Marco Asensio The Best U21 In The World According To L'Équipe

[SirBalon]

L'Équipe's ranking of the most talented U21 players in the world

 

L'Équipe makes this list every year with some a look to a possible future while others have already realised themselves on the football sphere and on a rocket jet fuelled path to major stardom.  This year the number 1 spot has gone to Real Madrid's Marco Asensio (21) who once given the chance has proved what everyone thought and shot into the stratosphere.  Second comes Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli (21) who now seems almost a veteran because of how long Spurs have already been using him for as a mainstay, but has the talent to go as far as he wants to.  Kylian Mbappé (18) who shot to stardom last season for AS Monaco (now at PSG) especially with his Champions League feats...  Then comes Ousmane Dembélé (20) with a similar vein for Borussia Dortmund last season and now at FC Barcelona.

Here is the full list L'Équipe have issued:

 

1. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)

2. Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)

3. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)

4.Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelona)

5. Donnarumma (AC Milan)

6. Gabriel Jesús (Manchester City)

7. Leroy Sané (Manchester City)

8, Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich)

9. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

10. Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)

11. Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)

12. Dolberg (Ajax)

13 Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen)

14. Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)

15. Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid)

16. Tielemans (AS Monaco)

17. Henrichs (Bayer Leverkusen)

18. Kessié (AC Milan)

19. Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham Hotspur)

20. Schick (AS Roma)

21. Malcom (Girondins Bordeaux)

22. Cristian Pavon (Boca Juniors)

23 Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)

24 Amadou Diawara (SS Napoli)

25. Iwobi (Arsenal)

26. Christensen (Chelsea)

27. Moussa Dembele (Glasgow Celtic)

28. Theo Hernández (Real Madrid)

29. Iheanacho (Leicester City)

30. Renato Sanches (Swansea City)

31. Vallejo (Real Madrid)

32. Lafont (Toulouse)

33. Driusi (Zenit Saint Petersburg)

34. De Ligt (Ajax)

35. Pellegrini (AS Roma)

36. Ndidi (Leicester City)

37. Tierney (Glasgow Celtic)

38. Dahoud (Borussia Dortmund)

39. Locatelli (AC Milan)

40. Carlos Soler (Valencia CF)

41. Diogo Jota (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

42. Lucas Hernández (Atlético Madrid)

43. Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

44. Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad)

45 Caglar Söyüncü (SC Freiburg)

46. Mammana (Zenit Saint Petersburg)

47 Enes Ünal (Villarreal CF)

48. Amiri (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim)

49. Onana (Ajax)

50. Kean (Hellas Verona)

[Guest]

Can't disagree with the first spot. I can disagree with the rest of the list though. I'm a huge fan of Dele Allí but he's in no way better or more influential than Mbappe

[Cicero]

Still something about Asensio I'm not totally convinced on

[Danny]

2 hours ago, Blue said:

Can't disagree with the first spot. I can disagree with the rest of the list though. I'm a huge fan of Dele Allí but he's in no way better or more influential than Mbappe

Scored 20+ goals from midfield in a much better league than Ligue 1.

[Philippe Coutinho]

I'd personally put Mbappe at #1. He's remarkably composed and productive for his age. Doesn't seem at all fazed by all the attention and fanfare.

Let's not forget that Asensio's 21 to Mbappe's 18. 3 years is a long time in football years. Mbappe at 21 may far surpass Asensio at 21.

You have to figure that, however outrageous the amounts paid/to be paid to FC Barcelona and AS Monaco for Neymar and Mbappe, the market is the market. The market determines these fees. (Let's leave the "wrong" or "right" of it out of this discussion).

Now PSG's wanting Alexis Sanchez, whom was a coveted young player himself not too long ago.

What has Bayern done to Renato Sanches??!! Only Thomas Muller (not Ancelotti) can right the Bayern ship.

