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The 2019/20 football season has been a great watch, to say the least, from the fans’ perspective. The league tables throughout Europe have witnessed contrasting fortunes. On one hand, we have Liverpool romping home to their first Premier League title, while on the other side, we are witnessing close fights in Italy, Spain and Germany.
Lazio, the unlikely leaders in Serie A are looking to end Juventus’ eight-year league dominance while Real Madrid hold a slender one point lead over holders Barcelona in the LaLiga. A similar tight fight is being witnessed in Germany as well with Dortmund and Leipzig keeping perennial champions, Bayern Munich, on their toes.
Amongst the players, while the usual suspects have continued to shine above the rest, a few unlikely heroes have emerged who've managed to catch the fans’ attentions. These players have made this season their own and thereby, are attracting the attention of the biggest clubs.
However, one successful season doesn't guarantee a career. For every Trent Alexander-Arnold, there is a Luka Jovic (Real Madrid) and Krzysztof Piatek (Hertha Berlin) who have struggled to make an impact on the biggest stage this season after having brilliant campaigns last year.
Like the above-mentioned talents, the ones that make this list are fairly young and have been showcasing their talents consistently this season in front of a wide range of audience.
Honourable Mentions: Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester City), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
#5 Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
There was a lot of buzz around Lautaro Martinez when he decided to move to Europe from Racing Club in the summer of 2018. The likes of Real Madrid and Arsenal showed their interest in the young Argentine before Inter Milan snapped up the wonderkid for a fee of $25.7 million.
Like every other youngster making a transition to European football at a very young age, Martinez struggled in his first season at the San Siro. He managed a measly return of nine goals in 35 appearances last campaign, playing mostly second fiddle to fellow Argentine Mauro Icardi.
However, with the departure of Icardi and the arrival of Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United at the start of this campaign, the 22-year old has shown the kind of form that made Inter shell out the big money for him. The two strikers have combined to score 39 goals thus far, with Martinez contributing 16 of those goals, almost doubling his tally from last campaign with one-third of the season still remaining.
His club form has also been translated on the international stage with the youngster netting eight times in 13 appearances in 2019. The only disappointment this season would be Inter’s group-stage elimination from the Champions League, a tournament where he finished as his side’s top scorer with five goals.
#4 Tammy Abraham (Chelsea)
A Chelsea youth academy product, Tammy Abraham already has had a couple of successful seasons under his belt, albeit in the Championship. Abraham banged in 23 goals for Bristol City in the 2016/17 season, adding in another 25 last season as he helped Aston Villa achieve promotion to the Premier League.
Despite his success in England’s second tier, Abraham couldn’t cut it out in the Premier League before this season. His only taste of Premier League football came in the 2017/18 season on loan to Swansea City where he could only find the back of the net five times in 31 appearances.
With Chelsea having a transfer ban embarked upon them at the start of this season, Frank Lampard chose to keep his faith in the 22-year-old Englishman. And the youngster has duly delivered. With 13 goals to his name in the Premier League already, the Englishman is just four shy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jamie Vardy in the top scorers' list.
His holdup and linkup play with those around him has come on leaps and bounds this season and with Harry Kane’s recent injury struggles, he could end up leading the line for the Three Lions at the Euros this year.
#3 Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)
Still only 22, Theo Hernandez has enjoyed a kind of renaissance this season from the left-hand side of Milan’s defence. Despite winning the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2017/18 as an understudy to Marcelo, the Frenchman wasn't deemed good enough and was shifted out on loan to Real Sociedad for the 2018/19 season.
After another underwhelming season with the White and Blues last season, the young left-back joined AC Milan permanently this season. During the same period, Lucas Hernandez, his older brother won the World Cup with France and completed an €80 million move to Bayern Munich.
In spite of these initial setbacks, Theo’s career is truly back on track this season, with a callup to the French National side imminent. The young defender has not only been one of Serie A’s best full-backs but also been a constant source of goals and creativity for a struggling Milan team this season. Amazingly, the left-back is currently Milan’s second top scorer in Serie A with five goals to his name, just one shy of Ante Rebic.
#2 Adama Traore (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Brimming with talent and the skill to glide past an opposing defender, Adama Traore is a graduate of the famous La Masia academy. Despite his natural dribbling skills, Traore has always let himself down with his end product. He would glide past a defender with ease only to see his cross cut out or the shots he would take trickling agonizingly wide of the posts.
A common theme emerged since his arrival on the English shores in 2015. He suffered relegation not once but twice, first with Aston Villa and then with Middlesbrough in his first two seasons in the Premier League. His end-product read – zero goals and just one assist combined in those two seasons.
Despite his struggles, Nuno Espirito Santo and Wolves decided to take a punt on the youngster in the summer of 2018, and the Portuguese manager has finally been rewarded for his persistence this season. The Spaniard has managed to combine his vicious dribbling skills with an end-product, chipping in with four goals this season, including a brace against defending champions Manchester City at the Etihad back in October.
The flying winger ranks fourth in the list of assists in the Premier League this season, having set up seven goals for his teammates. Along with the goals and assists, Traore’s strength and ball control abilities have once again shone this season, having completed the most number of take-ons (139) in the division.
#1 Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
There is hardly a doubt on who the No.1 player on this list should be. Erling Haaland has undoubtedly taken the world of football by storm this season. Still only 19, Haaland has scored a mind-boggling 40 goals in all competitions this season.
Despite joining Dortmund only in January, the Norwegian is Dortmund’s joint second top scorer in all competitions, having netted 12 times in just nine appearances.
Although Haaland has already proved his detractors wrong with a blazing start to life in Germany, it is his performances in the Champions League this season that has really caught the eye. The 19-year-old is second only to Robert Lewandowski in the top scorer’s list with 10 goals to his name, having netted in five consecutive group stage games.
Born in Leeds and eligible to represent the Three Lions, the young striker has already pledged his allegiance to Norway. That will enough to keep the English fans drooling on what might have been.
The youngster first caught everyone's attention in the U-20 World Cup last year when he made the record books by plundering in nine goals in a group stage game as Norway smashed Honduras 12-0 to record the biggest win in the competition’s history.
