Football Manager is unnervingly accurate at predicting which young players will develop into world-class ones, and today, the Mirror have outlined the 20 most highly rated Under-21s on the planet.
SoccerEx rated Sterling as the most valuable last week, but Football Manager think two lesser known starlets are more talented.
Here’s the top 20… It’d be nice to see a few of them at Anfield in the coming years.
20) Anthony Martial – Monaco
Prodigal French inside forward heavily linked with Spurs.
19) Munir El-Haddadi – Barcelona
The young Spaniard is unfortunate to be behind three of the world’s four best players in the Barcelona striking pecking order.
18) Gabriel Barbosa – Santos
Rated as ‘The Next Neymar’ back in his homeland, it’s surely only a matter of time before a European giant snaps up ‘Gabigol’.
17) Jose Maria Gimenez – Atletico Madrid
The second highest rated centre-back on this list behind brilliant Brazilian Marquinhos.
16) Keita Balde – Lazio
Linked to Liverpool heavily in the past, Balde can play either wide or centrally – and is involved in a tug of war between Spain and Senegal over his international future.
15) Aleksandar Mitrovic – Anderlecht
Scores goals for fun in Belgium, the real test will of course be when he tests his mettle in a serious league.
14) Bernardo Silva – Benfica
Loaned to Monaco last term, Silva was one of the standout players for Portugal in the Euro Under-21 Championships this summer.
13) Luke Shaw – Manchester United
The overpriced left-back does well to make the top 20 considering his form for United last season.
12) Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – Bayern Munich
Danish midfielder with the grace and technique to make the grade at Bayern.
11) Domenico Berardi – Sassuolo
Italian striker who’s plundered goals for fun in Serie A for the past two seasons. Sassuolo acquired him permanently this summer.
10) Max Meyer – Schalke
Meyer’s development has seen him overtake Julien Draxler as Schalke’s most highly rated youngster.
9) Marquinhos – PSG
PSG’s technically superb centre-back is destined for greatness.
8) Mateo Kovacic – Inter Milan
Heavily linked to us this summer, the Kovacic links have cooled in recent weeks since we acquired Firmino. His place on this list shows why Inter are do desperate to keep hold of him.
7) Memphis Depay – Manchester United
The second of three Man United players on this list, we hope Depay doesn’t find the form in England that saw him win the Golden Boot in the Dutch league last term.
6) Julian Brandt – Bayer Leverkusen
Capped at every German youth level, Brandt’s development is likely to see him make the senior side soon – as the winger continues to impress on the wing for Leverkusen.
5) Adnan Januzaj – Manchester United
We think the Belgian playmaker is overrated here, considering he can’t get anywhere near United’s first-team.
4) Leon Goretzka – Schalke
Another mesmerically talented young Schalke playmaker, it’ll be interesting to see which of Goretzka and Meyer develops into the better player.
3) Raheem Sterling – Liverpool
Our (for now) winger gets in at no.3 on this list, as we ready to sell him to Manchester City for between £40m and £50m. With everything that’s happened – we would have done well to get such a high price.
2) Martin Odegard – Real Madrid
Real Madrid signed the Norwegian Liverpool fan in January, and gave the 16-year-old his first minutes on the final day of the season.
1) Youri Tielemans – Anderlecht
Interestingly it’s Anderlecht’s central midfielder who comes out as the games most highly rated youngster with the most potential in world football. Tielemans is an automatic starter for a Champions League side and has only recently turned 18-years-old. His talent knows no ceiling.
