It’s been a rough road for Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches ever since his massive transfer from Benfica to Germany in May of 2016. After making the breakthrough at his boyhood club during the 2015-16 season and carrying that superlative form into Portugal’s historic Euro 2016 triumph, Sanches’ career abruptly hit the wall.
Remember Ødegaard? Martin Ødegaard, the 16-year-old Norwegian wonderkid Real Madrid signed back in January 2015. He was all anyone in the soccer world could talk about for a brief moment. Everyone kept talking about how he was going to be the new Messi. Both lefties. Both on the right wing. Both showcasing a similar playing style of cutting in with their left.
In the end, Shakhtar Donetsk’s trusted strategy of supplementing its Ukrainian core of players with a bunch of Brazilians proved, once again, a masterstroke — this time in spoiling the appearance of the youngest manager the Champions League has ever seen, Hoffenheim’s 31-year-old whizkid Julian Nagelsmann.
When 18-year-old phenom Timothy Weah takes the pitch on Friday for the USMNT’s headline friendly against Brazil at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, it’s likely that he’ll see three of his Paris Saint-Germain club teammates opposing him. With 90 caps to his name, Neymar is the most experienced of Brazil’s PSG bunch, but Thiago Silva (who’ll captain the side) isn’t far behind on 76, and defender Marquinhos has already represented the Seleção 27 times at the tender age of 24.
Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. set the Italian youth league on fire this weekend, bagging four goals in the Juventus U-9’s 5-1 win against Lucento. The youngster, repping the No. 7 shirt of course, notched two goals in each half, darting past the legs of outstretched defenders in seamless fashion, much in the way his old man does.
18-year-old Brazilian wunderkind Vinícius Júnior appeared in his second match for Real Madrid Castilla (Real’s reserve team) against Atletico Madrid B today. The Madrid Derby in Segunda División B (Spain’s third division) ended in a 2-2 draw with Vinícius Jr at the center of everything for Real, scoring a brace while also getting his head munched on by Atletico captain Alberto Rodriguez.
How fast is Christian Pulisic? The 19-year-old American is usually deployed on the right flank by club side Borussia Dortmund — although he enjoys a more central role when playing with the USMNT — so he’s certainly no slouch when it comes to pace. However, what makes him such a precocious talent is that he’s no one-trick pony — he doesn’t only rely on his blistering speed to create chances and take defenders on.
At the tender age of 19, any sort of highlight involving Paris Saint-Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe is technically still from his “youth.” This is especially true since he started playing for Monaco’s senior side at the age of 16 and dominated the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship at the age of 17. Now he’s a World Cup winner at 19.
Remember Martin Ødegaard? We forgive you if you'd forgotten all about the guy. Here’s a quick refresher for you: Ødegaard was the youngest player ever to play in the Norwegian Tippeligaen at the ripe age of 15 years and 118 days. Not only that, but he also was the youngest player ever to play for the Norway national team at the age of 15 years and 253 days.