In 2023, fans of football continues to see emerging talents shine brightly in Europe's top national championships. So who are shining at the big tournaments and leaving a great impression on football followers around the world? Let's take a look at 10 names that are competing strongly in the first months of 2023.
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First, let's talk about an Asian player in the English Premier League, Kaoru Mitoma. The Japanese player is considered an interesting discovery by Brighton at the later stage of the season. Until last October, the former Kawasaki Frontale player played a reserve role at Brighton, but he had outstanding performances against Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal showed that Mitoma was on her way to becoming the new star of Asian football.
What makes people impressed with the player from the land of the rising sun is his quick and technical dribbling. Four years ago, Mitoma was still a student at Tokuda University - where he studied soccer technique and how to beat opponents in one-on-one situations. Mitoma's dribbling studies have now become his weapon to shine in the Premier League.
In general, the promising young striker of Manchester City is still a strange bird in the top football sky. With a famous perfectionist coach like Pep Guardiola, letting a player who had just appeared for the first time in European football at the beginning of this season, from Argentina's pitch to Man City, be kicked as often as possible is a strange thing. Not to mention, Man City also has expensive striker Erling Haaland who was popular at the beginning of the season. Yet Alvarez had 12 Premier League matches with Man City before the World Cup opened.
Alvarez's brave way of playing recalls the battle-ready image of the old Argentine strikers, Hernan Crespo and Gabriel Batistuta. They always have the ability to control their entire hunting ground, chase defenders to the corner post to contest the ball, back deep to find the ball and create opportunities for themselves to score with all techniques. Because it is so perfect, Argentina often only needs a striker to be enough in a time when many other teams have a pair of strikers.
So is Alvarez. In fact, he is not paired with Lionel Messi as shown in the diagrams in the newspaper. Messi is free to move, thereby unleashing all his creativity and excellent technique because he has Alvarez in charge of everything that needs to be done in the role of a true striker.
Young Spanish star Alex is also having a memorable season. In fact, the mature player from La Masia has been in the first team since the 2021/22 season. However, under Dutch coach Ronald Koeman, he was only a backup option for Jordi Alba.
However, things started to get better for Balde this season. Up to the present time, the player has made 24 appearances in all competitions and contributed 4 assists for the Catalan giants. Balde's pace, precise passing, courage and ability to make bold decisions can put any defense in trouble.
For young players like Balde, the hardest thing to secure a permanent place in a star-studded squad is to stay in shape and keep improving. Barcelona fans right now should prepare to say goodbye to Jordi Alba. One day soon, this veteran defender will become a very old man and give the left wing to young Balde with 9 goals in 19 games.
Kolo Muani is currently Frankfurt's No. 1 scorer in the Bundesliga this season. Muani just joined Frankfurt at the start of the season after signing a contract with Nante. The striker born in 1998 also left an impression at the 2022 World Cup with his fast-paced play and a return goal. Muani played even more explosively in the Bundesliga. The French player has scored in all three recent rounds, becoming a nightmare for every defence.
Perhaps this is also the first and last season of Kolo Muani in Frankfurt because many big players such as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Barcelona are lining up to welcome this phenomenon of French football. But before leaving Frankfurt, Muani wants to help the team on the banks of the Main River win tickets to the Champions League first.
Rico Lewis joined the Man City training camp at the age of 8 and promoted to the first team from this season more than a month ago, Lewis became the youngest English player to start in a Premier League game for Man City since Micah, since Richards back in 2006.
This season, Lewis has not only shown his ability to read the game well, strong in tackles, but also participate in attacks in the style of a modern full-back. One of the impressive qualities of this morning star's growth is his ability to stick to the center of the game as an anchor midfielder, assisting teammates in developing and distributing the ball. This is the strategy Pep's team designed to overwhelm the opposition in the midfield. At times, Lewis performed the task so well that he pushed both Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo - the right-back duo who have a total of 114 caps for the national team - out of the Man City squad.
