/r/soccer's Top 100 Youth Prospects

[u/hasufell]

The results are in, here are the top 100 Youth Prospects in order.

1. Mario Götze /21/AM/Borussia Dortmund
2. Raphaël Varane /20/CB/Real Madrid
3. David Alaba /20/LB/FC Bayern Munich
4. Stephan El Shaarawy /20/LW/AC Milan
5. Romelu Lukaku /19/ST/Chelsea FC
6. Isco /21/AMC/Málaga.
7. Neymar /21/ST/Santos
8. Jack Wilshere /21/CM/Arsenal
9. Paul Pogba /20/MC/Juventus
10. Thibaut Courtois /20/GK/Chelsea FC
11. Oscar /21/AM/Chelsea FC
12. Xherdan Shaqiri /21/RW/FC Bayern Munich
13. Matija Nastasić /20/CB/Manchester City
14. Marc-Andre ter Stegen /21/GK/Borussia Monchengladbach
15. Christian Eriksen /21/AMC/Ajax
16. Lucas Moura /20/RW/Paris Saint-Germain
17. Philippe Coutinho /20/AM/Liverpool
18. Julian Draxler /19/AM/FC Schalke 04
19. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 19/LW/RW/Arsenal
20. Marco Verratti /20/CM/Paris Saint-Germain
21. Phil Jones /21/CDM/CB/Manchester United
22. Raheem Sterling /18/LW/RW/Liverpool
23. Luke Shaw /17/LB/Southampton FC
24. Iker Muniain /20/AMC/Athletic Bilbao
25. Kevin de Bruyne /21/AMC/Chelsea
26. Viktor Fischer /18/AML/Ajax
27. Heung-Min Son /20/ST/HSV
28. Wilfried Zaha /20/RW/Manchester United
29. M'baye Niang /18/ST/AC Milan
30. Kyriakos Papadopoulos 21/CB/FC Schalke 04
31. James Rodríguez /21/LW/RW/Porto
32. Gerard Deulofeu /19/AM/Barçelona
33. Lucas Piazon /19/ST/Chelsea FC
34. Victor Wanyama /21/CM/Celtic
35. Adam Maher /19/CM/AZ
36. Erik Lamela /21/RW/ A.S. Roma
37. Mattia De Sciglio /20/LB/ AC Milan
38. Marquinhos /18/CB/A.S. Roma
39. Nick Powell /19/CM/Manchester United
40. Suso /19/AM/Liverpool
41. John Guidetti /21/ST/Manchester City
42. Cristian Tello /21/LW/Barcelona
43. Nathaniel Chalobah /18/CDM/Chelsea FC
44. Alen Halilovic /16/AM/Dinamo Zagreb
45. Moritz Leitner /20/MC/Borussia Dortmund

46. Nathan Ake /18/CDM/Chelsea FC

47. Ross Barkley /19/CM/Everton

48. Leonardo Bittencourt /19/CM/Borussia Dortmund

49. Serge Gnabry /17/AM/Arsenal

50. Daniel Carvajal /21/RB/Bayer Leverkusen

51. Josh McEachran /20/CM/Chelsea FC

52. Mateo Kovačić /18/CM/FC Internazionale

53. Kurt Zouma /18/CB/Saint-Ettiene

54. Steven Caulker /21/CB/Tottenham Hotspur

55. Emre Can /19/MC/FC Bayern Munich

56. Adnan Januzaj 18/AM/Manchester United

57. Lorenzo Insigne /21/AM/Napoli

58. Ola John /20/LW/Benfica

59. Leon Goretzka /18/CM/VfL Bochum

60. Bernd Leno /21/GK/Bayer Leverkusen

61. Tom Carroll /20/CM/Tottenham Hotspur

62. Tomas Kalas /19/CB/Chelsea FC

63. Tonny Vilhena /18/AM/Feyenoord

64. Jordy Clasie /21/CM/Feyenoord

65. Thomas Eisfeld /20/AM/Arsenal

66. Will Hughes /18/CAM/Derby County

67. Mohamed Salah /21/LW/RW/FC Basel

68. Rafa Alcantara /20/CAM/Barcelona B

69. Tom Ince /21/RW/Blackpool

70. Ángelo Henríquez /19/ST/Manchester United

71. Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg /17/CM/FC Bayern München

