8 youngsters to watch in the 2019/2020 Champions League season

One hundred and eight days after the Madrid final won by Liverpool the Champions League returns, finally, with four Italian clubs (Juventus, Napoli, Inter and Atalanta) and teams from sixteen different nations who will play the competition with the goal to conquer the trophy in Istanbul, next May 30th. There will be the VAR system but above all many youngsters to keep an eye on, a habit we had already taken on the eve of the 2018/2019 edition, before some talents from Ajax and Liverpool finally grew up. This edition number 65 could be that of the explosion of the 16 year old from Barça Ansu Fati but also that of the definitive consecration of many very early champions such as Kylian Mbappé, Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix, so we have selected eight less known ones that we will observe with particular attention since the group stage.

Tammy Abraham

nationality: English
club: Chelsea
position: striker
born: 2/10/1997

Advising you to concentrate on him is almost obvious, given his start of the season with the Lampard's new Chelsea: 5 games and 7 goals, including a hat-trick. The English striker has never played in the Champions League and could suffer the competition of the more experienced Giroud, but we are sure that he will reach to find space anyway, along with the other new entries in the offensive positions, Pulisic and Mount.

Sander Berge

nationality: Norwegian
club: Genk
position: midfielder
born: 14/2/1998

He almost never scores, but in the middle of the pitch stands out a lot, thanks to its 195 centimeters and its excellent individual technique that have made many football scouts fall in love. The last product of the amazing Genk youth academy (from which, among others, Koulibaly, De Bryune and Milinkovic-Savic came out) is most likely in its last season with the Belgian club before joining a big one and for this reason we are doubly curious to watch him, in the same group of Napoli.

Dani Olmo

nationality: Spanish
club: Dinamo Zagreb
position: offensive midfielder
born: 7/5/1998

He was on our notebook already during the last Under-21 European Championships, when he was one of the least expected main actors of the Spanish final triumph, and now he has reached the group stage through the playoffs, overcoming three qualifying rounds. He was much talked during the last market window, but he stayed in Croatia to play the Champions League as a team leader, only 21 years old.

Victor Osimhen

nationality: Nigerian
club: LOSC
position: striker
born: 29/12/1998

Lille is one of the most interesting teams in this edition of the Champions League, selling a lot in the summer and renewing itself by choosing many promising players like Tim Weah, Yazici and Renato Sanches. This mighty striker came from Belgium and already shone with Nigeria Under 17 squad and then seemed to have interrupted his growth: in the first five matches of the Ligue1 he has already scored five times.

Kai Havertz

nationality: German
club: Bayer Leverkusen
position: midfielder
born: 11/6/1999

Huge comparisons have already been made about him, those that already project him as the perfect fusion between Ballack and Özil. In reality they would not seem so risky, given his great performances in the recent months: he has already scored 25 goals in the Bundesliga and 3 in Europa League, offering sublime plays. They know it well in Turin, given that they will be Juventus' opponent in the double challenge of group D.

Dominik Szoboszlai

nationality: Hungarian
club: Salzburg
position: midfielder
born: 25/10/2000

Unpronounceable and reliable, the young Hungarian midfield director had finished some months ago also on the piece of paper that Juventus sports director Paratici left carelessly in a Milanese restaurant. He's, together with the Norwegian striker Håland, the most interesting talent of the Salzburg squad, revolutionized once again in the summer. Don't be surprised if there will be dozens of spotlights on him during group E competitions.

Sergiño Dest

nationality: Dutch/American
club: Ajax
position: right-back
born: 3/11/2000

We couldn't not include an Ajax youngster, it's clear. On the launching pad there are the promising midfielders Eiting, Ekkelenkamp and Gravenberch, and then there are also the new signings arrived to replace de Ligt and de Jong, but we have decided to focus on this full-back who is currently playing over the right side given the absence of Mazraoui, whom we have already seen at work during the play-off won against APOEL.

Bonus

Stefano Sensi

nationality: Italian
club: Inter
position: centrocampista
born: 5/8/1995

Sad stat: in the list of the top 20 young Italians according to Transfermarkt only five will play the Champions League this season (Bernardeschi, Barella, Meret, Emerson and Rugani) and among these there is not the new Inter signing, not so young (he's already 24 years old) and which practically is managing to do everything in this first part of the season. Decisive already in Serie A, is the candidate to be the brain of the Nerazzurri midfield also in Europe. Without fear despite the 168 centimeters in height.