Scouting for undervalued under-23 wingers

Having profiled a collection of in-demand wide forwards and wingfielders, it’s time to unearth a selection of under-the-radar talents.

The transfer window has closed and some players featured in this article made relatively late moves. So, consider this a first look at some high-potential wingers that could become transfer rumour generators following a breakout 2025/26 season.

To build this shortlist, I have used the latest feature within the Gemini Sports app: Ask Gemini. I was able to query all of our available data, notes, Archetypes and Attribute scores, and more in plain-text and get answers in just a few seconds. Here is a reminder of the winger profiles:

• Gamebreaker: the rule-breaking triple threats that shoot, pass and carry
• Gameweaver: the new-age number ten that can press, pass, dribble and shoot
• Roadrunner: the dribble-happy, ball-carrying marvels
• Safecracker: the pass-masters and deep-block destroyers
• Raider: the penalty-box ghosters and tap-in merchants

The scores for those Archetypes are calculated based on a custom weighting provided by SCOUTED for the following Gemini Attributes:

• Shot Location
• Shot Placement
• Passing:
• Carrying
• Dribbling
• Pressing
• Aerial

This article maps out my first use of AskGemini, documenting the different paths you can take to find a specific type of player. To hone in on under-the-radar players, I have focused on the undervalued aspect and used that term in most of my queries, whether that be asking for an alternative to the previously-profiled wingers or searching for a specific Archetype.

The first task I gave my new AI assistant was to find me an undervalued under-23 alternative to Eberechi Eze, who was profiled in part one of our exploration of winger profiles.

These six players were suggested:

• Lamine Yamal
• Alvyn Sanches
• Abdul Fatawu
• Nene Dorgeles
• Ben Gannon-Doak
• Carlos Álvarez

To address the elephant in the room, I found it hilarious that even though Lamine Yamal is a world-class winger, he is still considered undervalued because of just how insane his output is for a 17-year-old. Moving on swiftly, there are two players that I want to discuss.

Fenerbahçe SK have recently signed Nene Dorgeles from Red Bull Salzburg for €20m. That is very good business. The Mali international excels in tight spaces and narrow corridors. He is very sharp and shifty when turning away and comfortable using both feet to control, spin away or offload the ball.

This was especially useful in Salzburg’s narrow 4-2-2-2. Nene often made defenders miss with ankle-breaking changes of direction before zipping into the space created and combining with teammates. Alas, he will cost much more than €20m in the future. I think we’ve missed our undervalued window.

Let’s move on then to Alvyn Sanches. The French-born Swiss international covers the wingfielder profile as he has played as an #8, a #10 and even a right-sided forward. As a left-footer, he is essentially the mirror image of Eze’s positional profile. That similarity extends to their Attributes.

Sanches’ primary or, to quickly dip into a podium format, gold Attribute is his Carrying, the same as Eze. His silver Attribute is his Shooting, the same as Eze. His bronze Attribute is his Dribbling, the same as Eze. You get the idea.

To contextualise those scores, Sanches ranks first among wingers and attacking midfielders in the Swiss Super League for Shot Location and second for Shot Placement. He also ranks third for both Carrying and Dribbling - 24-year-old French-born Maltese international Ilyas Chouaref takes top spot for both Attributes and may be worth making a note of. But, at 22 years old, Sanches is one of the best in his position in Switzerland and he ticks the Gamebreaker box early on.

Sadly, he is currently recovering from an ACL tear he suffered when making his senior international debut earlier this year. It’s also the second knee injury of his fledgling career so a signing would be present plenty of risk. Perhaps this plays into his undervalued status.

Despite that injury in March, Sanches was still named Super League Player of the Season after scoring 12 goals and providing four assists in 2,371 minutes for his boyhood club Lausanne-Sport. His talent is so obvious that Young Boys made a Deadline Day move, signing Sanches for a reported €5m fee despite his injury.

If he recovers and returns to his Player of the Season levels, expect to see him at the 2026 World Cup. Then expect bids at least 5x the €5m fee.