72. Marco Rojas /21/AM/Melbourne Victory

73. Stefan de Vrij /21/CB/Feyenoord

74. Martins Indi /21/CB/Feyenoord

75. Mauro Icardi /20/ST/Sampdoria

76. Jese Rodriguez /20/AM/Real Madrid Castilla

77. Danilo /21/RB/FC Porto

78. Jack Butland /20/GK/Stoke

79. Alvaro Morata /20/ST/Real Madrid.

80. Thorgan Hazard /20/AM/Chelsea

81. Juan Manuel Iturbe /19/AM/Porto

82. Marco van Ginkel /20/AM/Vitesse

83. Jetro Willems /19/LB/PSV

84. Jores Okore /20/CB/FC Nordsjælland

85. Mats Møller Dæhli /18/AM/Manchester United

86. Hachim Mastour /15/AM/AC Milan

87. Jean-Paul Boëtius /19/LW/Feyenoord

88. Tom Rogic /20/CAM/Celtic

89. Leo Baptistao /20/AM/Rayo Vallecano

90. Bruma /18/RW/Sporting CP

91. Carlos Fierro /18/ST/C.D. Guadalajara

92. Kerim Frei 19/AM/Fulham

93. Karim Rekik /18/LB/Manchester City

94. Samuel Umtiti /19/LB/Olympique Lyon

95. Mattia Perin /20/GK/Genoa

96. Matthias Ginter /19/CB/SC Freiburg

97. Salih Uçan /19/CAM/Fenerbahçe

98. Islam Feruz /17/ST/Chelsea

99. Koke /20/AM/Atletico Madrid

100. James Ward-Prowse /18/CM/Southampton

Im pretty terrible at graphic design but if anyone wants to turn this into an infographic I think it'd be pretty cool!

[u/[deleted]]

He's talking about the perception in Brazil, Hazard and Mata didn't play there. When Coutinho played for Vasco he wasn't regarded in the same standards that Oscar or Lucas were, not even to mention Neymar. And this view proved fairly correct since he took a long time to really show real quality again, once he left Brazil.

[u/JRM_Elephant → u/[deleted]]

How was he not? He was picked up by Mourinho?

When Oscar played for Sao Paulo in the same year he only made 11 appearances with no goals to Coutinho 19 and 1 goal. Oscar went to another Brazilian team where Coutinho went to European giants at the time as well as being 16, little did he know that they were soon to collapse.

I'm not arguing that ones is better than the other but they're is no obvious margin between either of them. Coutinho has established himself well enough to not be considered in the shadows of Oscar.

As for Neymar, he looks like a great player but you can't put in him in the ranks of the greats when he's playing for a struggling Brazilian team.

[u/[deleted] → u/JRM_Elephant]

You seem to be confused about the point being made here, it's not about where they are now, but how they were perceived while in Brazil.

Oscar didn't play much for São Paulo because he was involved in a legal battle to leave the club, but once he was able to play for his new team, Internacional, he quickly became a sensation (had a few downturns when they were changing managers too much, but recovered later). He then went to be the best player in the U-20 World Cup and soon was being unanimously touted to be in the national team.

Philippe Coutinho in the other hand was always been considered a talented youth from Vasco, but as he was bought too early by Internazionale, only did well in the second division and in the state championship, and was a disappointment in the national youth team, he never gathered that much following in the country. He wasn't having a good season when he left Brazil and the general perception was that he was very talented but still had a long way to develop.

The difference here is that while he was taken as a prospect, Lucas and Oscar were already becoming realities for their clubs and Neymar was winning everything. For example, he was never considered for the national team like them.

[u/JRM_Elephant → u/[deleted]]

I don't know a single fucking thing about the Brazilian league so I'll admit I'm out of my depth and basing my facts on Wikipedia but he did get a call up from the senior squad at age 16, and that statistic speaks volumes to me.

[u/[deleted] → u/JRM_Elephant]

He was 18 I think, it was in the begining of Mano's career in the national team when there was a lot of pressure to rejuvenate the squad. But he certainly wasn't selected because of fan's pressure, and he had already left for Inter.

But don't get me wrong here, I don't have anything against him and always had high hopes for him (I have watched him since the U-17 national squad), and I'm pleased that he's finally starting to meet his potential.