A shortlist of football's undiscovered wonderkids
A curated, ever-growing Shortlist of under-the-radar talent.
SCOUTED is a magazine dedicated to discovering the next generation of football talent via cutting-edge analysis and traditional scouting. As such, we watch a lot of football players - here's a curated list of just a few.
Every week, we post a new entry to this list directly to our free newsletter, The Shortlist. To receive The Shortlist directly to your inbox every Friday, sign up to SCOUTED for free.
DEFENDERS
Josh Acheampong
Get used to hearing about Josh Acheampong. When it comes to emerging prospects from the Chelsea academy — of which there are many — there are few more exciting than the 18-year-old defender.
Watch him on the pitch and you’ll be taken aback by two things: one, his lanky size and two, his smooth athleticism. Both shouldn’t go together, but they do — he has a tremendous coordination of his lanky limbs that manifests in speed, agility and control. They are also the bedrock of his defensive ability, where his eye-catching length enables him to win duels in the air and on the ground, lurching over the top of strikers to head the ball back or stretching a leg in to jab the ball away.
You’ll be even more moved when you see him stride through midfield with the ball. He has that in his locker, taking two or three defenders out of the game at a time. He’s also composed and confident as a manipulator and passer. For such a lanky frame, his ability on the ball is clean and smooth.
All in all, Acheampong is a complete package that is very much suited to the modern game.
In terms of pathway, he might have to follow the Levi Colwill route. He went on loan to the Championship as an 18-year-old and had an excellent season at Huddersfield Town. It proved to be a launchpad for his career, going on to impress on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion before establishing himself as a regular starter and occasional captain at Chelsea. Acheampong has all the skill and potential to do similar.
But, quite frankly, Chelsea should just put their trust in him right now. Give him opportunities, chuck him in when and where needed. If they do that, they'll save themselves a lot of time, hassle, money, and embarrassment.
Finn Jeltsch
Finn Jeltsch plays for VfB Stuttgart. He made a €10 million move to Die Schwaben in January from 1. FC Nürnberg, where he was having a breakthrough season in senior football, and has carried that momentum into the top-flight of German football.
Whilst VfB have struggled to win games recently, Jeltsch has installed himself as a regular starter already by flipping between centre-back and right-back – and he has a big cup final to look forward to. The 18-year-old fits the modern bill at the back: a solid all-round athlete, mobile and adaptable defender, and a very capable ball-player in possession.
You should remember him from our FIFA U-17 World Cup coverage from a couple of years ago. That was just a taster of what was (and still is) to come. We think he has the potential to go onto become a regular for a Champions League team and for Germany's senior side, as well as a big-money sale for Stuttgart.
Aaron Zehnter
Want a left-back? Aaron Zehnter is a name to keep tabs on. Since leaving FC Augbsurg at the start of 2024, the 20-year-old has made an eye-catching breakthrough in the German second tier for promotion hopefuls SC Paderborn.
If I had to pigeonhole him into an Archetype, it would be the Flyer. Zehnter is the type of full-back that aligns with the more traditional approach: vertical and aggressive, he zips up and down the flank to provide an outlet and attacking threat. That attacking threat is pronounced too, racking up no less than 10 assists in the league so far this season, many of which are wicked, whipped left-footed crosses. He even chips in with the odd goal now and again, bursting into the box off the left.
If Paderborn aren't playing top-flight football next season, Zehnter will be. There won't be a shortage of suitors for the Germany U-20 international. He'll certainly be on Bundesliga shortlists and I expect the usual clubs from Italy, Belgium, England and elsewhere will be keen to bag a bit of a bargain. Keep tabs.
MIDFIELDERS
Konstantinos Karetsas
Before this month, Konstantinos Karetsas was the future of Belgian football. His decision to represent the country of his parentage at senior international level is another coup for Greece, who, after decades of disappointment and mismanagement, have a hoard of exciting young prospects all of a sudden.
Karetsas adds to a list that includes Stefanos Tzimas, Christos Mouzakitis, Giannis Konstantelias, Kostas Koulierakis and Charalampos Kostoulas, and we're probably forgetting a few. Anyone that watched Greece thrash Scotland at Hampden Park last Sunday witnessed the dawn of an exciting and unprecedented new era.
