10 youngsters to look out for in 2022

One of the best feelings for football fans is to witness the coming of age of young players from their favourite clubs as they try to make a name for themselves at the senior level of the game.

After what has been a turbulent 2021, no thanks to the deadly coronavirus, it is almost curtains now as fans begin to look into 2022 with much optimism and hope.

But who are the brightest young players to watch out for in 2022? Here is a list of ten youngsters you need to truly look out for next year - of course, there are some usual suspects amongst them.

Already a German international, the 18-year-old attacking midfielder has also caught the watchful eyes of some big European clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and La Liga giants, Real Madrid.

The latest sensation to come out of Bundesliga club, Bayer Leverkusen, has not looked back since coming through the ranks at Cologne as a seven-year-old in 2010. He moved to Bayer in 2020 after an impressive time at Koln and became the club's youngest ever and third in Bundesliga then at the age of 17 and 16 days.

Writz has gone on to break more records, emerging as the youngest ever to register double figures in goals in the Bundesliga after getting his 10th goal at 18 years and 146 days old.

In the 2021/2022 campaign, he is flying and looking like a veteran with five goals and eight assists in just 15 appearances for Bayer.

Born in Munich to a Nigerian father and Romanian mother, Karim Adeyemi is another prodigiously gifted young German star to feature in this list.

Adeyemi has been a talisman for his Austrian club, RB Salzburg since he was 17 years old and has led them to a historic outing in the prestigious UEFA Champions League this season.

The 19-year-old forward is the latest wunderkind to come out of Salzburg's famous production line, following in the footsteps of the trio of Sadio Mane, Erling Haaland, and Leicester City's Patson Daka.

Capable of playing wide or through the middle, the versatile Nigerian-born forward has been in superb form this year for his club. He scored 15 goals in his first 23 matches for the club and was rewarded with an international debut for Germany back in September in the European Nations League.

He has 14 goals and two assists in 17 matches in the Austrian league this season and four goals in the Champions League, where he has won an incredible five penalties this campaign as he helped Salzburg become the first Austrian side to make it beyond the competition's group stages.

For those of you who play football manager, FM, Ryan Gravenberch is one of those youngsters you can't do without in your team. Described as a wunderkind, the Dutch defensive midfielder is highly regarded in the game for his passing, technique, first touch, decision making, and flair.

A graduate of Ajax's famed academy, De Toekomst, Gravenberch is also wanted by the creme de la creme of European football. He announced himself further this season with that 25 yards screamer against Midtjylland in the group stages of the Champions League.

For one of the world's hottest prospects right now, 2022 should see Gravenberch, who has drawn comparison to Paul Pogba as well, show more of his quality especially at the international level with the world cup slated in Qatar later in November.

Akinkunmi Amoo is the only Nigerian to make the list and deservedly so following an imperious season so far for his Swedish club, Hammarby. A graduate of Brightville Academy in Ibadan and Sidos FC in Lagos in Nigeria, Amoo is known as 'little Messi' thanks to his incredible left foot.

Unlike his aforementioned colleagues and mates on this list, Amoo's impressive displays for his club have not yielded tangible fruits at the international level after he was ignored for the AFCON 2021 by Super Eagles interim boss, Augustine Eguavoen and his coaching crew.

The 19-year-old wide forward has scored nine and assisted five goals in 21 starts (29 appearances in total) for Hammarby, who are co-owned by the enigmatic Swedish legend, Zlatan Ibrahimović, in the Swedish first division.

Amoo is not short of suitors as well, having previously turned down Monaco and AC Milan, while Leicester City and Ajax are said to be admirers of the talented former Nigerian youth international, who was part of the Nigerian Golden Eaglets that finished fourth in the African u-17 Cup of Nations in 2019 and crashed out in the round of 16 at the World cup held in Brazil later that year.

He is one of Nigeria's most creative players in Europe this season with 40 chances created and 35 key passes.

A product of Cobham, the famous Chelsea football club academy, Gallagher has truly impressed this writer at Crystal Palace, where he is on a season-long loan move from the European Champions.

Adept as a central midfielder or in an advanced role, Gallagher is currently one of the hottest properties in the Premier League following his inspirational performances for the Eagles, who he joined from West Bromich Albion, where he emerged as the young player of the season.

The 21-year-old has scored six and assisted three goals in 17 appearances and was rewarded with his first call-up to the England national team, the Three Lions back in November.

