It can sometimes take a bit of patience and a lot of bravery from a manager to put their trust in a promising youngster, but the rewards are massive if it works out and they go on to become a valuable first team player.
It’s something that Man United and Arsenal have been doing for years so they tend to have some good young players in their first team squad, and it’s not a surprise to see them represented in a list from L’Equipe which details the top fifty players who are under 20 in world football.
Mason Greenwood is the highest Premier League player on the list at number eight, and he’s just managed to beat out Arsenal starlet Bukayo Saka who’s in at number nine on the list.
Both players are still at a very early stage in their career and there’s a feeling that both have yet to get a proper run in their best positions at senior level, so they should continue to develop and impress as time goes on.
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It’s also interesting to see that Liverpool are well represented in the top 20 with Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott making the cut, but they haven’t been able to establish themselves as regular starters so far.
Elliott is having a brilliant season on loan at Blackburn and it’s possible that Jones will need to make a similar move next season, but it shows how highly they are rated.
It’s also interesting to see that the highest ranked English player is actually Jude Bellingham at number six after an impressive start to life at Borussia Dortmund, so it will be interesting to revisit this list in a few years and see how accurate it was.