But Karetsas is nothing new to those in the know. He's been starting games most weeks for KRC Genk since the start of this season, and he put together an exciting highlight reel playing for their B team in the Belgian second division before that. His technical talent is outstanding – capable of shifting momentum of games by itself – and it manifests in tricky creativity and spectacular goals.
The 17-year-old has a big future for club and country. Keep tabs.
Fer López
Switching to Spain, let us introducve you to 20-year-old Fer López.
The slinky technician is the crown jewel of the Galician club's rejuvenation under the aforementioned Claduio Giráldez. His step up from the B team has established a pathway for his former players, with López the latest to benefit from it. Excelling in the fourth tier, he's now been a first-team regular since the turn of the year.
López's technical quality belies his long and leggy frame. You'd normally associate a 6'2" midfielder with being a little clunkier, perhaps a bit heavier, but the Celta creator is an exception. It can be seen in his sharp close control to escape tight spaces, his ability to travel with the ball while keeping his head up, the consistently excellent weight of his passes, and some of his creative ideas around the box.
He's also a goal threat. Whippy shots from around the edge are a staple of his skillset, as are clever movements that see him arrive late into the penalty area. He's scored four goals in 644 minutes for the first team and another four in 1,411 minutes for the B team.
We really like him, and you will too once you watch him. His profile is easy on the eye and effective on the pitch. By trusting their own like López and Giráldez, Celta are looking upward again.
Lennon Miller
Miller is very clearly ahead of the curve in his development. Since breaking into first-team football last season, he has since gone on to captain Motherwell, playing almost 5,000 minutes across near enough 70 games, and flown through the age groups at international level.
He has most of the fundamentals of a high-level midfielder. A solid physique gives him a head start, his dynamic passing ability is arguably his standout skill, and he plays with a sense of maturity and assurance that belies his age and experience.
His breakthrough season, littered with notable milestones, will have him at the top of clubs' agendas for the summer transfer window. You can bet your bottom dollar that the usual talent-developing clubs will be all over him.
Yuto Ozeki
Insight from Llew's notebook: "Bit above average height, leaner frame with longish legs – athletic. Nimble mobility sticks out on pitch, shifty mover in smaller spaces. Clean touch/close control on both feet. Instinct to play forward quickly, looking to drive with carry + create with pass.
"Good athlete with lean frame, easy to see top-level physique. Gets on ball between lines + speeding up sequences with good touch, passes, little runs. Awareness of space/next action is good. Building and playmaking, always wants the ball to develop + create. Likes the clipped diagonal cross from right half space. Uses both feet to take, turn, pass and shoot. Really switched on to second balls. Really impactful and sees the games before others."
He's returned to Kawasaki Frontale after a breakthrough season in the J3 League. We don't think it will be too long before he's starting (semi-)regularly in Japan's top tier and showcasing his exciting skillset.
Noah Nartey
Llew: “I rate Nartey plenty because he is a press-resistant midfield prospect of the highest order, both as a high-volume passer that connects play across the pitch and a zippy dribbler that can burst out of tight spaces.
“He started the season with a string of stars before losing his place, but it looks as if he’ll feature regularly in the second half of the Superliga season which should only see his profile and popularity increase significantly.”
Nartey featured in our Team of the Year:
Jake Entwistle
Max Dowman
Dowman’s career so far has been a kind of fireworks display, of dazzling moments and slack-jawed, disbelieving onlookers. It began with whispered rumours that someone very special was emerging at Hale End - he’s fourteen, they said - that grew into a quiet legend of a kind that’s often so damaging for young footballers. SCOUTED held off from talking too much for exactly that reason, but he’s become impossible to ignore.
This season, he became the youngest ever player to represent Arsenal’s U-21s. He is the U-17s captain at 15. He has Mikel Arteta bemoaning the Premier League’s age restrictions. He has 19 goals from midfield this term, playing (at least) three years above his age. And he’ll go to the European Championships as the player to watch.
