50 youngsters to watch in Europe’s top 5 leagues: 10-6

10. Tanguy NDombele (Lyon / 21 / DM(C)) - WhoScored.com rating 7.31*

Agreeing a season-long loan deal from fellow Ligue 1 outfit Amiens, Lyon were keen to get a jump start in securing the services of one of France’s top midfield prospects. With a rumoured €8m fee agreed to sign the 21-year-old permanently come the end of the campaign, OL have pulled off an absolute masterstroke. Ndombele, after all, possesses all the tools that a modern day box-to-box midfielder needs to be a real success, combining tackling (2.4 per 90), dribbling (3.2 per 90) and passing (87.8% accuracy since moving to Lyon) to great effect. With a further four assists in just 13 league appearances for his new club, the youngster is a star in the making.

9. Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen / 18 / AM(C)) - WhoScored.com rating 7.34*

For a player who won’t turn 19 until June, Kai Havertz has some mightily impressive numbers to his name since breaking into the Leverkusen side last season. The teenager has started just 26 of 39 Bundesliga appearances in his short career to date but has already had a hand in 16 goals. Seven of said goal contributions have come in just 11 league starts this season, including six assists, which only one Bundesliga player can better. It’s Havertz’s ability to play in a variety of roles in the middle of the park, and even up front on occasion this season, that makes him such a prospect, and perhaps even an outside bet for a place in Joachim Loew’s World Cup plans.

8. Nordi Mukiele (Montpellier / 20 / D(C/R)) - WhoScored.com rating 7.38*

Since signing for Montpellier from Ligue 2 outfit Laval last year, Mukiele has been a key player for la Paillade. Still only 20, the defender has been a mainstay in the XI and has made the step up to top-flight football in his homeland with consummate ease. Primarily a centre-back, the youngster has been utilised on the right of a back four at times this season, and even on the wing, putting in impressive performances across all three positions. Defensively he reads the game so well, producing 2.4 tackles and 2.6 interceptions per game whilst being dribbled past just eight times in 18 appearances, and he’s a confident player on the ball too, completing 1.2 dribbles per game from the back. He’s a relative unknown to most at the moment but Mukiele is certainly one to watch.

7. Jorge (Monaco / 21 / D(L)) - WhoScored.com rating 7.52*

Monaco’s ability to replace so many star players in recent seasons for a fraction of the price of their successors has been outstanding, and left-back Jorge has been no exception. Arriving from Flamengo last year for a fee of €8.5m, the 21-year-old was tasked with replacing Benjamin Mendy this season and he’s made a great fist of it so far. The youngster has already been capped by Brazil and will harbour aspirations of a place at the World Cup, and he’ll surely come into consideration if he can pick up where he left off last year. An average of 6.5 tackles and interceptions per game combined is a league-high in France this season.

6. Leon Bailey (Bayer Leverkusen / 20 / DM(L)/AM(L/R)) - WhoScored.com rating 7.57*

Another player signed last January with the future in mind, Bailey has made himself undroppable in the hear and now by adapting expertly to a wing-back role at Leverkusen this season. The 20-year-old impressed in Europe for Genk last season with his outstanding dribbling but few would have thought he could fulfil a more disciplined role with such success. That said, it is the Jamaican’s ability going forwards that has made him such a threat from the left flank this season, with his delivery into the box a real weapon, with six goals and four assists despite starting just 11 of 15 Bundesliga appearances.

*WhoScored.com rating from starts alone. Players aged 21 or under as of 09.01.18 (minimum of ten in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season to qualify)