The Safecracker Archetype was lacking from the high-profile pool of Wide Forwards analysed in part one, so I wanted to find an undervalued prospect in this mould. For context, Michael Olise is one of the highest-scoring Safecrackers on the Gemini database.

AskGemini suggested two players for this query. The second of which was Fer López. Like Nene, he has also made a move this summer, signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers for €25m. I won’t spend as much time on him but it looks to be a smart pick-up. The first player, however, was also suggested as a potential Eze alternative. Let’s take a closer look.

The name Carlos Álvarez may ring a bell, you might well remember him as the ‘Mini Maradona’ from Sevilla’s 2022/23 UEFA Youth League campaign.

Since that screenshot, Álvarez has signed for Levante and became a first-team regular in his second season at the club. In 2024/25, the diminutive playmaker made 43 appearances for the eventual Segunda División champions, scoring seven goals and providing 11 assists. He also ranked third for Key Passes and Big Chances Created.

Those stats back up the AskGemini suggestion:

Carlos Álvarez is a 21-year-old Spanish winger currently playing for Levante UD in La Liga. His highest-rated attribute is Passing, with a Passing Positional Categorical Score of 73.68. He also scores well in Carrying (66.43) and Dribbling (49.18), suggesting he has the technical ability to be an effective Safecracker.

At a valuation of just €6 million, Álvarez appears to be an undervalued asset with significant potential upside. His Time Decayed GPR of 59.97 and VAEP of 0.12 indicate he is already contributing positively to his team's performance.

Álvarez came off the bench in each of Levante’s first two LaLiga games this season before starting the third. Plenty of clubs will be following closely to see whether he can port his playmaking prowess to the highest level.

Another Archetype that was underrepresented in the first article was the Raider. To give a few high-scoring players for context, Jude Bellingham, Thomas Müller and Brennan Johnson are all good to keep in mind.

I had not yet come across Adrian Segecic so had to do a little digging. The 2004-born Australian joined Portsmouth this summer from Sydney FC having won a share of the 2024/25 A-League Golden Boot. He scored in each of his first two Championship games this season, providing an assist in the EFL Cup in between. Granted, he is now operating from central No.10 role for Pompey but he scored his 13 A-League goals from a wide left position, averaging one every 102 minutes.

What makes Segecic interesting is that both shooting metrics make up his primary and secondary Attributes. The Raider profile is massively weighted towards Shot Location, which is why Segecic was picked out in the AskGemini query:

• He is 21 years old, so well under the 23-year-old age limit.
• His player valuation is only €550,000 which is well below the €25 million maximum you specified.
• His Shooting Attribute scores are his highest, with the Shot Location Global Categorical Score being 73.74, indicating shooting is a key strength.
• He is also tagged as having the “Raider” role Archetype, which matches the profile you are seeking

But fact that his Shot Placement Score is 70.4 means that not only does he consistently find himself in dangerous areas inside the box, but he is a deadly sniper from outside of it. Just take a look at his 2024/25 goal catalogue.

The Raider I was expecting (hoping) to see was Sindre Walle Egeli, a brutish, left-footed Norwegian right-winger we included in SCOUTED50 2024/25. Like Segecic, he has moved to a Championship side this summer, completing a two-way record move to Ipswich Town from FC Nordsjælland on the final weekend of the window. Again like Segecic, he excels in both Shooting metrics - what is it with left-footers and ball-striking? - but there is a clear point of difference.

Egeli is in the top ten in the entire database when it comes to Pressing, scoring 77.9 and ranking 7th. It’s no wonder the 19-year-old has not only become a record sale for the Danish Superliga but also a record signing for the EFL Championship. Even then, €25m could well look like a bargain.

When searching for a Roadrunner, I challenged AskGemini to provide a three-player shortlist.

Two of them featured in that Eze replacement query. Former Liverpool winger Ben Gannon-Doak was picked out but the new Bournemouth signing did not score as high for the Dribbling metric.

