The players aged 21 or under who are considered to be the most valuable.
This Top 20 Most Valuable Footballers piece originally appeared on the excellent Fanatix.
Sport is always looking towards youth and in football this can also involve some very huge transfer sums for players who are barely legal to drink in a bar.
Here are the 20 most valuable youngsters aged 21 or below according to transfermarkt.com.
18=. Iker Muniain
Club: Athletic Bilbao.
Age: 20.
Value: £16m.
This young winger has been in the first team squad for an incredible four years and has already played 187 matches in all competitions for Athletic.
18=. Geoffrey Kondogbia
Club: AS Monaco.
Age: 20.
Value: £16m.
Joined the Principality club from Sevilla in the summer and already has a cap for the France national team.
18=. Christian Eriksen
Club: Tottenham Hotspur.
Age: 21.
Value: £16m.
One of the many new faces at White Hart Lane this summer, Eriksen already has plenty of top-class experience with Ajax and also has an impressive 42 caps for Denmark.
16=. Koke
Club: Atletico Madrid.
Age: 21.
Value: £17.5m.
Progressing from the prolific Atletico youth academy in 2011 the midfielder has gone onto to be one of the most important first team players at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.
16=. Bernard
Club: Shakhtar Donetsk.
Age: 21.
Value: £17.5m.
One of the hottest prospects in Brazilian football the attacking midfielder eventually made the move to Europe this summer when joining the Ukrainian champions.
15. Mateja Nastasic
Club: Manchester City.
Age: 20.
Value: £18.5m.
Being at a super-rich club like City can often be a disadvantage for young players trying to break into the big time, but not for this Serb who is already a first team regular.
14. Romelu Lukaku
Club: Chelsea.
Age: 20.
Value: £21m.
The striker is currently on-loan at Everton and although the Belgian has failed to really make a mark at Stamford Bridge as yet, there is a big future for Lukaku wherever he decides to go.
10=. Raphael Varane
Club: Real Madrid.
Age: 20.
Value: £22m.
Keeping the likes of Pepe and Sergio Ramos out of the first team is no mean feat, but Varane possesses such talent and confidence that the Frenchman is a regular in the starting XI.
10=. Paul Pogba
Club: Juventus.
Age: 20.
Value: £22m.
After leaving Manchester United in the summer of 2012 this young midfielder has gone onto win the Serie A title with Juve and is also a regular France international.
10=. Marquinhos
Club: Paris Saint-Germain.
Age: 19.
Value: £22m.
Joining the French champions from AS Roma this summer for a whopping £30.1m, the Brazilian has settled in well at the Parc des Princes and looks a real talent for the future.
10=. Thibaut Courtois
Club: Chelsea.
Age: 21.
Value: £22m.
Another talented young Belgian on the Blues’ books that is out on-loan, with the goalkeeper currently in the starlet’s third spell with Atletico and greatly impressing.
9. Stephen El Shaarawy
Club: AC Milan.
Age: 21.
Value: £24m.
Although the Italian has been out for much of this term with injury, the forward is still widely regarded as one of the most exciting prospects in Serie A.
7=. Erik Lamela
Club: Tottenham Hotspur.
Age: 21.
Value: £26.5m.
After impressing for Roma, Spurs were moved to pay a club record £30m for the winger in the summer and although the Argentine hasn’t met his potential just yet, the talent is there.
7=. Julian Draxler
Club: Schalke 04.
Age: 20.
Value: £26.5m.
Another from the seemingly endless stream of talent coming out of the Bundesliga currently, Draxler is a great asset for both club and country.
6. David Alaba
Club: Bayern Munich.
Age: 21.
Value: £28m.
This young Austrian is already a treble-winning star with Bayern, helping the club to lift the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League in 2013/14.
5. Jack Wilshere
Club: Arsenal.
Age: 21.
Value: £29m.
The midfielder’s regularity in both the Gunners and England team makes people forget that Wilshere is still so young and there is much more to come from this midfield ace.
3=. Lucas Moura
Club: Paris Saint-Germain.
Age: 21.
Value: £31m.
Many thought PSG were mad when thy sanctioned a £35m transfer for the Brazilian but Lucas is beginning to look like all the hype and expense may well be worth it.
3=. Isco
Club: Real Madrid.
Age: 21.
Value: £31m.
Snapped up by Los Merengues for £23m after the attacking midfielder had greatly impressed for Malaga and is competing well with the likes of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.
2. Mario Goetze
Club: Bayern Munich.
Age: 21.
Value: £39.5m.
Many Borussia Dortmund fans will never forgive the young German for joining rivals Bayern Munich, but there is probably no better place for Goetze to win trophies than the Allianz Arena.
1. Neymar
Club: Barcelona.
Age: 21.
Value: £44m.
There was already so much hype surrounding this forward before the Brazil international even made the £48.6m transfer to Barca, but Neymar already looks utterly at ease at the Nou Camp.
This Top 20 Most Valuable Footballers piece originally appeared on the excellent Fanatix.
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