Three Real Madrid youngsters in Top 50 promising stars, says CIES
In the list of players of the Under-20 category, the expected names of Donnarumma, Lafont and Mbappé stand out, but Real Madrid and Barcelona also have a presence.
The CIES Football Observatory has published their list of the 50 best European footballing prospects. This takes into account their analysis of the Under-20 category - those players born since 1998 and considers the individual playing minutes, and league, to weight career potential.
Four-star Ödegaard expected to soar
The full list is split into star classes with the top ten names receiving the highest, five stars. They are expected to establish themselves in the very best teams around Europe. In that elite grouping two goalkeepers, AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma and Toulouse's Alban Lafont take the top spots while PSG's Kylian Mbappé (on loan from Monaco) comes in third.
Further down the grouping, Real Madrid's Martin Ödegaard (on loan at Heerenveen) is regarded as a four-star prospect in position 28, while both Fede Valverde (on loan at Deportivo) and Achraf Hakimi hold places in the three-star category, in 33rd and 48th place respectively.
Spain adds its sprinkling of youth
Other Spanish interest will focus on the 27th-ranked player, Barcelona's young Carlos Aleñá (four star), Douglas Luiz (32nd) at Girona and Álex Pozo (38th) at Sevilla Atlético. Asturian player Manu García sits in 49th and plays for NAC Breda, on loan from Manchester City.