After impressing at Selhurst Park, 2022 could be a big year for the youngster who remains focused on his dream of going back to play for his parent club, Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge.

2021 will be remembered as the year this Brazilian star, Vinicius Junior, finally showed the world what he is capable of following a rather quiet and unimpressive start to life at Real Madrid.

After scoring just six goals and assisting four in La Liga in the last two seasons at the club, Vinicius has exploded this campaign for Los Blancos with 10 goals and four assists in just 19 matches.

It was a landmark feat for the 21-year-old left winger, who became the first player born in 2000 or later to score double figures in the Spanish first division this season.

Fast becoming one of Europe's most exciting talents, Vinicius will be looking to continue that form for Madrid when they return from the winter break next year as they look to wrap up the La Liga title race and also reclaim the Champions League crown.

On December 19, Dusan Vlahovic made the world stand up and take notice after he equaled Cristiano Ronaldo's incredible Serie A record.

The talented Serbian star scored for the sixth successive game in a 2-2 draw with Sassuolo that fateful Sunday to match Ronaldo's 33 goals in a single-year record for Juventus.

The 21-year-old has scored 16 goals so far this season and provided two assists in 19 Serie A matches.

With more games to come next year, expect more goals and impressive performances from the youngster as he continues to attract the attention of Europe's elites like Manchester City, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich, who could be in the market for a striker next summer.

While this Hungarian football star is yet to light up the German Bundesliga since his famous move to RB Leipzig, Dominik Szoboszlai remains an outstanding talent for you to watch out for next year.

A breakout star of the Hungarian U-17 team that qualified for the European Championship in 2017, the recently turned 21-year-old hasn't looked back since becoming a national asset after his heroics against Russia.

Known for his ability to strike a ball, there is more to him than just that. Szoboszlai, able to play in a variety of attacking positions, has an excellent technique on the ball and a vision to match.

He is another product from the RB Salzburg school of football, a highly rated technician, who once caught the eyes of Arsenal before his move to Leipzig and remains admired by the decision-makers at the Gunners, who continue to keep a close tab on him.

He has scored three and assisted four goals this season for the energy drink side in the Bundesliga.

The English boy needs no further introduction, Jude Bellingham is at the very top of the list of transfer targets for Europe's best clubs.

Bellingham has been a mainstay at the Yellow and Black since he joined them from Birmingham City over a year ago as a 17-year-old, turning down a lucrative offer from Premier League giants, Manchester United.

The golden boy nominee has broken a number of records at his very teenage age, first he became Birmingham's youngest ever scorer at just 16 years and 38 days old, breaking a 49-year-old record set by Trevor Francis.

Next record for talented box-to-box midfielder was becoming the greenest scorer in DFB history on his debut for Dortmund at the age of 17 years, two months and 16 days.

He followed that up with the youngest Englishman to start a Champions League tie, taking the record previously set by his Manchester City compatriot, Phil Foden, against the Italian side, Lazio, back in October, aged 17 years and 113 days old.

Bellingham is also the youngest Englishman to play for the Three Lions at a major tournament and in 2022, the man described as a "liar" and "fantastic player" by Pep Guardiola, will be looking to break even more records for his club and country in a very important year.

This season he has two goals and five assists in 15 appearances in the Bundesliga.

Every disappointment they say is a blessing and this proved to be the case for our final entry on this list for the top youngsters to look out for next year.

Emile Smith-Rowe, then 20, was thrown into the deep following an injury crisis at Arsenal over a year ago when the Gunners faces city rivals Chelsea in a boxing day Premier League clash.

One year later, the 21-year-old has emerged as a real game-changer for Mikel Arteta's rapidly improving Gunners alongside two other youngsters, Gabriel Martinelli and Nigerian-born Bukayo Saka, who narrowly missed out on this list.

On the anniversary of his PL debut, ESR, as fans have come to know him, came off the bench to grab a goal as Arsenal brushed aside Norwich City 0-5 at Carrow Road on boxing day.

Last season, Smith-Rowe finished with two goals and four assists but the goal at Carrow Road last Sunday was his eighth of the current season in 17 matches.

From six G/A in 1448 minutes last season to 10 G/A in 1186 minutes this term in the PL. With plenty of football left to be played this season, there is more to come from this young midfielder and you need to watch out for him next year.