Euros Opinion: Three Future Stars That Could Announce Themselves at The Euros
In every international tournament, there are certain young players that latch onto their opportunity and use it as a chance to burst onto the scene. Players such as Thomas Muller, Renato Sanchez, James Rodriguez, Lukas Podolski, and Asamoah Gyan have all done this in recent years so it is only natural for fans to eagerly speculate on who could emulate this in this summers Euro Championship.
Without mentioning the obvious young stars like Kylian Mbappe and Phil Foden, here are three players with a fantastic chance to showcase their talent to the world this summer.
1) Pedri
With Spain underperforming in recent years, there are many overlooking the wealth of talent that the former giants have to offer. Pedri is a perfect example of this, due to a recent trend of poor performances from Barcelona it seems that Pedri has somewhat gone under the radar, but the 18-year-old midfielder has already asserted himself as a key man under Ronald Koeman and is ready to help return Spain to their former glory.
Following the footsteps of Xavi and Iniesta at both a club and international level is no easy task, but the young Spaniard does not lack confidence. After appearing and impressing in 37 league games for Barcelona this season, Pedri will be walking into the tournament with his head held high.
Playing in a Spain midfield with experienced trophy winners such as Sergio Busquets and Thiago will certainly help Pedri to perform as highly as he can in the tournament.
2) Alexander Isak
Many watching the tournament this summer may be disappointed at the legend of the game Zlatan Ibrahimovic missing out. But in fact, it has potentially cleared the way for the lethal young Real Sociedad striker Alexander Isak. It is not easy to follow in the footsteps of a worshipped player such as Zlatan but from what we have seen of Isak so far, he does not lack in either confidence or ability.
Isak, a tall physical striker can also explode through defences and showcase his clinical finishing, which he has done for Sociedad this season impressing the entire league by scoring 17 goals.
Tipped to lead the Swedish attack in all games, Zlatan’s heir apparent will certainly be armed and ready to take his game to the next level and tear up the Euro’s this Summer.
3) Jude Bellingham
After moving to German side Borussia Dortmund from Birmingham City last summer, Jude Bellingham has proved time and time again why he is one of the hottest prospects in football. As a centre midfielder the 17-year-old recorded 8 goal contributions whilst not even starting most of the season. With strong praise from Gareth Southgate, there is a good chance that one of the youngest players in the tournament will have a chance to impress.
This season was only ever supposed to be Bellingham’s introduction to topflight football but instead, he has asserted himself as a first-team player that can compete with the best. After bossing champions league games, scoring against teams such as Manchester City and even collecting a Breakthrough Player of the Year Award it would be stupid to overlook what the young Englishman may achieve this Summer.
One of the most notable things when watching Jude Bellingham is his maturity and composure for a player of his age, mix this with his raw footballing technical ability and his tall physical stature and the sky’s the limit for him.
With the Euro’s being postponed from last year there is an even larger buzz around the tournament. The chance to finally watch some of Europe’s best players alongside the most promising, there are surely going to be a few young lads ready to explode onto the scene and assert themselves with the game’s biggest names.