aleksandr Golovin, 20 (CSKA Moscow)

48. Adam Ounas, 20 (Bordeaux)

47. Predrag Rajkovic, 20 (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

46. Santi Mina, 20 (Valencia)

45. Jorge, 20 (Flamengo)

44. Kylian Mbappe, 17 (Monaco)

43. Oliver Burke, 19 (RB Leipzig)

42. Franck Kessie, 19 (Atalanta)

41. Bart Ramselaar, 20 (PSV)

40. Gonçalo Guedes, 19 (Benfica)

39. Issa Diop, 19 (Toulouse)

38. Enes Unal, 19 (FC Twente)

37. Maxwel Cornet, 19 (Lyon)

36. Riechedly Bazoer, 19 (Ajax)

35. Mikel Oyarzabal, 19 (Real Sociedad)

34. Santiago Ascacibar, 19 (Estudiantes)

33. Lucas Hernandez, 20 (Atletico Madrid)

32. Thomas Lemar, 20 (Monaco)

31. Mahmoud Dahoud, 20 (Borussia Monchengladbach)

30. Jean-Kevin Augustin, 19 (PSG)

29. Emre Mor, 19 (Borussia Dortmund)

28. Davinson Sanchez, 20 (Ajax)

27. Breel Embolo, 19 (Schalke)

26. Jairo Riedewald, 20 (Ajax)

25. Andreas Christensen, 20 (Borussia Monchengladbach)

24. Viktor Kovalenko, 20 (Shakhtar Donetsk)

23. Andre Silva, 20 (Porto)

22. Alex Iwobi, 20 (Arsenal)

21. Jonathan Tah, 20 (Bayer Leverkusen)

20. Ante Coric, 19 (Dinamo Zagreb)

19. Tin Jedvaj, 20 (Bayer Leverkusen)

18. Marlos Moreno, 20 (Deportivo La Coruna)

17. Timo Werner, 20 (RB Leipzig)

16. Youri Tielemans, 19 (Anderlecht)

15. Christian Pulisic, 18 (Borussia Dortmund)

14. Kelechi Iheanacho, 20 (Manchester City)

13. Julian Brandt, 20 (Bayer Leverkusen)

12. Giovani Lo Celso, 20 (Rosario Central)

11. Gabriel Barbosa, 20 (Inter Milan)

10. Ousmane Dembele, 19 (Borussia Dortmund)

9. Leroy Sané, 19 (Manchester City)

8. Marco Asensio, 20 (Real Madrid)

7. Anthony Martial, 20 (Manchester United)

6. Gabriel Jesus, 19 (Palmeiras)

5. Marcus Rashford, 18 (Manchester United)

4. Gianluigi Donnarumma, 17 (Milan)

3. Renato Sanches, 19 (Bayern Munich)

2. Kingsley Coman, 20 (Bayern Munich)

1. Dele Alli, 20 (Tottenham)