Talent identification in football is getting better and better, and the media are as good as the recruitment industry when it comes to picking out the top prospects for tomorrow.
Back in 2021, renowned French sport title L’Equipe published a list of the best 50 young players in world football. The list offered up a half-ton of players born in 2001 or later whose futures in the game were set to be the stuff of dreams.
Lists of this kind are hit and miss by definition but the scouts and analysts compiling them are people who really know their football and four years, really, isn’t very long.
But there are always players who have to settle for mere success in football rather than superstardom, and there are others who drift away from the spotlight altogether.
The 2021 L’Equipe list includes plenty of big winners identified early.
Pedri, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala haven’t surprised anyone with their progress.
Some others have outdone expectations. Others still have a way to go.
Here’s a selection of the most eye-catching surprises four years later.
Myron Boadu
Now 24, former AZ striker Boadu moved to Monaco soon after the publication of the list from L’Equipe. He has played more than 50 league matches for his new club but was loaned to both Twente and Bochum last year. He has a single Netherlands cap to his name after his international debut in 2019.
Mohamed Ihattaren
Another young Dutch forward, Ihattaren left PSV for Juventus in 2021 and has frequently been accused of lacking fitness and professionalism throughout a handful of unsuccessful loans. He left Turin by mutual consent in 2023 having never played a game, joining Slavia Prague as a free agent and then having his contract terminated without an appearance there, too. He signed for RKC Waalwijk last September.
Josko Gvardiol
After impressing at the 2022 World Cup, Zagreb-born defender Gvardiol got the move to Manchester City that sealed his long-expected ascent to the top. In 2021, he was a relatively new signing for RB Leipzig from Dinamo Zagreb. Big things were expected in his future but those World Cup displays for Croatia supercharged his rise.
Josko Gvardiol in action for Manchester City (Image: Getty)
Charles De Ketelaere
24-year-old De Ketelaere can be regarded as a more modest success but he has won more than 20 Belgium caps and is highly regarded in Italian football. He joined AC Milan from Club Brugge in 2022, moving on loan and then permanently to Atalanta, where he has been lauded for his consistency in the past two seasons.
Kaio Jorge
In 2021, Brazilian striker Jorge was being lined up for a move from Santos to Juventus. He suffered a quad injury six days after his move was announced. He played a few games as a substitute for the Bianconeri but another injury, sustained while playing for the U23 side, dented his development further. After a season on loan with Frosinone in Serie A, Jorge returned to Brazil and signed for Cruzeiro last summer.
Becir Omeragic
23-year-old Swiss defender Omeragic was picked out by L’Equipe as a Zurich player in the Swiss Super League and has just been relegated to France’s second tier with Montpellier, part of the first Paillade squad to drop out of Ligue 1 for 16 years.
Michael Olise
He’s now a globally recognised star and was one of the key players in Bayern Munich‘s Bundesliga win in 2024-25, and Olise’s evolution has been phenomenal. He’s long been considered a top prospect but Reading to Bayern in four years is terrific progress in anyone’s money.
Fabio Silva
Silva signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers from Porto, obviously, and Wolves are still his parent club. He’s had loans at Anderlecht, PSV, Rangers and Las Palmas, where the occasionally divisive 22-year-old finally earned a maiden senior cap for Portugal.
Nicolas Raskin
A former Rangers teammate of Silva, Belgian midfielder Raskin moved from Standard Liege to Ibrox in 2023 and has been wrapped up in two-and-a-half tame seasons for the Gers. Earlier this year he was selected for Belgium for the first time and made his international debut in March.
L’Equipe’s list in full
Ansu Fati
Eduardo Camavinga
Ryan Gravenberch
Pedri
Giovanni Reyna
Jude Bellingham
Yari Verschaeren
Mason Greenwood
Bukayo Saka
Myron Boadu
Florian Wirtz
Nuno Mendes
Harvey Elliott
Mohamed Ihattaren
Youssoufa Moukoko
Josko Gvardiol
Curtis Jones
Thiago Almada
Yunus Musah
Noni Madueke
Charles De Ketelaere
Jeremy Doku
Ilya Zabarnyi
Kaio Jorge
Becir Omeragic
Filip Stevanovic
Jamal Musiala
Kamaldeen Sulemana
Adam Hlozek
Anatoliy Troubine
Benoit Badiashile
Rodrygo
Gabriel Martinelli
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Gabriel Veron
Moises Caicedo
Christos Tzolis
Michael Olise
Ander Barrenetxea
Aster Vranckx
Fabio Silva
Matias Areza
Leonidas Stergiou
Nicolas Raskin
Aaron Hickey
Alan Velasco
Arnaud Kalimuendo
Lassina Traore
David Strelec
Rayan Cherki
