A regular feature on our website is the Talent Radar Team of the Week with the best young players compiled into an XI from across Europe’s top seven leagues. You can read this for all details on Talent Radar, who is eligible under it and what else we publish within this feature.
[Eligibility: As of 1st June 2016 – 21 years old and below for outfield players // 22 years old and below for goalkeepers]
The football Gods did not disappoint this past week, with action coming thick and fast. There was action from across the European continent, with all the major leagues seeing some significant results. Of course, our team was on hand to track all the exciting youngsters who were on show during this period.
Defence: The goalkeeper that had quite an amazing week was Ederson Moraes. The youngster started off by keeping a clean sheet against Kyiv in an excellent away win for Benfica. He was influential as well, making 5 saves overall. He also showed his talent when it comes to claiming the ball, one very underrated skill. The weekend saw him keep another clean sheet against Belenenses. Of course, this was a slightly less busy match for the keeper, but 2 tough away wins with 2 clean sheets is cause for celebration.
Another Champions League performer was Bellerin. The young Spanish right back has become one of the best in the business, and was on song again as Arsenal subjected Ludogorets to a 6-0 thrashing. The ex-Barcelona man was very efficient going forward, and going backwards as well. Alongside him in the back 4, making his second consecutive appearance is Jeremiah St Juste. This week the youngster managed to get on the scoresheet. Aside from that as well, he was quite calm at the back, and was very effective, especially while building from the back. The other center back in the equation for this week is Sule. Playing on the right side of a 3 man defence, Sule was calm and composed, as Hoffenheim stormed to a very impressive 0-3 win away at Leverkusen. The second Benfica man to stake his claim in this side is Alex Grimaldo. He put in a very tough performance as part of a resolute away performance. Over the weekend, he got on the scoresheet against Belenenses.
Midfield: The wings in midfield are occupied by 2 Ligue 1 starlets. Kylan Cyprien of Nice is on one side. Nice have a host of stars like Balotelli, and Dante, but Cyprien has been a quiet performer for them. This weekend too, he controlled the game in a 2-4 win for his side. He accumulated 117 touches of the ball over the course of the game, with a 90% pass success. On the other side, we have another one of Monaco’s youngsters, Kylian Mbappe. The 17 year old scored one, and picked up an assist as his side stormed to a 6-2 win.
In the middle of midfield, we have Nabil Bentaleb and Naby Keita. The former Spurs man has been on quite the run of form. This was the second consecutive game in which he scored, and got a brace at that. The freedom affored to him has been crucial to achieve this. Bentaleb recorded only a 69% pass completion rate against Mainz in their 3-0 win. Another player that ended up getting a brace is Naby Keita. The midfielder starred in his side’s win.
Forwards: One striker that has really made an impact this season across Europe is Andre Silva. The youngster is being spoken of as the striker that Portugal have lacked for many years now, and he’s backing up those claims now. A brace this weekend will not have hurt his chances of breaking into the national team. His pace, movement, finishing, and anticipation have really set him apart, and gifted Porto a brilliant young forward. Accompanying him is Sandro Ramirez of Malaga. The yongster makes his ToTW debut after a positive performance for Malaga against Leganes. Ramirez managed to score once, and get an assist in that game. He also hit the woodwork once.
Talent Radar Team of the Week // Performance Rankings