In the summer of 2022, Napoli bid farewell to a series of gods, including important positions such as captain Lorenzo Insigne, two vice-captains Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly, and other faces that have made the Southern Italy club's personality for a long time. However, that team has still operated smoothly to this day. They lead the Serie A rankings with 59 points after 22 rounds and have the opportunity to win the championship this season.
Contributing to that convincing achievement is the name still unknown to the mass audience - Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. In all competitions for the 2022/23 season, the Georgian star has scored 11 goals and 14 assists after 23 appearances. Kvara has a knack for running on the left wing and can play any position up front when required. Other factors that are highly appreciated in him are his ability to dribble like stickiness, speed, technique and extremely impressive 1-1 passing skills.
I was very surprised with Ounahi. Unbelievable, where did he come from? He plays like the Spanish players. I was amazed at his physical background.
This is the share of coach Luis Enrique after Spain lost to Morocco at the 2022 World Cup and witnessed Ounahi play brilliantly against La Roja's star-filled midfield. Despite being quite slim with a height of 1m82 and a weight of 62kg, Ounahi possesses a durable physical foundation with the ability to work tirelessly to help Morocco defend the area better. This is why Atlas Lions' opponents often have superior ball control but fail to launch many shots.
With the impressions at the 2022 World Cup, it is not uncommon for the midfielder to be in the sights of more famous teams. And the 22-year-old player decided to go to the Marseille Olympics right in the Winter period with a fee of about 10 million euros. Although he has only played three matches for the new team, the midfielder has managed to get himself a goal and have relatively positive performances.
Chelsea's expensive rookie has caused the European press to spend a lot of ink in the past time. So, what is the real value that the Ukrainian star can bring to make both London teams covet?
Mudryk is a right-footed player and is highly appreciated for his ability to accelerate in situations on the edge. With playing on the left wing, his speed will be an advantage to be able to easily reach into the opponent's penalty area.
Mykhailo Mudryk is an extremely dangerous attacking player. When performing quick counter-attacks, in addition to speed, this player's ability to easily dribble the ball is also an outstanding advantage compared to opponents on the other side of the front line. With light touch situations, combined with a foundation of speed, Mudryk has enough time and space to play the ball to execute the most effective attack plans. At just 75 feet tall, Mudryk outmaneuvered full-backs and wing-backs with speed instead of power.
Possessing the speed, abundant energy and boldness of youth, Alejandro is like a trump card to help Erik ten Hag tackle opponents in the most difficult times.Moreover, possessing dual citizenship of Argentina and Spain, Garnacho was born and raised in the country of bulls. He trained at Atletico Madrid's Academy and, interestingly, played both for Spain Under-18s and Argentina Under-20s.
Arriving at Old Trafford in the summer of 2021 for a transfer fee of just £420,000, Alejandro is proving to be a bargain. He has progressed very quickly since entering the first team and has so far scored 3 goals and 6 assists this season. Not only expertise, but Garnacho's charisma also impresses viewers. Taking on the look of a villain from the Harry Potter prequel series, he feels hard to bully and promises to become a star full of personality, a typical warrior-type artist of Argentina.
Finally, it is impossible not to mention the best young player in the World Cup, the most expensive contract in English Premier League history, Enzo Fernandez. With what has been shown at Benfica and especially the Argentina team, the Blues are expecting Fernandez to become a new icon at Stamford Bridge.
In fact, the Argentinian midfielder had an impressive performance in his first matches in a Chelsea shirt, presenting himself as a true midfield boss. Enzo Fernandez's strongest point is his ability to pass the ball to control the rhythm of the game and create assists. He also possesses the ability to dribble and confidently finish with powerful long shots. Moreover, Fernandez's skill set is also quite diverse and he can take on many midfield roles.
Energy and spirit keep Fernandez productive even without the ball. The Argentinian has a modern tendency to play with the ability to cover the field and provide good defensive support. Although his body is not so ideal, in return, he has enthusiasm and perseverance.
That is an overview of 10 rising stars of world football. They play impressively and possess huge potential to become top players. Although they are new players, the time to prove themselves is still very long. But let's wait and see, who will step up in this race and reach the true level.