Abdul Fatawu, meanwhile, is making a strong comeback after a serious knee injury cut short his debut Premier League season last November.

The Leicester City winger attempted 37 take-ons in the opening four Championship games of the 2025/26 campaign, at least 15 more than any other player and just two fewer than the entire Derby County team combined. The hope is then that the ACL injury has done nothing to temper his relentlessly direct style which is also reflected by the Carrying and Dribbling Attribute one-two.

Whether the Foxes are promoted or not, I think we will see the Ghanaian in the Premier League next season. My bold prediction would be that Yankuba Minteh is the subject of a big-money move and Brighton replace him with Fatawu.

However, I also want to highlight Yeremay Hernández. The Spaniard was subject to interest from Sporting CP this summer but a move did not materialise. It’s a shame that we won’t get to watch him in the UEFA Champions League this season, but it’s great news for other clubs.

Yeremay completed 128 successful dribbles during the 2024/25 LaLiga season, at least 32 more than any other player. He also won 76 fouls, the sixth-most in the division. These stats are reflected in his Attribute Scores: Yeremay is one of 30 players in a pool of 5,102 wingers and attacking midfielders that scores at least 65 for both Carrying and Dribbling. Expect plenty of interest in January.

The final Archetype we are going to look for is a Gameweaver. Arda Güler was highest-scoring primary Gameweaver on the database, with Pressing, Carrying and Passing as his gold, silver and bronze Attributes respectively. AS Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche and his former teammate Eliesse Ben Seghir, now at Bayer Leverkusen, were not far behind. Let’s try to unearth another.

As you can see, some familiar names popped up: Sanches, Nene, Fatawu and Gannon-Doak have all featured in this article previously.

In addition, we have three Brighton-related players. Brajan Gruda is the only one playing for the Seagulls this season, but his appearance alongside Julio Enciso, now of Strasbourg, and Facundo Buonanotte, on loan at Chelsea, shows Tony Bloom and co. really do know what they are doing.

Two Nottingham Forest signings (and personal favourites) Omari Hutchinson and Dilane Bakwa also made the cut. I just don’t understand why they signed both in the same window alongside Dan Ndoye and even James McAtee. Hutchinson has already been omitted from the UEFA Europa League squad.

That leaves Giannis Konstantelias. He’s the player I really wanted to highlight, primarily because of his well-rounded profile. He scores at least 60 for the core Attributes while his 70 Dribbling tips him towards the Roadrunner Archetype. But I also wanted to spotlight Konstantelias as he is one of three exciting Greek players that could have featured.

2007-born Konstantinos Karetsas is a Safecracker. He is a proficient dribbler but his left foot is primarily used for crosses and passes into the box. 2002-born Christos Tzolis is a Gamebreaker that could become a full-on Raider. He can carry the ball but is not a 1-vs-1 specialist. You want to give him the around the box and in behind and let him shoot. The perfect contrast to Karetsas’ profile.

All three could form a well-balanced trio behind Vangelis Pavlidis for the forseeable future, with Brighton duo Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoula providing centre-forward depth. Konstantelias would drift from flank to flank from a central starting position, Karetsas could playmake from the right while with Tzolis provides goal threat from the left.

Between these three players, all Attributes and Archetypes are covered. The 2026 World Cup might come too soon, but look out for Greece during the EURO 2028 cycle.

Using Archetypes to lead the AskGemini search shows the value of player profiling. The bulk of the work is done when constructing, interrogating and refining the Archetypes. Making each profile as robust as possible will in turn improve search results when using tools like the Gemini Sports app, enabling clubs to evaluate their own picks as well as discover players that might have slipped through the net.

To recap, here are the eight under-the-radar under-23 wingers / attacking midfielders to keep an eye on this season:

1. Nene Dorgeles
2. Alvyn Sanches
3. Carlos Álvarez
4. Adrian Segecic
5. Sindre Walle Egeli
6. Abdul Fatawu
7. Yeremay Hernández
8. Giannis Konstantelias

Let’s see what happens next.