Marca published the eleven best players under 18 in 2016. Which ones fulfilled their potential?

In 2016, the Spanish newspaper Marca published a list of eleven players under the age of 18 who were considered to be the greatest talents of their time and were set to dominate football in the years to come. Which players were chosen and which ones were predicted to be successful?

Estimating whether young talented players will fulfil their potential is not easy. Sometimes careers are blighted by injuries, mentality or even bad decisions.

Nevertheless, there are often different predictions about which players will dominate football in the future, such as the U18 players from Spain’s Marca, who look very good in hindsight.

Gianluigi Donnarumma

Choosing a goalkeeper was probably not too difficult. Donnarumma made his debut for AC Milan in 2015 when he was just 16 years old. And he quickly established himself as one of Europe’s top players.

Despite his young age, he has 251 games for AC Milan and 40 for the Italian national team. He was voted Player of the Tournament at the Euros. He is now a PSG player.

Kieran Tierney

The Scottish left-back is a Celtic offspring where he became a key player at a young age. He became captain at 20 and won 8 trophies with the club.

He moved to Arsenal in 2019 and is one of the important players there as well, currently fighting for the top 4 with the Gunners. He also has a place in the base of the Scotland national team.

Reece Oxford

The English defender, who has been in the youth teams of Tottenham and West Ham, is the 7th youngest player to jump into the Premier League.

He made his league debut in a Hammers jersey, but didn’t really catch on and is currently playing for Augsburg. He hasn’t quite fulfilled his potential yet, but there are worse things than playing Bundesliga regularly at the age of 23.

Joe Gomez

The Charlton ward earned a move to Liverpool in the summer of 2015 thanks to a good season in the Championship in his debut season.

With the Reds, he won the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Frequent injuries have prevented him from fulfilling his full potential and also from carving out a solid place in the national team.

Cristian Manea

If the name of this Romanian right-back doesn’t ring a bell, no wonder. The big talent has been linked with Chelsea in the past, but hasn’t made it to any top club. He is currently playing for CFR Cluj.

Youri Tielemams

Product of Anderlecht’s academy and a great talent in Belgian football. He made his debut for Anderlecht at the age of 16 and became the 3rd youngest player to play in the Champions League.

Via Monaco, he made his way to Leicester City, where he has been very successful. Last year he fired the Foxes first FA Cup in club history. Since 2016, he has also been playing for the national team.

Renato Sanches

The career of the Portuguese midfielder, who started out at Benfica, has been a rollercoaster so far. He was instrumental in his country’s success at Euro 2016, the same year he won the prestigious Golden Boy award.

However, disastrous engagements at Bayern and Swansea have done him in. He is successfully trying to restart his career at Lille, with AC Milan reportedly interested in him.

Ruben Neves

Another Portuguese talent. The Porto alumnus led his team as captain in a Champions League match at the age of 18. He was a highly sought-after commodity, so his move to second division Wolverhampton surprised few.

However, he helped Wolves to promotion and now plays regularly in their jersey in the Premier League, often drawing attention to himself with a beautiful goal. Like last Thursday against Watford. His move to a bigger club is only a matter of time.

Martin Odegaard

Together with Halaand, the greatest talent in Norwegian football today. He made his debut for Strømsgodset and the Norwegian national team at the age of 15.

A year later he was already at Real Madrid, where despite successful guest spells at Vitesse and Real Sociedad he didn’t get a proper opportunity. A subsequent move to Arsenal proved to be a good move, and he is thriving in England.

Dominic Solanke

The other player on this list who doesn’t operate in the top 5 leagues. At least for now, as Bournemouth are going for promotion to the Premier League.

The English striker hasn’t made a name for himself in the top flight, neither in a Chelsea jersey, nor in a Liverpool jersey, and actually not even in Bournemouth, he only started scoring goals regularly in the Championship. So it is a question of how he will fare after his eventual promotion.

Kylian Mbappé

One of the best footballers at the moment, and not just in his age group. At 18, he was one of Monaco’s driving forces and was instrumental in winning the French title and dragging them to the Champions League semi-finals.

He is currently shining at PSG, who have made him the 2nd most expensive player in history. But he’ll probably leave Paris for free – and Real Madrid are already looking forward to it. At international level, Mbappé has already managed to win the 2018 World Cup, where he downed Argentina in the eighth round with two goals and also asserted himself in the final against Croatia.

Simply put, MARCA has picked well. Most of the players in her eleven are among the key players of their teams, even among the best at their position. It won’t be a surprise if some (namely Mbappé) win the Ballon d’Or.

Sources: Planet Football, Transfermarkt