When you do, think about Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri; think about the way they are so adept at placing their bodies between the ball and their opponents, players who are bigger, stronger and older than them, and using their arms to lever space. Dowman does exactly the same in a way that screams of careful Hale End engineering. And when he has that space, he drives into it with poise, balance, and speed players two years his senior struggle to match. His unearthly close control, with little stud-rolls that are hard to follow in real time, slaloming changes of direction and a magician’s first touch, make him a ghost: getting tight to him is foolhardy; giving him space is suicide. And when he reaches the box, his finishing from his left foot is consistently killer.
FORWARDS
Lamine Cissé
Ligue 2 has been a hotbed of talent for as long as we can remember: loads of players have emerged from the French second division (and beneath) to become household names at the top end of the European game. Another that could follow a similar pathway is Lamine Cissé at SC Bastia.
After two seasons in the third tier with boyhood club AS Nancy, the 22-year-old made a leap of faith to Corsica last summer and has stuck the landing. His first full Ligue 2 season has been an eye-catching one: eight goals and two assists in just under 2,000 minutes so far, an impressive return for the winger in a middling Bastia side.
His skillset also catches the eye — he’s jinky first and foremost, both in movements and dribbles. He has the combination of athletic and technical talent to make defenders miss with sharp changes of pace and direction. But Cissé’s unique selling point is probably his ability to play both sides: left winger, right winger, even behind the striker, and he’s a capable shooter off both feet too. That flexibility provides plenty of options.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how he develops physically. Could he fill into an Mbeumo-esque build? It’s a possibility. What will exacerbate such physical development is a move to a top-flight league, a move he is bound to make this coming summer. The Bundesliga would be where my money is.
Mihajlo Cvetkovic
If you loved Luis Suárez, you'll like Mihajlo Cvetković. There's something quite reassuring about a stocky little striker hurtling around the pitch, putting defenders under pressure, competing for every ball, running and battling and shooting, leaving everything on the line. Like the Uruguayan, the Serbian does exactly that.
The 18-year-old is a graduate of the FK Čukarički academy, one of the Balkans' best when it comes to producing first-team talent. He already has over 50 senior appearances to his name, in which he's bagged 11 goals, an impressive tally.
This season has seen him become a regular. It follows on from his standout performances at junior level for club and country; we first watched him at last year's UEFA U-17 EURO, where he made our Team of the Tournament, and have been enamoured with him since.
Stephen Ganavas
Malmö FF thought they made him the record Allsvenskan signing this winter, but Cvetković reneged on the deal at the last minute. Their loss will be someone else's gain: the Serbian offers an exciting, well-rounded, almost chaotic package as a project number nine that clubs will be battling to sign this coming summer.
Jesús Rodríguez
A trend has emerged in La Liga this season: home-grown talent is all the rage. As clubs struggle to compete in an increasingly expensive transfer market, they have turned to their own canteras to evolve their teams and pad out their squads.
One of the best examples of it is the emergence of Jesús Rodríguez at Real Betis.
Since the turn of the year, the 19-year-old has stepped up from B team football into a regular role for Manuel Pellegrini's side, starting the biggest games against the best teams, as Betis compete on domestic and European fronts.
I have questions marks about Rodríguez's skillset and how it scales to higher levels, but one thing is undeniable: he is a very talented dribbler and carrier of the ball.
The Spaniard is a leggy athlete that looks to take on defenders whenever possible. He rides challenges in deeper areas before driving into space, jinks through smaller gaps and bursts out the other side, slides inside and outside to put defences on the back foot, and does it all with a shifty style that catches the eye straight away. The numbers back it up, too – while chunks of his admittedly limited data profile leave plenty to be desired, the dribbly bits are green, green, green across the board.
Rodríguez's breakthrough into first-team football hasn't gone unnoticed. The links to your Chelseas and Liverpools and Arsenals are already piling up, but those links are premature. Let him have a full season at Real Betis to refine his game further. Allow him to really find his feet in senior football and show us the breadth of his ability. Put him on your shortlists for now and keep close tabs.
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