Youth Rejuvenated!

After several seasons of growth and development, Leicester City have seen a mass exodus of youth talent, which will continue into next season. Long term frontman Gabriel Martinelli and defensive leader Micky van de Ven have both turned 22 and so will not be eligible for next years youth cup.
This loss of talent has been compounded with the departures of youth talents such as Lucas Chevalier, Stefano Turati, Illya Zabarnyi, Ameen Al Dhakil, Nathan Wood, Rayan Ait Nouri, Moises Caicedo, Noah Lepenant, Fabio Miretti, Khalil Fayad, Dijon Kameri and Giuliano Simeone all within the last month.
In light of these moves, we have looked at younger up and coming options, which has been helped by an influx of youths added to the system. We have also managed to add some major names too who will join the youth squad.

Assan Ouedraogo, 17, was the first of five new 65 rated youngsters. He joined as an addition to the deal which saw Aymeric Laporte, 29, leave. Ouedraogo is already a towering presence in midfield standing at 192cm tall, he also possesses great vision, passing, ball control and tackling. Having turned 17 in May, he has not yet made a senior appearance for Schalke, but stood out for the U19 team last season scoring 7 goals and assisting 2 in his 13 appearances, all whilst still aged just 16! Capping off a solid season, Ouedraogo was part of the Germany U17 team who lifted the UEFA U17 Euro trophy this summer. He has now joined the senior Schalke team who were relegated to the 2.Bundesliga, so hopefully he will get an opportunity to impress.
The next 65 rated to join was Tom Watson, 17, of Sunderland. Similarly to Ouedraogo he only turned 17 a couple of months ago, however, he has already made his senior debut. He spent last season splitting time between the U18 and U21 teams making a total of 20 appearances (all but 2 of which were whilst he was just 16). He netted 7 goals and assisted 9 more in those games, and was rewarded with a sub appearance for the 1st team just 10 days after turning 17. Sunderland have put full faith in their youth recently and it looks like a great destination for any youngster to be and hopefully Watson can take the next step and get more senior game time this season.
Another unchallenged free agent addition was Mert Komur, 18, who joined on his birthday. He spent the whole of last season aged 17 but was a mainstay in the U19 squad where he contributed 4 goals and 6 assists in 16 games from midfield. This form impressed Augsburg so much that they moved him to the 2nd team and making 10 appearances with 2 goals and an assist. During this time, he was the youngest player in the team. He was on the bench for the senior team for the final game of the season, and has now moved to the senior team for the 23/24 season.
The defence received reinforcements in the form of Javier Bonar, 18, who was was a lowly competed for new free agent addition. The youngster is seen as one of Atletico Madrid’s top prospects and has already captained Spain U18. He broke into the Atletico 2nd team this season helping them gain promotion, and is expected to develop on that in the upcoming season. He has played at RB, CB, LB and CM this season, so will hopefully gain the ability to play all across the back in the near future.
The final low youth to arrive was Tudor Mendel-Idowu,18, who had a strong season in the Chelsea U18 team netting 6 and assisting 3 in 12 games. Like many youths at Chelsea, he has doubts about his long term opportunities at the club, and so has not signed a new deal at the club. He had looked likely to join Barcelona, but seems to now favour RSC Anderlecht as they offered him a first team squad spot. Either way, the youngster has great talent and is thought to be a major loss for Chelsea.

Rated significantly higher at 76, Luca D’Andrea, 18, has also joined the Foxes. At 18, D’Andrea has already has 5 Serie A appearances for Sassuolo, and impressed in Primivera 1 with 8 goals and 6 assists. He also joined Italy U19 as they won the UEFA U19 Euro’s this summer. With Domenico Bernardi linked with a move away from Sassuolo, that could open up opportunities for D’Andrea to get more game time.

The first big name youth to join was Ryan Gravenberch, 21, who came as part of a 7 player deal from Genoa. Whilst he didn’t impress as much as planned at Bayern in real life, the youngster is poised for a big season as the German outfit look to transition to their younger players. At 88, he will be the highest rated youth in the team next season, and will also come into the senior team when needed.
Kristijan Asllani, 21, is the most recent “addition” (joining after his transfer ban), coming for his 2nd stint at the club. The Albanian joined Inter in real life last season and played a smaller role, but with Brozovic now gone, the youngster will hope to get more game time. His passing and positioning make him a top option, and Inter will look to utilise this a lot more this season. If he becomes a regular he could be an 88 by next summer.

And the gem… Arda Guler, 18, joined in a mega deal from Espanyol. However, the potential is sky high. Having joined Real Madrid this season, I am hopeful he will follow the trajectories of Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior at Real. He already got a +5 to 85, making him a great youth option and a cup player too for me. Guler is poised to be a real gem for the future, with the potential return on investment through the roof, whether that be in his performances for me, or in a future sale. I do, however, foresee him remaining at the club for a long time.

It’s clear to see my focus has shifted away from high rated youths in an attempt to improve the 1st team, but we have added some new readymade top talents and also some great low prospects too. It will be an interesting season in real life for all of these player and I look forward to seeing how they pan out!