[Inverted]

Pochettino has truly been a gift for Dele Alli. He's a good player, but he plays in a role that really doesn't require much from him technically or defensively - he's entirely free to roam around looking for goals.

People who don't watch him are then presented with amazing goal tallies for a "midfielder", when actually if you watch him you'd realise how little midfield work he does for Spurs. 

Kane probably contributes more to general play than he does. 

Alli being above players like Dembele, Mbappe, Donnarumma, Jesus and Pulisic just shows how a shallow reading of stats and hype can dovetail. 

[RandoEFC+]

No Tom Davies, no Calvert-Lewin, not a credible list.

[SirBalon]

7 hours ago, Danny said:

Scored 20+ goals from midfield in a much better league than Ligue 1.

I almost fully agree but Inverted lower down makes a good point also and I've observed what he says there with Dele Alli's responsibilities with Pochettino.  In saying this, freedom of movement for very talented players has always been a gift offered by managers/coaches historically.  Tying down talent to too much responsibility can sometimes be suppressing talent.

4 hours ago, 11Neymar Ousmane Dembélé11 said:

I'd personally put Mbappe at #1. He's remarkably composed and productive for his age. Doesn't seem at all fazed by all the attention and fanfare.

Let's not forget that Asensio's 21 to Mbappe's 18. 3 years is a long time in football years. Mbappe at 21 may far surpass Asensio at 21.

You have to figure that, however outrageous the amounts paid/to be paid to FC Barcelona and AS Monaco for Neymar and Mbappe, the market is the market. The market determines these fees. (Let's leave the "wrong" or "right" of it out of this discussion).

Now PSG's wanting Alexis Sanchez, whom was a coveted young player himself not too long ago.

What has Bayern done to Renato Sanches??!! Only Thomas Muller (not Ancelotti) can right the Bayern ship.

Danny (above) in very few words tells you the issue there.  Ligue1 is no basis for a valuable analysis on a player's worth...  Too many have been touted from an early age in modern Ligue1 and then turned out to be just above average.

There's no doubt whatsoever that Kylian Mbappé is talented though but since his explosion last season I've been wary on how good he is.  His plus were his displays in the Champions League which is the only place I can take valuable analysis from concerning his status.  What's for sure is that he wouldn't be number 1 for me personally and I'd even find it difficult to place him in the top 5.  But that's a personal view and to be honest, with young players it's very difficult to do something as trivial as a ranking list.

As for Marco Asensio...  He's receiving plaudits now because he's playing in the biggest football house in the world right now and the spotlight is easier to pin the showcase light on.  But he was getting rave reviews at Mallorca from a very young age and that included playing in both La Liga and the hell hole that is Spain's second division.  The most impressive thing about Asensio is that he is at the top end in various positions both in midfield and in attack, out wide (which is where Mbappé plays) and the most difficult place to perform for a footballer which is through the centre! The centre is somewhere Mbappé doesn't move so freely.

[SirBalon]

23 minutes ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

The market?? Barcelona's scouts have done a poor job lately. both asensio and Casemiro are far better players than Dembele and Paulinho.

The scouts didn't do a bad job mate...  Infact the scouts did and do a marvellous job at Barça because with all the changes FC Barcelona have had at boardroom level over the past 20 years, the scouting team (which is quite large) has generally remained the same.

What I'm saying is that players like Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos (just to name two because they're more recent) were actually identified first by Barcelona and were doing their customary following of the players.  It's the technical team that did a terrible job (the decision makers because scouts only identify) when they decided not to go for these players.  Isco is another one that's just popped into my mind because he even travelled to Barcelona (when he was at Valencia) to have a trial after the scouts picked him out of an U21 tournament.  Real Madrid in all three cases were nowhere near these players at the time...  The decision making at Real and Barça are the marking points in the past five years.

[Guest]

Yeah, Sirbalon is usually very defensive of Barcelona but he's spot on here. The scouts have done excellently despite the new signings seeming to be useless.