Sports

WORLD CUP: Who are the young stars?

At the 2014 World Cup, James Rodriguez won the Golden Boot, goal of the tournament and was named in the All-Star team and the Dream team of the tournament. He later secured a £63m move to Real Madrid. At the 2010 World Cup, Thomas Muller won the Golden Boot and the Best Young Player. His market value more than doubled. At the 2006 World Cup, Miroslav Klose won the Golden Boot and was named in the All-Star team. His market value peaked at the highest point in his career. It seems at every World Cup there is a player who stands out and his career will change forever. Here’s Park Life Sport’s list of who that player could be.

Ousmane Dembele

After a stunning 15/16 season with Rennes, Dembele made a great career choice to move to Dortmund, where he flourished under Thomas Tuchel. Following this, Dembele made a ground-breaking €105m (plus €40m add-ons) move to Barcelona, however he has not hit his expected heights. Expected to form a formidable trident going forwards alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Dembele was the heir to Neymar’s mantle. A poor injury record saw him miss 27 games this season, and when he was on the pitch, he didn’t light it up as expected. Now, with the signing of Phillipe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann’s signing imminent, Dembele will be further down the pecking order then he ever has been. It looks as if he is going to leave Barcelona (permanent or on loan) in order to get first-team football, and the World Cup is the best stage to perform.

Dembele should start on the left-wing for France, with Kylian M’Bappe on the opposing wing and Olivier Giroud down the middle just infant of Antoine Griezmann. You could make a strong argument for that being the strongest forward three in the tournament, competing with Argentina and Brazil. If Ousmane Dembele can find the form he had at club level with Rennes/Dortmund, clubs will line-up for him, but it will not be in a calm, orderly fashion.

Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano

Chucky was linked with Manchester United in the Summer 2017 transfer window, however unfortunately for the Red Devils, a deal never materialised and instead he transferred to PSV. At PSV, he has evolved from a tight bud, to blossoming into a dahlia. He’s scored 19 goals in 34 appearances for the Rood-witten and already appeared for Mexico 25 times, scoring 7 goals in the process from left-wing. With a wicked right-foot, all season long Lozano has cut-in from the left and fired home, and if the rest of the teams in Group F (Germany, Sweden and South Korea) aren’t careful, he could do the same to them.

Chucky has the potential to be one of the best players in world football, already winning the CONCAF Champions League with Pachuca (winning the top goal-scorer and best young player awards) and the Eredivisie last season. In order to fulfil his potential though, he has to move to a bigger club, PSV aren’t the club they once were and they cannot compete in the Champions League, which is where the best in the world belong. Therefore, he needs to prove himself a great player at the World Cup, parade his quality to Europe’s finest in order to convince the best clubs he’s worth the £30m+ they will probably have to pay.

Lee Seung-Woo

Seung-Woo started his career at La Masia (Barcelona’s youth system), where he stayed for six years after he was discovered at Incheon. He was a prominent member of Barcelona’s youth teams and was – as every prospect is – compared to Lionel Messi in terms of his natural ability. This comparison was not just media frenzy however, Seung-Woo has won awards, including winning top-goalscorer and most-valuable player at the AFC-U16 tournament in 2014.

Seung-Woo transferred out of Catalonia in order to find first-team football, following many out of the doors as prospects rarely the find game-time they used to, following in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas, and more recently Munir El Haddadi and Sergi Samper. In fair Verona is where Seung-Woo decide to settle, playing in the Serie A with Hellas Verona. He’s found game-time hard to come by, and has made 13 appearances off the bench, but if Shin Tae-Young decides to give the youngster the game-time he’s sorely missed, he could show the world why the Lionel Messi comparisons were not in vain.

Sergej Milinkovic Savic

Hotly linked to Europe’s main clubs, Milinkovic-Savic has had a brilliant year with Lazio. From centre-midfield, the Serbian has scored 12 goals in Serie A in 33 starts, recording three assists in the process. Standing tall at 6’3”, he should form a formidable midfield alongside Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic and Luka Milivojevic of Crystal Palace, and their defensive-minded approach will allow Milinkovic-Savic freedom to roam up the pitch and effect the final third.

Milinkovic-Savic holds dual-nationality, as he was also eligible to play for Spain, being born in Lleida whilst his father was playing in Catalonia. His brother (Vanja) is also a footballer, and was once a part of Manchester United’s youth system, however he now plays understudy to Salvatore Sirigu in goal for Torino. Milinkovic-Savic has had a break-out club season for Lazio, and his market value is estimated to be at £63m, which is the joint second highest in the Europa League this season only to Antoine Griezmann. If he continues in the same vein of form at international which he did at club level, Serbia could progress further than anyone could’ve expected.