5 Forwards To Watch In 2022: Agustín Álvarez, Hugo Ekitike, Yuri Alberto, Roko Šimić, Georginio Rutter – Scouting Report

Over the last 12 months, I have regularly written articles for this magazine, in which I have looked ahead and identified some talented young players in various positions who I think are poised for a good year.

In these articles, I use data analysis to identify players through custom filters and dashboards, then display them using data profiles that show key metrics for the position in per-90 and percentile form.

This time around, I am concentrating on forwards and looking for players who have already been effective in front of goal for their senior teams and who are aged 21 or under.

We will consider players from South America (two of them) and Europe, including players from two of the top five leagues, as well as a player currently playing in the second tier of Austrian football.

There is no one common thread that links all of these players other than the fact that they are young and already playing regular football at a high level.

While I am not suggesting in this article that these players should be targets for top clubs, I am suggesting that they are more than worth keeping an eye on over the next 12 months.

#1 Agustín Álvarez, 20-years-old, Penarol and Uruguay

The first player on our list is the 20-year-old Uruguayan international forward Agustín Álvarez.

The young forward is a product of Club Atlético Peñarol‘s youth academy and is a regular member of their first team.

He has also been capped four times at full international level by Uruguay, and he scored his first international goal against Bolivia.

Alvarez looks set to be a part of the Uruguayan international setup for years to come with the capacity to build a strike partnership with Benfica’s Darwin Nunez.

He profiles as a modern forward who is at his best either in the central areas or in the half-spaces, where he can drop to find pockets of space in order to receive and link the play.

He is also effective when attacking space in and around the penalty area, with the ability to create separation from defenders as the ball approaches the area.

He played 2250 minutes this season for Penarol, and his metrics across the attacking side of the game were extremely impressive.

He averaged 0.52 goals per 90 from an xG per 90 of 0.53.

He took 3.08 shots per 90 minutes and had a 17.57% goal conversion rate, meaning that 17.57% of his shots resulted in goals.

Alvarez has also been linked recently to the likes of Barcelona and Internazionale, and a move to Italy at this point seems like a logical step for him.

#2 Roko Šimić, 18-years-old, Red Bull Salzburg and Croatia

It is exceptionally difficult to compile a list of young players to watch in the future without encountering a player currently in the Red Bull system.

They have an incredible record in terms of talent development and talent identification, and as such, they tend to stockpile and, perhaps crucially, play young players regularly.

Part of what makes Red Bull so impressive is their future-proofing and succession planning.

When Erling Haaland left to join Borussia Dortmund we saw Patson Daka seize the goalscoring mantle.

When Daka left to join Leicester City we saw Karim Adeyemi step up.

Now, it looks as though Adeyemi will be the next big-money player to leave the club, and Benjamin Sesko is already in place to fill his space.

The next player up, however, will likely be the impressive 18-year-old Croatian U21 international Roko Šimić (son of the former Milan player Dario Simic), who is currently receiving regular game time on loan from RB Salzburg in the second tier of Austrian football with their feeder club, Liefering.

Simic is a powerful and imposing forward who combines strength with the ability to hold up the ball, complemented by real pace and the capacity to run behind the opposition’s defence. 

In 876 minutes so far this season, he is averaging 0.82 goals per 90 from an xG per 90 of 0.72.

He is taking 2.7 shots per 90, with 66.67% of those shots being on target and 29.17% of his shots resulting in a goal.

He is also occupying the area well, with an average of 5.29 touches in the opposition penalty area.

While Simic has been recently linked to a move to Real Madrid, I would be surprised if he did not stay in Austria, and I would fully expect him to move up to the first team at Salzburg for next season.

This is, after all, an 18-year-old forward who has six goals in six matches for the Croatian U21 side.

#3 Hugo Ekitike, 19-years-old, Reims and France

Hugo Ekitike is a player whose star is firmly on the rise.

He has been heavily linked in recent weeks with a move to the cash-rich Premier League, with Newcastle United in particular being keen to secure the signature of the young French forward.

Ekitike is a tall and powerful forward who combines this with genuine speed and ability on the ball.

This season has seen him take a huge step forward in terms of his development, and he has started to show real poise and composure in the final third and the penalty area.

He has the ability to receive and combine with teammates in dangerous areas, along with the pace to run behind and exploit the space that the opposition leaves unguarded.

So far this season, he has played 927 minutes, averaging 0.78 goals per 90 minutes from an xG per 90 of 0.47.

He is averaging just 1.84 shots per 90 minutes, with 68.42% of those on target and 42.11% of all shots taken resulting in a goal.

He tends to take shots from good locations with an average of 0.26 xG per shot.

It feels like only a matter of time before Ekitike leaves Reims, and the club will have to evaluate the plethora of offers they are currently receiving to ensure they sell Ekitike for maximum value.

He is the type of forward who will likely thrive in the Premier League and excel.

#4 Yuri Alberto, 20-years-old, Internacional and Brazil

The 20-year-old Brazilian forward, Yuri Alberto, was once considered the next big thing to emerge from Santos‘ famous youth academy.

He scored goals at all levels and quickly got his chance in the first team of the club.

When the time came for the young forward to leave the club, however, he did not move to Europe as so many others have.

Instead, he moved to a rival Brazilian club in joining Internacional in the south of the city.

He is a powerful and quick striker who demonstrates the ability to run the channels, combined with excellent movement in the penalty area, which enables him to create separation from opposing defenders as the ball is played into the penalty area.

Last season in Brazil, he played 2,935 minutes.

He averaged 0.37 goals per 90 from an xG per 90 of 0.33.

He took 2.42 shots per 90 minutes, with 53.16% of those shots being on target, and a goal conversion rate of 15.19%.

He has been linked previously to the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona, and it seems to be a case of when, rather than if, he will make a move to European football.

Given his skill set the likes of Italy and Spain would make sense.

#5 Georginio Rutter, 19-years-old, Hoffenheim and France

The final player on our list is the 19-year-old French forward Georginio Rutter, a striker currently under contract with Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga.

He is actually a product of the youth academy of French side Rennes, a team that has the best youth academy in French football.

Although he made the somewhat surprising move across the border to Germany when he joined Hoffenheim for a bargain price of £675,000 in February 2021.

Rutter is a mobile attacking player who is comfortable when pulling out and playing in the wide areas or the half-spaces.

He can carry the ball aggressively to take advantage of any spaces in the opposition defensive line.

He can also find space in the area with the ability to drift off the opposition player’s blind side in order to receive the ball with a good opportunity to get a shot off on goal.

This season, he has played 901 minutes, averaging 0.40 goals per 90 minutes from an xG per 90 of 0.43.

He is averaging 2.7 shots per 90 minutes, with 40.74% of those shots on target and 14.82% of those shots resulting in goals.

Given that Rutter has only just arrived in Germany, I think he is unlikely to leave in the near future.

However, if he continues to provide outputs like this into next season, then I would not be surprised to see the likes of Dortmund and Leverkusen in particular, targeting the Frenchman to add to their forward lines.

Conclusion

So there we have it: five young forwards who, I think, are in an excellent position to impress going into the remainder of the 2021/22 season and then into the 2022/23 season.