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The perfect blend of youth and experience is considered the ideal combination to challenge for trophies in football by many. Most clubs in Europe look at the transfer window as an opportunity to replenish their engines and also to stock in on enough young talent.
Bigger clubs often spot youngsters who operate on the field beyond their age and are quick enough to pounce at the first opportunity. This makes it difficult for many teams to retain the core of young stars and often we see the youngest squads in Europe change quite drastically.
Some interesting teams from the top five European leagues possess squads younger than any other team on the continent. On that note, let's have a look at five of the youngest squads in Europe right now:
#5 OGC Nice
The second youngest squad in Ligue 1 this season, Nice have enjoyed a particularly impressive start to their campaign. They currently sit third in the French top-flight with one match in hand compared to Angers, Lyon and Rennes, who all sit below them.
The average age of the Nice squad with 26 players registered in Ligue 1 is 24.1 years. The most experienced member of their squad is 31-year old former Manchester United and Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin. After guiding Lille to their first title in 10 years, Christopher Galtier has taken up the job at Nice.
His willingness to work with young players was visible at Lille last year and this year he's taking a similar approach. Nice invested quite heavily in improving their attack this year with the arrival of experienced Algerian centre-forward Andy Delort and winger Calvin Stengs. They also added Justin Kluivert on loan from Roma.
Galtier will hope to use his experience from Lille's title run last year to help OGC Nice finish in the top five spots. If the start is anything to go by, they do seem to be balancing between youth and experience in the correct manner.
#4 Olympique Marseille
Marseille have axed the average age of their squad by sanctioning the exits of Kevin Strootman, Dario Benedetto and Valere Germain, among others. They are tied with OGC Nice for the second youngest squad in Ligue 1 with the average of their 27 registered players clocked at 24.1 years.
Marseille sit seventh in the Ligue 1 table having won four, lost two and drawn two, but they have two games in hand and that can prove advantageous. The French club have loaned in talented youngsters like William Saliba, Matteo Guendouzi and Cengiz Under who have all been very impressive so far.
Dimitri Payet continues to be the standout performer for Jorge Sampaoli's team, having scored five goals so far this season. On loan from Roma, Under has also found his rhythm on the right flank and has scored three for his side.
Marseille fought for former Napoli man Arkadiusz Milik's signature in January. However, the 27-year-old has only started one game in Ligue 1 and one in the Europa League due to fitness issues.
#3 Stade Rennais FC
The youngest squad in Ligue 1 belongs to Stade Rennais. Bruno Genesio marked his return to management in the French top-flight after taking over at the club. He had previously overseen affairs at Lyon from 2015 to 2019. The average age of the 28 players Rennes have registered is 23.8 years.
The club are somewhat overly reliant on youth and in the summer transfer window their most expensive signing was Loic Bade from Ligue 1 rivals Lens. Their faith in youth is justified by the likes of Eduardo Camavinga and Jeremy Doku, who burst onto the scenes at Rennais from a young age.
Camavinga was grabbed by Real Madrid this season for a fee of €31 million. Doku's performance at Euro 2020 was also lauded by many and put him on the radar of many top clubs.
Rennes currently sits sixth in the league with ten matches played. They have only conceded nine goals so far, making their defense the second best in Ligue 1 only behind OGC Nice.
#2 Spezia
The second youngest squad in Europe's top five leagues is Serie A's Spezia. The club earned promotion to Serie A for the first time in 2020 having contested most of their history at third and fourth levels in the Italian football divisions.
Fortunately, they managed to keep themselves in the Italian top-flight for a second consecutive season after finishing 15th last year. Thiago Motta is currently managing the Serie A side and it is no surprise to see a young manager enjoying working with a young squad.
Most Spezia players in the squad are in their mid-twenties and the average age of the squad is 23.4 years with 31 members registered. Spezia are currently only two points away from the relegation zone with seven points. They have scored 10 and conceded 20 which a sign of worry for Motta.
#1 VfB Stuttgart
German Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart have the youngest squad in Europe's top five leagues. Notably, their 33 players registered for the German top-flight is the maximum on this list. It is no surprise to see VfB Stuttgart put their faith in youth as the club has always been known for producing some of the most explosive talent in Germany.
The likes of Sami Khedira, Joshua Kimmich, Timo Werner and Serge Gnabry all honed their skills at the Stuttgart academy. If they were keeping hold of their indigenous talent, they would absolutely be flying at the moment.
But credit must be given where due. After suffering relegation at the end of the 2019-20 season, Stuttgart bounced back and returned to the Bundesliga by finishing runners-up in the second t and are rebudiling their squad.
Renowned sporting director Sven Mislintat serves at the German club and is an intelligent and shrewd operator. The Stuttgart squad's average age is 23.4 years and their manager Pellegrino Matarazzo continues to trust the youth.
Stuttgart sit 12th in the Bundesliga having gained nine points from eight games so far.
