In Europe, Belgium is recognized as a fertile ground for young nuggets. Thus, Manchester City came to seek one of the greatest talents of the kingdom at only 16 years old: Roméo Lavia.
This Wednesday, the Goal media released a list of the most promising players in the world of football. And the Red Devil finds himself in 20th position. “Ever since Pep Guardiola laid eyes on Romeo Lavia aged 14 at a tournament hosted by Kevin De Bruyne in Dongen, Belgium, the defensive midfielder was destined for the Manchester City first team. “commence Goal.
“The 18-year-old finally signed for City from Anderlecht in the summer of 2020. They won the battle against a host of Premier League clubs to secure his signature”he adds.
Eventually, the defensive midfielder will have to take over as a monument to Manchester City. “Since then, Lavia has made his breakthrough into the first team. He notably made his debut for the pennant team in September. And is likely to become a midfielder next to Rodri when Fernandinho leaves the Etihad Stadium.”
In October, the DH made his portrait just after playing its first minutes. Kompany had also been very complimentary about him: “He can break straight into City and I assure you it’s not easy. Only one player in a million can do that. He’s calm on the ball and aggressive in recovery: that’s the profile Pep is looking for.” Currently, the nugget is selected with the U19s of Wesley Sonck. Obviously, he is a central element and will try to qualify for the Euro.
Lavia is the only Belgian in this ranking where there is also a player playing in the Pro League: Kacper Kozlowski. The middle of the Union is placed in an astonishing 19th place. In Brussels, he is hardly considered an essential pawn. Since his arrival in January, he has made 5 appearances in the Pro League for 172 small minutes of playing time. The 18-year-old Pole was bought by Brighton just after the Euro, which he had played, for 11 million euros from Pogon Szczecin. Despite this low playing time, he is still considered a great European talent.
Jude Bellingham (Dortmund) is in the lead ahead of the German Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen) and the Spaniard Gavi (FC Barcelona). Other names well known to European recruiters appear in this ranking such as Xavi Simons (PSG), Youssoufa Moukoko (Dortmund), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) or Ryan Cherki (Lyon).
The list is to be discovered here.