The UEFA Champions League, Europe’s foremost club competition, premieres on Tuesday as the journey to crowning a new champion of Europe begins.
This season’s Champions League will debut the new league format, featuring 36 teams, which means more matches will be played and therefore more opportunities for youngsters to prove themselves.
From living legends like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Wayne Rooney all the way to the current holders Real Madrid, who have Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior, the Champions League has a legacy of being a platform for young players to showcase their talents.
Ahead of this season’s edition of the Champions League, Afrosport takes a quick look at seven of the top youngsters who are expected to star in European football’s upper echelon.
Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid
When the England midfielder moved to Real Madrid in a big money transfer from Borussia Dortmund, no one envisaged the sort of impact he would go on to have in his first season playing for Los Blancos.
Bellingham, the Champions League’s reigning Best Young Player, helped Madrid win four titles last season, including La Liga, the Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup. He also starred for England at the Euros, helping them make a run to the final.
Regarded as one of the best players in the world, the 21-year-old, who has won the best player in two different leagues already, finished with 23 goals and 13 assists in all competitions last season. He scored four goals and provided five assists in the Champions League last campaign, including providing the assist for Vinicius Junior’s strike in their 2-0 win over Dortmund in the final.
Lamine Yamal – Barcelona
The frontrunner for the Golden Boy award and Kopa trophy, Yamal, has enjoyed immense success in the early stages of his career, leading Spain to triumph at Euro 2024 with one goal and four assists in seven matches.
The 17-year-old winger is the new kid on the block when talking about youngsters and cannot be ignored on any list. In his maiden season in top-flight football, he finished with seven goals and nine assists for Barcelona, and he has also started brightly this season with three goals and four assists in five La Liga matches.
Having experienced the unforgiving nature of the Champions League already, Yamal has presumably picked up experience playing in the competition, and in his quest to make himself a household name in world football, what better way to start than with making a statement at the premier club competition in Europe?
Jamal Musiala – Bayern Munich
Another footballer whose accomplishments make it easy to forget that he’s also just 21 years old is Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, who has cemented himself as one of the core players in one of the teams with the biggest European legacies both in recent times and in history.
Already a Champions League winner and with a treble under his belt, Musiala helped Bayern to the semifinals of the competition last season with two goals and two assists in 11 matches. At this summer’s Euros, he scored three times for Germany and already has two goals and an assist in three Bundesliga matches this season.
Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen
At the forefront of everything Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen did exceptionally well in their historic 2023-24 campaign was German midfielder Wirtz, who was named Bundesliga best player last season.
The 21-year-old led his team to their first-ever Bundesliga trophy, scoring 18 goals and providing 20 assists in all competitions last season. This campaign, he’s also gotten off to a blistering start with three goals and an assist in three league matches, and he will be looking to build on that momentum in his first experience in the Champions League.
Arda Guler – Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s young midfielder won his maiden Champions League title last season. However, the 19-year-old played no part for Los Blancos as they clinched a record-extending 16th title, with recurring injuries after his move to the Santiago Bernabeu last season.
The Turkiye international, who finished the 2023-24 season with six goals in 12 matches for Madrid, enjoyed a fruitful outing at the European Championship in July, scoring once and providing two assists for his national team, informing the world of the talent he is.
Although he has yet to score a goal this campaign, Guler has managed to win two penalties in La Liga in two starts, and with the team’s current injury dilemma, the midfielder is one to watch out for throughout the Champions League this season, as he’ll be looking to replicate some of his performances from the Euros as well as in the latter stages of last season.
Savinho – Manchester City
Savinho announced himself onto the European football scene last campaign with La Liga highfliers Girona, where he scored 11 goals and provided ten assists in 41 matches in all competitions, helping them qualify for the Champions League.
The 20-year-old’s performances last season earned him a big move to Premier League champions Manchester City, where he has since won the Community Shield and showed fans his exceptional skill and technique. Savinho will be playing in the Champions League for the first time in his career, and he will be looking to make his mark as City takes on some of the best in Europe.
Xavi Simons – RB Leipzig
The 21-year-old Netherlands international returns to the Champions League with RB Leipzig following a loan move away from Paris Saint-Germain. Simons was one of Leipzig’s best performers last season, as they finished fourth in the Bundesliga.
He scored ten goals and provided 15 assists in 45 matches in all competitions for the Red Bull club last season, including two goals and two assists in the Champions League. Having picked up more experience in the competition, Simons will be integral in helping the German club navigate their way through a tough draw this campaign.
