UEFA selected 50 players as “the future of football” in 2018.
Here’s what happened to them.
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In 2018, UEFA reporters around Europe selected some of the biggest shooting stars from the 2017/18 season.
Some of the players who were highlighted have since become household names – they have won the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or and secured lucrative transfers. But others have not reached the heights they were predicted.
Then, almost seven years later – what really happened to them?
50 super talents who were seen as “the future of football” in 2018:
- Ethan Ampadu – Leeds United
- Houssem Aouar – Al Ittihad
- Jan-Fiete Arp – Holstein Kiel
- Kepa Arrizabalaga – Chelsea (on loan to Bournemouth)
- Leon Bailey – Aston Villa
Bailey secured a big move to the Premier League with Aston Villa after making a name for themselves in the Bundesliga. - Nicolò Barella – Inter Milan
Barella, who was compared to Marco Verratti in the original report, is now a key player for Inter. - Sander Berge – Fulham
- Fedor Chalov – PAOK
- Federico Chiesa – Liverpool
Chiesa impressed at Euro 2020 and helped Italy to victory over England. But his career has stagnated a bit, despite transfers to Juventus and Liverpool. - Ante Ćorić – Varaždin
- Frenkie de Jong – Barcelona
Described as “the new Johan Cruyff”, De Jong made a name for himself at Ajax before moving to Barcelona. - Matthijs de Ligt – Manchester United
Just like De Jong, De Ligt came through Ajax’s academy and played in the first team alongside his compatriot. He has played for Juventus and Bayern Munich, before signing for Manchester United last summer. - Emmanuel Dennis – Blackburn Rovers
- Mikkel Duelund – AGF
- Phil Foden – Manchester City
Foden has become a regular player for both the club and the national team. He was a key player in City’s treble season and had a brilliant 2023/24 season with 27 goals across all competitions. - Martin Graiciar – York United
The Czech striker’s career has not turned out as expected. After several loan spells from Fiorentina, he ended up at Canadian club York United. - Amine Gouiri – Marseille
- David Hancko – Feyenoord
- Amine Harit – Marseille
- Ivan Ignatyev as JS Kabylie
- Luka Jović – AC Milan
- Kirill Kirilenko – Arsenal Dzerzhinsk
- Justin Kluivert – Bournemouth
He has had his most goal-filled season ever and is finally starting to realise his potential. - Hirving Lozano – San Diego FC
- Malcom – Al Hilal
- Dennis Man – Parma
- Sergej Milinković-Savić – Al Hilal
- David Neres – Napoli
- Pedro Neto – Chelsea
- Benjamin Pavard – Inter Milan
- Rodri – Manchester City
The centrepiece of Pep Guardiola’s City team. He helped the club to Champions League triumph and won the Ballon d’Or in 2024. He was injured and out of the 2024/25 season in September. - Abel Ruiz – Braga
- Roland Sallai – Galatasaray
- Jadon Sancho – Manchester United (on loan to Chelsea)
Sancho has not been able to develop further after his success at Dortmund. He was bought by United for £73 million, but was unable to repeat the German form in the Premier League. - Malang Sarr – Lens
- Ryan Sessegnon – Fulham
- Volodymyr Shepelev – Dynamo Kyiv
- Milan Škriniar – Fenerbahçe
- Manor Solomon – Tottenham (on loan to Leeds)
- Mile Svilar – AS Roma
- Martin Terrier – Bayer Leverkusen
- Kieran Tierney – Arsenal
- Lucas Torreira – Galatasaray
- Ferran Torres – Barcelona
Torres impressed at Valencia before moving to Manchester City. In the summer of 2021, he returned to Spain and signed for Barcelona. - Viktor Tsyhankov – Girona
- Felix Uduokhai – Beşiktaş
- Dayot Upamecano – Bayern Munich
“Expect big things,” UEFA wrote. Upamecano switched Bundesliga clubs when he moved from RB Leipzig to Bayern. - Hannes Wolf – New York City
- Yusuf Yazıcı – Olympiakos
- Szymon Żurkowski – Spezia (on loan to Empoli)
Some became stars, others disappeared into oblivion – that’s how it goes when young talents face the harsh realities of football.
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