The portal 101greatgoals.com has been publishing the list of the 101 most talented football players in the world for the fifth consecutive year. This year, the list included all footballers younger than 21 years old. Which country's clubs have the most talented football players? Which teams have the most players on this list? Answers to these questions and more can be found in this article on "Eurofootball.com". Which country's teams have the most talented players? 1. England - 28 2. Spain - 18 3. Germany - 10 4-5. Italy - 8 4-5. Netherlands - 8 The players on this list also represent the national teams of France (5); Belgium, Brazil and Portugal (3 each); Argentina and Serbia (2 each); Austria, Denmark, Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United States (1 each). Clearly, the majority of representatives on this list belong to English Premier League clubs. The Spanish and German leagues, which follow in second and third place, together have as many young talents as one English league. French Ligue 1 teams seem to struggle the most from the major leagues. Only five players from this list are from French clubs, who are surpassed not only by the four leading world leagues but also by the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. Which clubs have the most players on this list? 4-7. "Arsenal" (4 players - Hector Bellerin, Daniel Crowley, Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Gedion Zelalem); All four of Arsenal's representatives in this list were acquired before reaching adulthood. The only one who has already broken into the first team is Hector Bellerin. The other players either play in the youth team or are loaned out to lower league clubs. 4-7. "Barcelona" (4 players - Munir El Haddadi, Alen Halilovic, Sergi Samper and Lee Seung-Woo); Two out of the four players on this list have progressed through Barcelona's youth ranks. Munir El Haddadi plays for the main team, while Sergi Samper is waiting for his chance with the second team. The situation is different for players acquired from other teams - Alen Halilovic has been loaned to Sporting Gijon in La Liga, and Lee Seung-Woo's situation is more complicated. Due to FIFA rules violations in his acquisition, he cannot represent the team in official matches and will only be able to make his debut in January upon reaching adulthood. 4-7. "Manchester City" (4 players - Jason Denayer, Kelechi Iheanacho, Patrick Roberts and Raheem Sterling); Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini seems inclined to give opportunities to his talented players this season. Out of the four players on this list, only Belgian defender Jason Denayer did not get a chance in the first team. This is probably because he is loaned to Galatasaray, where he has already played three Champions League matches. The player who undoubtedly receives the most trust from the coach is Raheem Sterling, who joined from Liverpool for an impressive fee of 62.5 million euros. 4-7. "Manchester United" (4 players - Memphis Depay, Adnan Januzaj, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw); All four young players from United were given a chance in the first team this year. However, Januzaj was later loaned out to Borussia Dortmund, Shaw got injured, and Depay lost his place in the starting eleven, so Martial is the only solid player in the main team. The Frenchman bought this year scored three goals in his first two Premier League matches and has since secured a starting spot in the United team. 2-3. "Ajax" (5 players - Riechedly Bazoer, Anwar El Ghazi, Viktor Fischer, Arkadiusz Milik and Jairo Riedewald); Known for their excellent work with young players, Ajax seems to continue sending their homegrown players to the top European clubs one after another. It's not surprising that all five players are solid first-team players for the Dutch club, and Fischer, Milik, and El Ghazi are the three top scorers of the team. Anwar El Ghazi is the perfect example of how well Ajax's talent scouting and youth development system work. Arriving at the youth team for just five thousand euros two years ago, the player is now worth at least a thousand times more and has already made his debut for the Dutch national team. 2-3. "Atletico" (5 players - Angel Correa, Jose Gimenez, Andre Moreira, Saul Niguez and Oliver Torres); The head coach of Madrid Atletico deserves praise for achieving good results by not hesitating to use young team players. Four players from this list constantly get opportunities in the first team of Atletico, and the only player not given such a chance is goalkeeper Andre Moreira. This player is gaining experience on loan in his native Portugal. 1. "Chelsea" (6 players - Kenedy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Nathan, Baba Rahman, Dominic Solanke and Kurt Zouma). Although Jose Mourinho has the most young players on this list, only four of them have been tested in the first team, and the only young player trusted by the coach is Kurt Zouma. The other three registered players in the main team receive far fewer opportunities. Rahman appeared twice in the starting Chelsea line-up, while Kennedy and Loftus-Cheek had only a couple of chances to step onto the field as substitutes. Considering Chelsea's poor performance this season, allowing these talented players more playing time would certainly not be Mourinho's worst decision. It's unlikely that these young and ambitious players would fare worse than their more experienced colleagues. Other interesting observations about this list One of the players recently seen by the Lithuanian youth team while playing against Italy's peers was Domenico Berardi, a representative of Sassuolo who is on the list of the 101 most talented players; The only neighboring country of Lithuania where a player from this list plays is Poland. Bartlomiej Dragowski is a teammate of Fedor Chernykh at Jagiellonia Bialystok. This summer, the young goalkeeper, who dominated the European Youth League, was a puzzle for the Kruoja players who could not beat Dragowski in two matches; Undoubtedly, the most exotic club with a player among the 101 most talented players is the Ultimate Strikers Academy team from Nigeria. They own Victor Osimhen, who dominated the U17 World Cup this year with 10 goals. Since the striker is just sixteen years old, the club probably chose this name for a reason; A total of 55 clubs' representatives made it to this list, and 22 teams have at least two representatives on it; How are talented players distributed by continents? Five players on the list are from South America, two each from Asia and North America, and one plays in Africa. No representatives are from the Australian continent, and the remaining 91 players compete in Europe; How many representatives do other well-known clubs have on this list? Real Madrid, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Milan each have three; Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern, and Juventus have two each. Dortmund's Borussia is the only one of the three leading Serie A teams in Italy that does not have any player among the 101 most talented footballers.
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
