Top 10 breakout stars of 2017

When fans look back on 2017 in a decade, they will likely look back on the year as the period in which the stars arrived to take over the mantle of leaders of the game from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both of the game's dominant players of the last decade are now over 30 and cannot keep going on forever. While Neymar, a long time established figure, is spearheading the players to take over from them, there has been a rush of promising players to break over the last 12 months.

Here, we look at 10 of the best. Some of them are youngsters just emerging in the game, but others are players who have bubbled away under the surface for two or three years but have now emerged as genuine stars of the game.

All, however, made their first big mark during 2017.

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Kylian Mbappe

There can be little doubt who the young player of 2017 was. As a Monaco player, Kylian Mbappe broke into the first team in December and held his place down by scoring on a frighteningly regular basis.

He had just turned 18 when he started to star on a weekly basis for Leonardo Jardim’s outfit, and his goals helped the Stade Louis II club stun Paris Saint-Germain as they won Ligue 1 thanks to a blistering display of attacking football.

But it was not only domestically that Mbappe excelled – on the Champions League stage, he rapidly convinced the watching world of his qualities by playing a leading role as Monaco knocked out Manchester City and Dortmund playing in their trademark swashbuckling manner.

By the time the summer arrived, there were rumours swirling over his future but Monaco insisted they were intent on keeping the youngster.

Indeed, they would have succeeded in pinning down the teenager had PSG not swept in with an incredible offer. Although he has moved to his hometown club initially only on loan, the deal will be completed next summer for a fee that could rise as high as €180 million.

Mbappe has barely missed a beat since moving to PSG, where he is now playing a wider role. The goals have continued to come, albeit not quite at the same blistering pace, but he remains on track to become one of the biggest stars in the world game.

Sadio Mane

Sadio Mane is a popular figure at Anfield

Since moving to Liverpool in the summer of 2016, Sadio Mane has elevated his game to a level that has fully justified a £34 million fee that many baulked at when he initially made the jump to Anfield.

After becoming Africa’s most expensive player by leaving Southampton, he has elevated himself to a genuine footballing star who looks capable of playing for any team in the world.

Indeed, 2017 has been the year in which the Senegal international established himself at that standard. A couple of goals against Tottenham in February really got the ball rolling, while recognition arrived as he was named Liverpool’s Player of the Season ahead of a certain Philippe Coutinho, while he was also named in the PFA Team of the Season.

Injury and suspension issues have hampered his progress since the summer, but his absence has only gone to show how much Liverpool miss him when he is not available. Indeed, they have won only two of the five league matches he has not been involved in.

After scoring on the opening day of 2018 in a 2-1 win over Burnley, the 25-year-old is poised to enhance his reputation further over the coming year, which will include a trip to Russia for the World Cup.

Casemiro

Casemiro is Madrid's 'destroyer'

He may not be the most celebrated Real Madrid player, but over the course of 2017, Casemiro’s value to the club has become entirely apparent. Indeed, the defensive midfielder has grown to become one of the stalwarts of Zinedine Zidane’s side, offering valuable balance to a team replete with attacking talent.

Sitting in front of the defence, the 25-year-old offers protection that is lacking when he does not feature and is often most noticeable when he is not playing. Indeed, if it were not for the odd thumping strike from range, he would be a player who passed by largely unheralded, yet his contribution to the cause has now been widely noted.

Of course, it was helped when he scored what proved to be the winner in the Champions League final, hitting a deflected shot past Gianluigi Buffon as Real Madrid won their second successive title thanks to a 4-1 win.

Given his contribution in the run, it was a fitting climax to the competition for the former Porto player. He scored twice and added two more assists in the knockout phase, contributing meaningfully in this regard in every round as he made his way to becoming a bona fide star for the first time.

Naby Keita

Naby Keita is all set to join Liverpool this summer

RB Leipzig enjoyed a historic first season in the Bundesliga, in which several players rose to prominence. Emil Forsberg was one man to shine, yet even he was eclipsed by the all-action talents of central midfielder Naby Keita, who has sealed a move to Liverpool that will take place in the summer.

Reds fans should be salivating over the prospect of having such a player in their side, with the 22-year-old an ideal fit for a Jurgen Klopp team.

He arrived at the Bundesliga outfit from Red Bull Salzburg and has since elevated his game to a level whereby he is known as one of the most dynamic central players in the game.

While offering robust defensive work, he is capable of going forward, as he proved with eight goals in the league last season.

However, he has received a great deal of criticism for his performances and lack of discipline since completing the deal that will take him to Liverpool.

“Keita has enormous potential... [but] he has not had the same impact that he did last season,” former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes told Kicker. “Too often, he has been undisciplined and has harmed his team.”

Keita has lifted himself to star status over the course of the last year, but now his challenge is to retain it.

Kasper Dolberg

Dolberg has been quite a revelation

Ajax’s charge to the final of the Europa League rekindled memories of old. While the Dutch side, under the guidance of Peter Bosz, were not at the same level of the outfits that won the European Cup for the Amsterdam side four times, most recently in 1995, but they approached the game with the same exuberance.

One of their chief stars was 20-year-old attacker Kasper Dolberg, who announced himself at the highest level in spectacular fashion. While he finished the 2016-17 season with 16 goals, having only arrived from Silkeborg as a 17-year-old in January 2015, it was on the continental stage that he really caught the eye.

It has been his versatility that has been especially striking. He is an excellent finisher but is also capable of playing in a deeper role and acting as more of a playmaker, an attribute that makes him all the more marketable to the biggest clubs.

