The top 50 young players in European football

[Simon]

...according to Spanish newspaper Sport.

They have quite a broad view of what consistutes young - anyone born from 1 January 1990 onwards, so players not far off 24 are included.

1. David Alaba (Bayern Munich)

2. Isco Alarcon (Real Madrid)

3. Rafa Alcantara (Celta Vigo – on loan from Barcelona)

4. Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich)

5. Marquinhos (PSG)

6. Mario Balotelli (AC Milan)

7. Marc Bartra (Barcelona)

8. Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk)

9. Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid – on loan from Chelsea)

10. Mattia Destro (Roma)

11. Gerard Deulofeu (Everton – on loan from Barcelona)

12. Julian Draxler (Schalke)

13. Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow)

14. Stephan El Shaaraway (AC Milan)

15. Christian Eriksen (Ajax)

16. Viktor Fischer (Ajax)

17. David De Gea (Manchester United)

18. Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich)

19. Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund)

20. Alen Halilovic (Dynamo Zagreb)

21. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

22. Lewis Holtby (Tottenham)

23. Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan)

24. Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)

25. Aleksandr Kokorin (Anzhi)

26. Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)

27. Erik Lamela (Roma)

28. Nicola Leali (Spezia – on loan from Juventus)

29. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)

30. Eliquim Mangala (Porto)

31. Inigo Martinez (Real Sociedad)

32. Lucas Moura (PSG)

33. Yann M’Vila (Rubin Kazan)

34. Matija Nastasic (Manchester City)

35. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal)

36. Lucas Piazon (Chelsea)

37. Paul Pogba (Juventus)

38. James Rodriguez (Monaco)

39. Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid)

40. Jack Rodwell (Manchester City)

41. Oscar Dos Santos (Chelsea)

42. Andre Schurrle (Chelsea)

43. Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich)

44. Luke Shaw (Southampton)

45. Danilo Luiz Da Silva (Porto)

46. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)

47. Marc Ter Stegen (Borussia Monchengladbach)

48. Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)

49. Marco Verratti (PSG)

50. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Thoughts? Some that seem quite low I think - Varane only at 48, Wilshere only the fourth best Englishman...I'm sure we will revisit this in 5 years and laugh at all the flops it contains. Good to see Alaba getting a bit of hype though, he never seems to get any attention but every time I've seen him play he has been immense.

[Bad Collin]

It's in alphabetical order so I wouldn't worry about the rankings you rank tart.

Coutinho should be on there.

[Simon]

Ahahaha fucking hell. I am having an absolute stinker these last couple of days. I think the ups and downs of the Bale saga are getting to me.

[MMH]

Im no fan of Jack Wilshire but on what planet is Jack Rodwell better than him?

Gah nvm...

[The Rosk]

"Some quite low" hobkdhlaekfhekjagnegj,lansel/kgjm'kler';glerg

[The Rosk]

No Benteke is laughable. I'd have him at #8.

[Simon]

[Mik]

Brilliant Simon, good work.

[MikeHunt]

Fantastic stuff here! Hahahaha!

[Ringo]

Just the 6 Chelsea players. Although De Bruyne looks significantly better than both Lucas Piazon and Schürrle and isn't included.

Most of them are fairly established at senior level.

[Hlebsfall]

I look forward to the bump in 5 years time, with snarky comments about the ones who turned out shit.

[Bennedy]

Most of the English ones will flop. It's what usually happens.

[JP]

No Benteke is laughable. I'd have him at #8.

[Chris Scott]

It's in alphabetical order so I wouldn't worry about the rankings you rank tart.

Coutinho should be on there.

Yes he should.

[Red Dog]

I would put him near the top of the list if he was.

[Grimario]

I look forward to the bump in 5 years time, with snarky comments about the ones who turned out shit.

"What the fuck happened to Freddy Adu?"

and

"Who the fuck is that Australian at 37 that now plays in the Western Australian All Ages division?!"

[da_man]

Jordan Rhodes has scored more goals in the past two seasons than those fifty totaled up. Is true news not rumours.