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One of the most curious things about English footballers is that for the most part, with the odd exception, it’s rare to see them leave their home shores. But with opportunities for young English players in the Premier League becoming fewer and fewer, that finally might be changing.
Sure, clubs like Chelsea have been loaning younger talent out to leagues like the Netherlands’ Eredivisie for years now, but more recently, a handful of young prospects have been moving abroad on permanent deals. Here are four young English talents who have decided to ply their trade abroad.
#1 Jadon Sancho – Borussia Dortmund
Of all of Europe’s major leagues, it’s Germany’s Bundesliga which houses the youngest English talent, but the outstanding prospect there is clearly England u17 star Jadon Sancho. Initially, a product of Watford’s academy, Sancho moved to Manchester City where he was expected to break through into their first team at some stage, but in the summer of 2017, he decided to make a big decision.
Fearing he’d never be given a fair opportunity at Eastlands, Sancho made the jump to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, who promptly handed him the #7 shirt vacated by the Barcelona-bound Ousmane Dembele. And since then, he’s gone from strength to strength, establishing himself in Dortmund’s first team by the end of 2017/18 and assisting in 4 goals as well as scoring his first – making him the youngest English player to ever score in the Bundesliga.
Big things are now expected of Sancho, who is still just 18 years old. He’s still a raw talent – reports from Dortmund’s recent friendly against his old club City suggested there were flashes of brilliance, but he still ran down blind alleys on occasion. He’s got plenty of time to develop though, and already popular with the fans in Germany, it seems like he’s in the right place to do so.
#2 Ronaldo Vieira – Sampdoria
Sampdoria’s recent announcement on social media that they’d signed Ronaldo raised more than a few eyebrows, but of course, they hadn’t gazumped fellow Serie A side Juventus for the signature of Portugal’s Cristiano. Instead, they’d completed a move for Leeds United’s England under-21 international Ronaldo Vieira. If that sounds like an odd name for an English player, it might be because he actually moved to England from Portugal in 2011.
Vieira broke into the Leeds' first team in 2016/17 and prior to his move to Italy, he’d made more than 40 appearances for the Yorkshire side. At just 20 years old, the midfielder posted some impressive stats in 2017/18 – in a game against Burton Albion on Boxing Day 2017 for instance, he had a pass accuracy of 91%, had 73 touches and made 56 passes.
The Guinea-Bissau-born youngster also starred in the summer’s Toulon Tournament for England’s U-21 side, as they retained the trophy they previously won in 2017. It will be interesting to see whether he can succeed at Sampdoria – who have a history of signing English players, as Trevor Francis, Des Walker, David Platt and Lee Sharpe have all played there before.
#3 Jonathan Panzo – Monaco
If one club has become renowned for allowing younger talent to break through in recent years, it’s French side Monaco. The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar, Benjamin Mendy and Tiemoue Bakayoko have all gone on to succeed after breaking through into Leonardo Jardim’s side, and the latest young player to join their ranks looking for success is England U-17 defender Jonathan Panzo.
The 17-year-old had been with Chelsea since he was 8 years old, and the move was surprising given the Blues usually tend to send prospects like him out on loan rather than selling them outright, as was the case with Panzo. Interestingly enough, Panzo will be reuniting with former Chelsea Director of Football Michael Emenalo at his new club – perhaps the key on deciding the move.
Whether Panzo will succeed at Monaco is a question mark, but the recent history of the club as compared to Chelsea suggests that he’ll probably be given a lot more chances in Ligue 1 than he would be in the Premier League. And his performances for Chelsea’s youth sides – as well as in England's U-17’s World Cup-winning campaign in 2017 – suggests he has got the talent to do so.
#4 Keanan Bennetts – Borussia Monchengladbach
Ever since Mauricio Pochettino took over as manager in 2014/15, Tottenham have garnered a reputation for being one of the better clubs in the Premier League when it comes to a willingness to give young English talent a chance. The success of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Winks amongst others has shown that this method can work.
That’s why it was a surprise earlier this summer when young starlet Keanan Bennetts decided to make the leap into Germany’s Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach. The 19-year-old – who can play as either a left winger or wing-back – was highly rated in Tottenham’s youth setup but was unable to break into Pochettino’s first team plans.
The move to Germany makes more sense though when you consider that Bennetts’ mother is German, he can speak the language fluently and even represented Germany as a youth international before switching allegiances to England to represent the U-19 side. After scoring 9 goals and assisting 8 times for Spurs’ development squad last season, he’ll be hoping to break into the first team at Monchengladbach in 2018/19.
