Most promising youngsters: England well represented

Issue number 328 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the most promising youngsters worldwide according to the capital experience approach. The latter weights domestic league minutes played by footballers with the sporting level of their teams of employment on a global level. The greatest capital experience since January 1st 2020 for players born in the 2000s was calculated for Borussia Dortmund’s winger Jadon Sancho.

Two other German Bundesliga players complete the podium: Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and Sancho’s teammate at Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland. Two Englishmen are at the top of the table for 2001-born footballers: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) and Mason Greenwood (Manchester United). This suggests good prospects for the English national team in the coming years. At the top of the rankings for players born in 2002 is Barcelona’s Pedri González ahead of St. Gallen’s Leonidas Stergiou.

For footballers born in 2003 or after, the highest experience capital gained since a bit more than one year was recorded for Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz. At second position is another German Bundesliga player eligible for England, Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham, while two additional Englishmen are in the top six positions: Harvey Elliott (Blackburn, on loan from Liverpool) and Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich). Should the latter finally opt for England to become world champion?