Indeed, so impressive was Dolberg that Manchester United and Real Madrid have been linked with the Denmark international forward, who is bound to take a step up in level over the course of the next year.

Nevertheless, 2017 will be remembered as the year that the attacker made his breakthrough, showing both maturity and class at the highest level.

Adrien Rabiot

Rabiot has improved immensely

Paris Saint-Germain’s year has been dominated by the giant signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, yet the Parc des Princes outfit have seen one of the stars from their youth academy come through and establish himself as an important member of their side.

Indeed, with the exception of Neymar, the 22-year-old can justifiably lay claim to being his team’s best performer this season.

The former Manchester City youth player has shown himself capable of playing a variety of roles in the midfield, standing in for Thiago Motta as a sentinel when the veteran Italian has been missing due to injury but excelling when asked to feature in a box-to-box role earlier this season.

He is a young man with all the attributes to further his position in the modern day game. He is physically complete, able to move well and robust in stature.

Barcelona legend Xavi has also tipped him as a player strong enough to play at Camp Nou. Speaking to Le Parisien, the former Spain star said: “He could play for Barcelona no problem and he would adapt without a problem.

“He knows how to organise the play, defend, dribble attack. He's a complete player, just as much when he has the ball as when he does not.”

High praise indeed for a young man who has excelled over the last year.

Benjamin Mendy

Mendy will return to action soon

Before Virgil van Dijk signed for Liverpool in January, Benjamin Mendy became the most expensive defender in the history of the game when he moved to Manchester City from Monaco for around €57.5 million in the summer.

It was a transfer that capped a stellar rise for the left-back, who played only one season at Stade Louis II, having emerged as a promising prospect at Marseille. Nevertheless, no-one could have imagined the manner in which he would explode over the course of 2017.

He was an unlikely attacking piston in Leonardo Jardim’s side, for whom he spent the first half of the year bombing forward relentlessly and delivering the type of high-quality crosses that Monaco’s prolific forwards feasted upon. Little wonder there was such interest from Europe’s biggest sides.

Since moving to City, he has suffered a serious knee injury and is in the midst of an extended period on the sidelines, yet he has started running again as his recovery continues at a pace. During his time off, he has enhanced his reputation as a social media phenomenon, further establishing himself as a cult hero at the Etihad Stadium.

Regaining his fitness must be his primary target in the next few months, particularly with the World Cup looming. If he were to miss out for France, it would be a huge blow.

Sead Kolasinac

Kolasinac joined Arsenal on a free

When Arsenal signed Sead Kolasinac on a Bosman deal in the summer, it was a move that gained little fanfare. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international, however, had rapidly been making a name for himself in the Bundesliga and was named the league’s outstanding left-back of season 2016-17 before he moved to the Emirates Stadium.

“He is so strong that nobody can stop him,” former team-mate Timo Hildebrand told Sky Sports in the summer. “He is really strong and also a fighter. He had those qualities even when he was a young player coming through the ranks at Schalke.

“He is a very good player and I think he is going to do well in the Premier League. He is the perfect signing for Arsenal.”

If fans in Germany knew that he was going to be a success at one of England’s biggest clubs, those supporters at the Emirates were a little cool on signing a player who was largely unknown outside of the country he had been playing in. He has since allayed fears impressively and has developed into one of the Gunners’ foremost players.

Not only has he shown himself to be a reliable presence at the back but he has also been formidable going forward, offering a surprisingly assured touch in the final third for a player whose outstanding attribute is his brute strength.

He was dropped around Christmas as manager Arsene Wenger felt that he needed a breather, yet he is sure to respond in the second half of the season and further establish himself at the very top level of the game.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic

Savic is on the radar of some big clubs

There can be little doubt that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was the breakout performer in Serie A during 2017. The Lazio midfielder’s star has risen rapidly over the course of the calendar year, having produced four goals and nine assists in his debut campaign in Italy.

Since then, he has only progressed and the 22-year-old is already considered to be one of the league’s top midfielders.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his game is his sheer all-around ability. While the statistics speak volumes for his talents going forward, those are mirrored by the ones that showcase defensive strength. He takes part and wins more duels than any other midfielder in the league, while his record in terms of winning aerial battles is also formidable.

His bullish influence in the centre of the park, where he is built perfectly for the modern game, has propelled Lazio back towards prosperity.

Manchester United and Inter are among the clubs linked with a €100 million move for the youngster, who has not even been a first-team regular with Lazio for 18 months.

And he has a penchant for impressing quickly. His agent, Mateja Kezman, claimed that he needed to only see the player train for 10 minutes with Vojvodina’s youth team before taking him under his wing.

Gabriel Jesus

'Alo Mae'

Manchester City have turned into an irresistible attacking force this season, with 20-year-old Brazil international Gabriel Jesus at the vanguard of their efforts. Such has been the level the youngster has played with since arriving from Palmeiras last January – he is the first City player to get a goal and assist on his full Premier League debut – he has often been preferred to established star Sergio Aguero by manager Pep Guardiola.

All this is made more remarkable by the fact that he suffered a broken bone in his foot last season, yet he still managed seven goals and four assists in only 11 games.

The Sao Paulo-born hitman has continued his electric form into the new campaign. In a highly competitive environment, he has bagged eight Premier League goals and three further assists.

He has been sidelined with knee ligament damage but should be back in time for City’s Champions League meetings with Basel – a huge boost to the side already cruising towards the Premier League title.

It speaks volumes about his meteoric rise that Brazil will go into the summer’s World Cup as one of the favourites for the title – and that is with the youngster as their main goalscoring threat.