Yamal, Güler, Neves lead best U21 men's soccer players - ESPN

The English Premier League has the best of the best talent around the world, right? Well, as ESPN's list of the top 39 players aged 21 or under shows, that's not the case, as only one of our top 13 comes from the league. So, despite Chelsea's focus on trying to sign the best young talent for millions of dollars, has there been a shift in where they want to play?

For the eighth straight year (read 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 here), our resident scout Tor-Kristian Karlsen has ranked the hottest prospects around. Now 22, last year's No. 2 Florian Wirtz (Liverpool) is too old to be included, while Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Xavi Simons (Tottenham Hotspur) and Benjamin Sesko (Manchester United) are also now over the age limit.

With multiple teams and leagues around the world, you have to cast a wide net to find the best, so we examined the game's youngest players with input from ESPN's reporters in the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Africa, Asia and Australia. The Premier League is still well represented, as you'd expect, but who has done enough to land a place on this year's list, what are their particular qualities, and how can they get even better?

Why 39?

Tor-Kristian Karlsen is a Norwegian football scout and executive and is the former chief executive and sporting director at AS Monaco. He will write regularly for ESPN on the business of soccer and the process of scouting.

For the past three years, 39 has worked well, and from an initial long list of 100 players, those remaining best satisfied the main criteria: appearances at the highest level, consistent performance over a sustained period and the potential to develop into a top-level footballer.

What types of research were conducted?

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