The aim of this article, part of a four-part series is to determine the top 20 prospects that are primed to either have a breakthrough 2017 and/or have a year that will determine their future. To do so, a few criteria have been considered. Firstly, there are no specific age criteria but all are young players.
Secondly, all the players that have already been in the limelight in the past or are already at a good level with their club with no transfer on the cards that will evolve their careers. Some of these players are – Leon Goretzka, Max Meyer, Bernardo Silva, Ante Coric, Youri Tielemans, Marko Pjaca and Piotr Zielinski. Following the list of the 20 hottest prospects to look out for in 2017 – Part 2 (15 – 11), here’s the list from 10 to 6.
#10 Gerson
Normally when a Brazilian youngster gets snapped up by a big European club for a large sum, the world takes notice and watch YouTube clips to determine how skilful they are - especially in attack. For example, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Barbosa are just two of the recently transferred Brazilians and the entire world was abuzz with their transfer rumours.
Compared to the duo mentioned above, Gerson’s transfer from Fluminense to AS Roma for a sum of €16 million has somewhat gone under the radar.
If a conversation focuses on Brazilian defensive midfielders like Casemiro or Fernandinho, they are perceived to be doing just the defensive work. And if it's an attacking player, he’s only attacking and has no defensive duties.
Gerson, however, falls under the category of neither. He’s a pure central midfielder who is excellent at both ends of the pitch.
A manager could expect Gerson to break down the opposition’s run of play and even attack the other end of the pitch. Box to box midfielders like Yaya Toure or Ander Herrera under Jose Mourinho usually has a favoured side of the pitch. Gerson, though, does not.
The left-footed midfielder was purchased by Roma from under the nose of FC Barcelona who had acquired first option on any sale of Gerson. But ever since his transfer to Roma, he has not had the minutes he might have expected to receive.
400 minutes in 11 games this season have not given him the stage to display his consistency. But the 19-year-old is in good company and in the current stage of his life, he should be and must be learning around players like Francesco Totti.
And with esteemed professionals like Radja Nainggolan, Kevin Strootman and Daniele De Rossi in front of him in the first team, his chances might be limited but will come gradually.
2017 can be a breakthrough year for Gerson primarily due to the possibility of receiving more chances if Nainggolan, who is being chased by Chelsea since half a year exits the club and the gradual decline of the club stalwart, De Rossi.
#9 Oliver Burke
There is an impulsive question in the back of the minds of whoever has heard about or seen Oliver Burke play – "has Scotland found its own Gareth Bale?"
Oliver Burke is a lanky right-footed winger who has already earned a big money move as a teenager. Rather controversially, Burke let go of the chance to sign with Premier League contenders by swapping Nottingham Forest for the seven-year-old RB Leipzig in Germany for £13 million.
“He is a force of nature who has an extraordinary physical make up,” quipped sporting director Ralf Rangick, who was the chief catalyst to get Burke to Red Bull’s German club.
The 6’ 2” Scottish winger is in the midst of a squad exceeding expectations in the German Bundesliga. Promoted from Bundesliga 2 just this season, RB Leipzig is three points behind Bayern Munich having led the table for quite a while.
Burke is unquestionably talented and finds himself on the bench currently rather than the pitch. He has made 13 appearances, just one of which he started. But he has flashed his talent whenever given the opportunity.
He terrorised the Borussia Dortmund defence, and provided the assist for the sole goal after coming on around the 70th-minute mark and also helped Leipzig draw against FC Cologne.
His game time is definitely going to increase in the coming year and the world waits in anticipation to not only see one of the most despised German clubs in action but also one of the brightest prospects Scotland has had to offer since a long time.
#8 Tiemoué Bakayoko
Yet another young sensation emerging from the glamorous lights of Monaco is Tiemoué Bakayoko. Born in Paris, the Ivory Coast native has emerged onto the scene and been in the spotlight since the start of the campaign.
After undergoing his youth career phase at the Rennes academy, his ascension into their first team in the 2013-2014 season caught the eyes of the officials in the Principality of Monaco.
After a year of stabilising himself in the first team, Bakayoko has now become a vital crux in the Monaco lineup, consistently excelling in the defensive midfield role. The statistics speak for themselves as WhoScored.com has provided him with the best rating in a Monaco squad sitting two points adrift from Nice and also rates him the sixth best player in the Ligue 1 this season.
His performances have created a buzz around him and as usual, any talented youngster emerging onto the scene has been linked to the Premier League heavyweights.
Swatting aside any notion of deserting the Monaco squad in a title fight, Bakayoko is focusing only on the next half of the season. And Monaco’s fate this season will largely depend on the performances of Bakayoko.
If they remain consistent the way they have been so far, Monaco is in a good position to not only compete for the title but also have a relevant shot at conquering Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League’s Round-of-16 tie. Bakayoko has now settled into the team and his role and the next year will determine the level he is in and the potential he possesses.
#7 Ruben Neves
By no means an unknown in the football community, Ruben Neves has been in the public eye for a couple of years now. Enrolled in FC Porto’s academy since the age of 8, Neves graduated to the first team as a 17-year-old thanks in part to an injury to teammate Mikel Agu, as he replaced him in the first team’s pre-season set up.
He holds a few records consisting the young age criteria for Porto. He became the youngest club goal scorer in the Primeira Liga, before becoming the Portugal’s youngest player ever to appear in the Champions League less than a week later.
In a year’s time, aged 18 years and 221 days he led the team as captain in a Champions League group stage match against Maccabi Tel Aviv becoming the youngest to captain a side in a Champions League game.
Such an impressive rise in modern football has never gone untracked by scouts of the biggest clubs in the world. And the midfielder has been constantly in the rumour mills, most recently being linked to Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea. The defensive midfielder has been quietly gaining traction in the eyes of scouts given his leadership abilities on the pitch.
The reason for his inclusion in this list because he has in this season somewhat lost his spot as a first team regular. Instead, he’s made just four starts in all competitions, two of which were in the domestic cup. This season has seen the spotlight turn to a few of his teammates – Danilo Pereira, Andre Silva, and Yacine Brahimi.
The central and defensive midfield role has been occupied by the aforementioned Pereira and Hector Herrera, reducing the playing time of Neves. And 2017 is upon him to reproduce the sort of performances that convinced Julen Lopetegui to retain him in the first team squad after his preseason and even give the captain’s armband. Neves has been in the limelight for a while now, and it’s the coming 12 months that will see Neves regain his spot in the first team.
#6 Kasper Dolberg
There is a rather high chance that six weeks ago, you would have heard of a sensation emerging from AFC Ajax after he scored an 18-minute hat-trick in a league match against NEC. Coming through the ranks of Silkeborg IF, Dolberg was spotted by Ajax’s John Steen Olsen, the scout responsible for Ajax acquiring Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Christian Eriksen.
The 186 cm tall striker is an absolute beast, one that can dominate aerially and act as the target man. Contradictory to target men in today’s game, Dolberg is impressive in holding up play, creating space for teammates, taking on defenders with his pace and most impressive is his first touch, making him a complete striker.
The Danish centre-forward has previously operated on the left flank as well as the number 10 position and his previous experiences have developed his game beyond the mere centre-forward role.
The start to the 2016-17 campaign has been hugely impressive, the youngster already has 11 goals to his name this season, along with four assists.
A mere 27 appearances for the first team provide enough evidence for us to be convinced of his talent and his potential to match the greatness of some of Ajax’s past icons like Zlatan and Luis Suarez. Following in the footsteps of Ibrahimovic and Eriksen, Ajax seems to have stumbled upon another Scandinavian wunderkind.
