Football: The Next Generation

For any footballer, the transition from youth football to professional football is a difficult and demanding process. But for every Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, there are dozens of teenage stars who simply can't handle the transition, leaving them in a precarious position of unfulfilled potential.  Here are 10 of the greatest youth flops in football history, players who showed enormous promise at youth level only to fail to live up to their expectations as professionals. 1. Freddy Adu  Signed by DC United at age 14, Adu was the subject of much hype and excitement as one of the brightest prospects in world football. However, after making a big impact at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the United States midfielder struggled to find the same form in the senior ranks. Prone to inconsistent performances, he was forced to move from club to club in search of first-team football and eventually failed to make the grade at any of the major teams he was linked to. 2. Nii Lamptey  Lamptey was s

With Euro 2020 swiftly approaching this summer, we are going to look at five of the best young footballers that might catch your eye at the 16th edition of the UEFA European Championships. For the sake of criteria we are going to only consider players that are 23 years of age or under and have a realistic chance of starting for their national teams this summer. To try and diversify our list we are only going to consider a maximum of one player per country. 5. Kai Havertz - 21 - Midfielder/Forward - Germany Having signed for Chelsea after an immense breakthrough season at Bayer Leverkusen, Havertz got off to a rocky start but is now flying after linking up with fellow German, Thomas Tuchel, as he arrived as Chelsea's new head coach. He's scored four goals and assisted three in about 1500 minutes of Premier League football and could be on course to win the Champions League with Chelsea this season. One of the best young attacking midfielders on the planet, Havertz can also play u

Anssumane Fati Vieira, more commonly known as Ansu Fati, lit up the world last season in La Liga 2019/20, where he became the youngest player to feature in a senior match since 1941 at the age of just 16 years and 298 days and incredibly became Barcelona's youngest ever goalscorer in a senior game just 6 days after his debut. He's also the youngest player to ever score a brace in the La Liga, the youngest player to score and assist in the same La Liga match, and the youngest player to play for Barcelona in the Champions League. This article will detail everything you need to know about the young starlet's background, style of play, statistics and of course, comparisons to Lionel Messi. Background Ansu Fati was born into a family of footballers, his dad Bori played in the lower tiers in Portugal whilst two of his brothers also play football. One of these, Braima, happens to be the reason that Ansu moved to Seville, Spain from Guinea-Bissau at the age of 6, after his brother

Football academies teach the beautiful game to prospective players as young as 5 or 6. They hone and refine their natural abilities and shape them into incredible players that can really impact a match. From legends of the past to stars of today, they all started somewhere. Today we'll be looking at the 5 best football academies in Europe, analysing factors such as the quality of facilities, experience of staff and the achievements of their most famous academy graduates. 5. Sporting CP Youth Academy Based in Lisbon, the Sporting CP Youth Academy is the gateway for talented youngsters to break into the Sporting CP first team. The academy is broken down into 5 youth squads: U19s, U17s, U17s (B), U15s, U15s (B). The current academy was built in 2002, with 1 full size pitch, 4 smaller training pitches and a separate area for goalie training. It also includes study rooms and a medical center with treatment rooms, a jacuzzi, gym, showers and bedrooms. At Euro 2016, 10 Sportin