The chase for Anderlecht youngster Romelu Lukaku is really heating up. It’s believed that Anderlecht turned down a £17.5 million bid from Spurs for the prodigious young talent over the summer. Indeed, the player is set to stay at his club until he reaches 18 and has finished with school. Where does his future lie after this? The two main clubs in contention for his signature are Real Madrid and Chelsea. At the moment you have to say Chelsea are favourites – Didier Drogba is Lukaku’s hero. Lukaku has previously been pictured in a Chelsea shirt visiting Stamford Bridge. As it seems more and more as though Lukaku’s future lies with Chelsea, we count down a further 10 teenagers playing in Europe that are likely to have the Premier League scouts out sniffing. In order to be in contention all you need is to be 21 or under and to play for a European side (outside the Premier League).
Barring Nicklas Bendtner, the Danes have had little to shout about in terms of prospects for the future. That was until young Christian Eriksen came onto the scene. He won the Danish U-17 talent of the year for his performances in the Danish Superliga. This saw him earn a move to Ajax where he has garnered comparisons to Ajax youth products Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart. He’s an unnaturally good reader of the game for his age and is perhaps best at home in the traditional “number 10” role. He was the youngest player competing at the 2010 World Cup and is currently only 18-years-old. embedded by Embedded Video
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At only 20-years-old, Jovetic is a player of great natural ability. His best attributes are his technical nous, great dribbling ability, being able to ghost pass players with an expert change of pace and expert close control. He currently plies his trade for Fiorentina where he’s earned comparisons to Queen guitarist Brian May thanks to his long flowing curly locks. In footballing terms, he’s been labelled the ‘next Baggio’ and has netted an impressive 6 goals in 11 international appearances for Montenegro. Charismatic and talented, it’s likely that he’ll move on from Fiorentina towards bigger and better things in the near future. embedded by Embedded Video
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The next big thing in Greek football, Ninis is the right winger for Panathinaikos where he has his reputation. For such a young player (20-years-old) he holds a surprising number of records. He’s the youngest player to have won the HFF (The governing body of football in Greece) Young Player of the Year award. In May 2008, on his international debut, Ninis became the youngest ever player to score for Greece. He’s also the youngest player to ever have captained Panathinaikos, as he did at the age of 18 and 125 days. Despite injuries disrupting his career a year or so ago, he’s back on track and looking as exciting a prospect as ever. embedded by Embedded Video
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French footballer Moussa Sissoko currently plays for Toulouse in Ligue 1. At just 21-years-old he has already garnered comparisons to tough midfielders Patrick Viera and Real Madrid’s Mahamadou Diarra. He certainly fits into that mould of player. He’s capable of playing the holding role, or adapting quickly into a more attacking position. He’s got bundles of energy and is a real box-to-box player with tenacity and a great tackle. It’s little wonder that clubs like Spurs, Man City, and Juventus have declared their interest. embedded by Embedded Video
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One of last season’s standout players in the Bundesliga, Marin is definitely a player that the top clubs all around Europe will be keeping their eye on. A string of good performances saw Marin join Germany’s World Cup 2010 squad. He made two rather lacklustre appearances in the World Cup, but this hasn’t stopped pundits tipping him for bigger things. He currently plays out on the wing for Werder Bremen where his tricky feet and great close control have brought him a number of admirers. He is very much a ‘flair’ player and has drawn comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – not bad for a 21 year old. embedded by Embedded Video
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All very good players. All stars on FM. If we could have three it would have to be Dzagoev, Hazard and Sanchez. Infact, I regard Sanchez as our no.1 target, he has to be.
sanchez or hazard. neymar, pastorer or hamsik or ganso. vanderweil. lukaku or aguero.erickson and kevi debyune in cause of the future..
Well one thing is for sure we need at least two wingers in the summer, that puts Sanchez & Hazard firmly at the top of the most needed list.
With Lampard getting older we need to look at a replacement. Pjanic looks a very good player, scores goals and starts attacks.
He gets my vote but I do want to see Josh McEachran given a starting berth
I think should play outside of Greece I really would like to play for a club in England or Spain.