Three explosive striker prospects and a new Scottish starlet
The Shortlist, March 14th 2025
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Headliners
The players we watched this week.
Short…listed:
A short recommendation.
This week, we're adding an up-and-coming Scottish midfielder to your shortlists.
18-year-old Lennon Miller has been in the news this week as he earned his first call-up to Scotland's senior squad for the forthcoming UEFA Nations League play-offs.
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.
HEATWATCH
SCOUTED50: Keeping tabs on the golden boys.
🔥 48 / MATIAS FERNANDEZ-PARDO
The Belgian boy is back. Well, I say Belgian, but Matias Fernandez-Pardo has switched to represent Spain ahead of the forthcoming international break. Born in Brussels, the 2005er has represented Belgium at youth level but the RFEF appear to have submitted the necessary documents to make the switch to Spain. After an ankle ligament tear at the start of the year, Fernandez-Pardo has featured as a sub in Lille's last four games across Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League. This could be the start of the run he needs to showcase his talent.
🧊 41 / SAMUEL MBANGULA
Meanwhile, this Belgian has not started a Serie A game since scoring against Milan in mid January. Unsurprisingly, Mbangula has not been able to keep up his whirlwind start to the season. Since scoring one and providing two assists in his first two Serie A starts of the campaign, he has started five more matches, scoring twice and providing an assist. This kind of development path is to be expected, but is perhaps a shade below what his start to the season promised.
SCOUTED Stats
The stat leaders piquing Jake’s interest. For the detail, read Monday Night SCOUTED.
🚨 Mohamed Kader Meïté made his full Ligue 1 debut this weekend for Rennes against PSG - Jake is sticking him straight on his Power Forward watchlist.
🧭 Valentín Barco attempted the most passes this weekend, logging 95 against Nantes - from his new position in central midfield, alongside Andrey Santos. If you've watched him, it fits.
🔑 Adam Wharton made 6 Key Passes against Ipswich Town, at least two more than any other U23 player this weekend.
Watchlist
The players to keep an eye on – and where to find them.
🇧🇪 Matte Smets (2004)
KRC Genk vs. Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Jupiler Pro League — Saturday, 15 March 2015, 19:45 GMT
Jake: I have spotlighted the lesser-mentioned of a host of players you need to tune in to watch. This game is stacked with fascinating prospects. For Genk, the runaway league leaders, keep tabs on Konstantinos Karetsas (2007), Mike Penders (2005), Christopher Baah (2004), Ibrahima Bangoura (2004) and Matte Smets (2004). For third-placed USG, it's another chance to watch SCOUTED-favourite Franjo Ivanović (2003) as well as a bunch of intriguing forwards: Promise David (2001), Ousseynou Niang (2001) and the returning Mohammed Fuseini (2002). This match is a scout's dream. Tune in.
🏴 Sydie Peck (2004)
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Sheffield United
EFL Championship — Sunday, 16 March 2025, 12:30 GMT
Jake: You are spoilt for choice on Sunday. Even before the League Cup final, the 12:30pm slot gives you the choice of the Steel City derby or the Old Firm. After Newcastle vs. Liverpool, you have to choose between Inter vs. Atalanta and PSG vs. Marseille. You might even be able to squeeze in Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. VfB Stuttgart at 18:30.
Anyway, back to the actual pick. In December, Llew wrote this on Sydie Peck following the season-ending injury to Ollie Arblaster:
But another man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. I don’t know if that’s an actual saying, it sounds like it should be, but it rings true for Sydie Peck. Arblaster missing the rest of the season presents the 20-year-old an invaluable opportunity to fill his boots. Peck has a similar profile to Arblaster as a do-it-all passer in midfield and he’s already made a strong impression in the first team this season, standing out in some cup games. I’ve really like the look of him in the bits I’ve seen. Careers can be kickstarted on breaks like this. With Arblaster out of the equation, Peck – a former Arsenal academy captain who should definitely pick Cymru at international level, not England, wink wink, nudge nudge – is now primed to play a 3,000-minute season for a promotion-chasing Championship team. Opportunities like that don’t come around often.
The 2004er has since racked up 2,214 out of the 3,000-minute target Llew set, starting 24 games. In that time, Peck has become a fan favourite because all of the intangibles that come to the fore in a derby. Expect bone-crunching slide tackles and PASHUN, but do not overlook his ability as a footballer.
Vox Populi
We’re listening - here's a quick poll, for fun.
Last week we asked you: which in-the-news Arsenal graduate has the highest ceiling, imo? The results are in:
🥇 Max Dowman - 57.7%
🥈 Chido Obi - 30.8%
🥉 Mika Biereth - 11.5%
Thanks so much to everyone who voted! It's not surprising to see Dowman take the crown, but I had expected Biereth's recent goal explosion to propel him into contention. Do y'all not watch Ligue 1?
We're gunna take a week off from Vox Populi - polls will return next Friday. But if you'd like to get in touch, we're always keen to hear feedback on this newsletter; drop us a comment or reply to this email.
Further reading
Before Paris and Champions League floodlights, Désiré Doué stood at a crossroads. Here's what SCOUTED saw in the talented youngster - published July 2024.
Désiré Doué: before the big move
At Stade Rennais, if you're good enough, you're old enough. The French club have a strong youth academy set-up that has enabled them to consistently maintain their position somewhere between the mid-table and European places in Ligue 1.
And when I say ‘strong’, I mean it. Jeanuël Belocian, Lesley Ugochukwu, Georginio Rutter, Mathys Tel, and, of course, Eduardo Camavinga headline their best products in the last five or so years. The problem for Rennes, however, is that they haven't really been able to maximise a fee for any.
They’ll be looking to remedy that with their next budding young starlet: Désiré Doué.
Doué is of the same 2005 vintage as Tel, first catching my eye when I watched him in the UEFA U-17 European Championship in 2022, amongst a stacked French team that also included Warren Zaïre-Emery. The French won that tournament, Tel moved to Bayern München, Zaïre-Emery became an established first-teamer at Paris Saint-Germain, and now Doué is on the precipice of a big move this summer.
In between that U-17 EURO and now, Doué has steadily developed with Rennes. That can be best explained in his uptick in minutes, moving from around 1,400 in his debut professional season in 2022/23, to about 2,400 in 2023/24.
That’s almost 4,000 minutes of senior football before turning 19 — which he did earlier this June.
All of this has lead to murmurs of a move abroad. In the bits I’ve seen of him before sitting down to put together this profile, I’m not fully convinced he could handle it yet. But I’m coming to this with fresh eyes, having seen very little of him since the aforementioned U-17 EURO.
Stephen Ganavas
That’s all, folks. See you next Friday.
For everything on the next generation, stay tuned to SCOUTED.
