Finding top talents at the earliest possible age has always been a priority for most clubs. Getting these players before they’re 18 can become an excellent source of revenue for clubs if they can develop them into top stars. Clubs like RB Salzburg have excelled at this for some years now, getting the likes of Erling Braut Haaland, Dominik Szoboszlai or Dayot Upamecano when they were still underage.
In this data analysis, we’ll look at underage players who are already playing in senior competitions in football’s most expensive position: striker. Our goal is to discover some hidden gems from all around the world who can become the next Youssoufa Moukoko, the latest star to feature for a top team while still being under 18.
Methodology
We’ve taken every striker who’s up to 17 years old who have played at least 400 minutes in the last calendar year in senior competitions all around the world and is valued by transfermarkt at less than 4 million euros. The population is composed of 49 players who play in senior leagues in the 29 countries coloured in the next map. Obviously, there are many more underage strikers playing in senior competitions worldwide but Wyscout only has enough statistics to perform a proper data analysis from these 49.
The most represented country is the USA with five players (one in the first division, three in the second and one in the third). With four players we find Armenia (all in the second division) and Australia (two in the first division and two in the second). There are three countries with three players represented: Brazil (two in the first division and one in the fourth), Poland (two in the third division and one in the fourth) and Russia (one in the second division and two in the third).
Despite the huge differences in level among these leagues, we’ll compare every player together. By doing this, we expect to find those who are really standing out at any level. We can advance that some better-known players who are already playing in good leagues won’t stand out as much as they could in this analysis but we’ll find some gems playing in relatively unexplored leagues.
