Champions League: Young talents making a name for themselves

• The UEFA Champions League represents the pinnacle of club football, with rising talents emerging every year.
• We look at the next-generation players making a name for themselves.

The UEFA Champions League represents the pinnacle of club football, with rising talents emerging in the continent’s top league every year.

Even though the group stages are just halfway over, this season has already seen a number of young talents emerge in the Champions League.

We look at some of the next-generation players making a name for themselves.

Johan Bakayoko – PSV

Johan Bakayoko. Photo/L’Equipe

Johan Bakayoko comes next off a production line that has turned out promising wide prospects like Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo.

The 20-year-old left Anderlecht to go for PSV Eindhoven as a youngster, and he hasn’t spent any time becoming well-known in the Eredivisie. Bakayoko scored his first goal in the Champions League with a spectacular shot against Lens while playing for a PSV squad that had started the season with nine straight victories.

Since making his debut earlier this year, the winger has earned four caps for Belgium. Burnley and Brentford are among the Premier League teams who have inquired about signing him. There will be a lot more interest in Bakayoko’s services this winter if he maintains his present trend. This season, he has averaged a goal involvement per 117 minutes in the Netherlands.

Natan Souza – Napoli

Natan Souza. Photo/SSC Napoli

When Napoli looked for a successor for Kim Min-jae, who was leaving the team, they trusted Natan. After Napoli broke a 33-year league title drought, the South Korean center-back was awarded the best defender in Serie A. He then signed a €50 million contract to join Bayern Munich.

In order to replace Min-Jae, Napoli reached an agreement to recruit Natan from RB Bragantino in Brazil. The 22-year-old will pay €10 million to move to Italy. Following his bench debut at the beginning of the season, the center defender has had a significant impact for Napoli in recent weeks, helping Rudi Garcia’s team secure a decisive victory against Union Berlin on Matchday Three.

In a fierce 1-0 victory over the German opposition, the Italian champions were led by a defender who made seven clearances, won six out of nine duels, made one last-man tackle, and had a pass accuracy of 92%.

Arthur Vermeeren – Royal Antwerp

In their maiden Champions League season, Royal Antwerp is bottom of Group H following consecutive losses. The Belgian team is based in the Netherlands. But Arthur Vermeeren has demonstrated the talent that has elevated the teenage player to the top of Europe’s young midfielders rankings.

After making 34 appearances and winning the league’s Young Player of the Year title as Antwerp won a Belgian league and cup double the previous season, the 18-year-old is reportedly attracting interest from many Premier League teams.

In Antwerp’s 3-2 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk, Vermeeren—who made his senior Belgium debut this year—provided two outstanding assists. He demonstrated his perseverance to win the ball back in a hazardous position for the first goal, and then a defence-splitting assist to set up the second. Kevin De Bruyne is the only other player from Belgium to assist on two goals in a Champions League match.

Takefusa Kubo – Real Sociedad

Takefusa Kubo, who joined Real Madrid as a youth, is arguably the most well-known name on this list. Given his results since departing on a permanent basis, the Japan international may feel that he never deserved his chance at the Bernabeu.

In 2022, Kubo signed a £5.5 million contract with Real Sociedad, and with nine La Liga goals the previous season, he helped the team qualify for the Champions League. The 22-year-old has been playing at a high level this season, picking up eight goals and assists for Sociedad in 12 games across all competitions.

On Matchday Three, Sociedad defeated Benfica 1-0 thanks in large part to Kubo’s dangerous play. The winger completed the most dribbles on the field (7), had six shots, hit the crossbar, and won nine out of thirteen duels.

Elye Wahi – Lens

Elye Wahi. Photo/Eurosport

Having watched the top scorer of the previous campaign, Lois Openda, go for RB Leipzig in a summer transfer worth €46 million, Lens seemed to have found the ideal successor.

Elye Wahi, who scored 19 league goals for Montpellier the previous season, came in to fill the goal-scoring hole. In three Champions League group games, the 20-year-old has scored twice and supplied an assist for Lens, showing that he has settled in quickly.

Wahi, who earlier in the game earned Lens a point against PSV Eindhoven, was the match-winner after he had already scored one and assisted on another in the surprise victory against Arsenal.

Despite not having participated in the Champions League since 2002–03, Lens is well-positioned to advance to the knockout stages.