3 teenagers in Europe who have exceeded expectations this season

#1: Halil Dervisoglu

Age: 19

Club: Sparta Rotterdam

Nationality: Turkish

Dervisoglu in action for Sparta Rotterdam

Halil Dervisoglu is not a name that crops up very often when talking about the best young players in world football, but his performances this season have shown that he certainly deserves to be in the discussion. Graduating from the famed Sparta Rotterdam academy which has produced the likes of Danny Blind, Memphis Depay, Georginio Wijnaldum and Kevin Strootman amongst others, Dervisoglu debuted for the club in an Eredivisie playoff win over FC Dordrecht in 2018.

He scored 8 goals last season to help Sparta gain promotion from the Eerste Divisie, and has started this season brilliantly. With 4 goals and 3 assists in just 865 minutes thus far, his total of 7 goal contributions is the joint highest in the Sparta squad. At exactly 6 feet tall, Dervisoglu is not very aerially dominant, but rather, has excellent control of the football in tight areas as well as control over his body, often feinting to devastating effect, and going past defenders swiftly.

He is a goal poacher extraordinaire and is very rarely involved in build-up play, preferring to put pressure on defenders (he completes 1.5 tackles per game), and look for space in behind. He is also dangerous with the ball at his feet, completing 4 dribbles per game at a success rate of 71.42%.

Dervisoglu will not be a Sparta Rotterdam player for much longer, having agreed a January move to English Championship side Brentford on the last day of the summer transfer window. It will be interesting to see whether the London-based club can provide him with the springboard he needs to launch his career to the next level. He has also represented Turkey at the U-19 level, and it will surely not be long before he receives a senior call-up.