Around 2 years ago, I wrote a post about 3 wonderkids who were relatively low profile who I thought would become great. I picked David Ayala, Malik Tillman, and Arnau Martinez. Those picks look pretty good so far, and I’ve decided to use the knowledge in scouting I’ve gained in the last 2 years to pick 9 more players who, while they may be known, haven’t exactly broken onto the scene yet, will become stars. Let’s begin.
Rasmus Hojlund
I’ve sort of broken my own rule, but Rasmus Hojlund is the most well established wonderkid of the ones we’ll cover. At the age of 20, he’s also the oldest. However, everything about him screams Erling Haaland. Maybe he’ll never reach the utter rampant levels Haaland has achieved, but at 6’2”, he’s a domineering striker and has scored 7 Serie A goals this season in 27 appearances, but the real kicker is more goals than games played for the Denmark senior team. Even his name sounds like Haaland.
The best trait about Hojlund is his shot accuracy, having an on target percentage better than 94% of Forwards in Europe, and is even a pretty good passer, which admittedly, doesn’t do well for his Haaland comparison. The striker’s long pass completion % of 85.7% is better than 99% of forwards in Europe, and his 1.34 Key Passes per 90 is better than 82% of Forwards. Perhaps he’d be better off as a go-forward CAM, but that’s just me.
Eliesse Ben Seghir
Another relatively known wonderkid, we will get into less well-known players after Ben Seghir, but I just like the looks of Ben Seghir so far. He is second to none with his ability to find space, and with 5 goal contributions in 13 games, he can do a lot with that space.
At the age of 18 years and 2 months old, the forward has all the time in the world to impress scouts of big European clubs. In the #10 role, Ben Seghir has proven himself to be invaluable to Monaco, starting all of their recent fixtures.
Jorrel Hato
One of the things you wouldn’t expect the Netherlands to really need all that much is another Center Back with Virgil Van Dijk, Mattijs de Ligt, Stefan de Vrij, and Nathan Ake, but Jorrel Hato is looking to be the heir to a great Dutch generation of defenders. Coming up through the famous Ajax youth setup, he already has that going for him.
Hato is a quick and athletic Center Back, and may even play as a defensive minded Left Back if his manager wants. He’s been alternating between the first team and reserve team for Ajax, and has even scored two goals for the youth setup this season. He even has an eye for a pass, so could even be a Defensive Midfielder.
Jorrel Hato is a unique player and if his potential is fulfilled, could be one of the hardest codes to crack for European attacks in the future.
Julien Duranville
At the age of 16, Julien Duranville has already commanded an 8.5m transfer fee from Anderlecht in his transfer to Dortmund back in January. While he’s been in and out of training, he’s recently finally been training with the club again.
Already having been in two of Europe’s best academies, the winger certainly has all the tools to do well, and was nicknamed “lightning bolt” as a kid due to his speed and explosiveness. This makes his dribbling ability superb for a youngster, and his shooting ability is above average as well. Expect him to break out into the limelight within the next 2 years.
George Ilenikhena
At only 16, George Ilenikhena is already becoming a super sub for Ligue 2 side Amiens. He’s already got 13 senior appearances and his first senior goal. Juventus were in for the Nigerian-born striker last summer, and may make an offer for him again this summer.
At 6’0”, Ilenikhena is a domineering forward who likes aerial duels. He’s scored 6 in 10 youth appearances for Amiens U19 and may be due for a move to a top flight club soon.
Cihan Canak
Fans of Belgian football may be baffled at Cihan Canak’s inclusion, but the Attacking midfielder isn’t very well known outside the Belgian game. He’s been pretty much reserved to playing short stints off the bench for Standard Liege. He’s accumulated 29 appearances so far this season, scoring once and assisting 3 times.
Having turned 18 in January, Canak has a long career ahead of him, and could very well become a regular starter for Standard Liege next season or even get a big move. His best strength is his tricky dribbling, being very fast, agile, creative. He’s also a great passer, and his close range shooting is strong.
Bilal El Khannouss
Well, perhaps Bilal El Khannouss has broken out, but again, not very well known outside of the Belgian game. Due to turn 19 soon, Bilal El Khannouss has only been put on the watch list by Man City and has been way too under the radar for someone who’s played 73% of Gent’s minutes in the Belgian Pro League so far.
The Moroccan Attacking Midfielder is a well-rounded player who just needs to improve his physicality. He needs a big move this summer to a big 5 league to continue his development, and looks like a future star.
Ashley Phillips
While he’s been struggling for game time for Blackburn this season, Ashley Phillips could break out next season and has the foundation to become a great player. Also, at 17, Phillips is far from a finished product. Phillips is 6’2” and physically dominant, good traits for a CB.
It may be next season that Ashley Phillips gets consistent game time for Blackburn, or may even move to one of Spurs, Chelsea or Man Utd, who are all in for him.
Tomas Gálvez
Oddly, Tomas Galvez was born in London and is a great young full back for Manchester City, but he represents Finland. He’s even made a senior appearance, so Finland may just decide to cap him and trap him. He’s nowhere near the City senior squad, but has been a regular in the Premier League 2 and Premier League U18.
He joined the Cityzens in 2021 after leaving Watford, who oddly have a great junior academy, and has become a good player for the U18s and U21s. He may even move further up the flank as a wide midfielder or even a winger.
That’s everyone I wanted to cover today. I believe these 9 will become world stars in the future, so if any scouts are reading this, this is your chance to get future world beaters. I’m Jim James, until next time