Best U23 Player in the World

[Vasilevskiy]

Mbappe is the closest thing to R9 we've seen. He's #1 in this list and I'm surprised there have been 6 votes saying otherwise.
Sancho is a clear #2 in my mind and closing the gap with Mbappe but still has ways to go.

Great talents all-around.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Mbappe is the closest thing to R9 we've seen. He's #1 in this list and I'm surprised there have been 6 votes saying otherwise.
Sancho is a clear #2 in my mind and closing the gap with Mbappe but still has ways to go.

Great talents all-around.

Going out on a limb here but kai is closer to sancho, than sancho to Mbappe. But i havent seen a lot from sancho so i could be off

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Going out on a limb here but kai is closer to sancho, than sancho to Mbappe. But i havent seen a lot from sancho so i could be off

Yeah, I would agree that Kai is closer to Sancho than Sancho to Mbappe

 

[les Habs]

Mbappe is the closest thing to R9 we've seen. He's #1 in this list and I'm surprised there have been 6 votes saying otherwise.
Sancho is a clear #2 in my mind and closing the gap with Mbappe but still has ways to go.

Great talents all-around.

I can see where you'd say Sancho now, but I'm curious where things will be in a year or two. Haaland is taking off and if simply keeps up what he's done this season he could easily be second.

 

[YNWA14]

Going out on a limb here but kai is closer to sancho, than sancho to Mbappe. But i havent seen a lot from sancho so i could be off

Nah.

Kai is good but he’s not really that close to Sancho yet.

 

[Albatros]

I mean if you're peak is scoring a goal a game I don't think plateauing is necessarily an issue?

No, although also little more than a requirement with PSG.

 

[Gecklund]

Nah.

Kai is good but he’s not really that close to Sancho yet.

Sancho isn’t that close to Mbappe though.

 

[YNWA14]

Sancho isn’t that close to Mbappe though.

Jadon Sancho just turned 20 and he's got 20 goals and 20 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions. He's a very different kind of player, but he is not far from Mbappe or any other player in the world really.

 

[The Abusement Park]

No, although also little more than a requirement with PSG.

How is scoring a goal a game a requirement? That’s an absurd record.

 

[Albatros]

It's what his predecessors were doing as well, anything less would make him a downgrade.

 

[Evilo]

It's what his predecessors were doing as well, anything less would make him a downgrade.

Except Cavani and Zlatan weren't doing it at 19 and 20. And not mostly at wing and not shooting penalties.
But of course, those "details" are not in your agenda.

 

[YNWA14]

He’s played more games at CF than any other position by a wide margin the last two seasons.

 

[Evilo]

Excuse me?
No, he hasn't. He had Cavani and Icardi starting most games.
He had a stretch last season from january to march or april or something like that when Cavani was injured. At which point his numbers became crazy BTW.
And this year, Tuchel tried a 4-4-2 for 2 or 3 months before dropping it.

So your wide margin is once again a lie. And don't give me any of your internet source, I watch the games, I know what I'm talking about. You know, sometimes it helps.

 

[YNWA14]

Even though every source states he played more CF than wing I’ll take the word of a guy that would never admit he was wrong if it slapped him in the face (just kidding, I know that there are other more reliable sources that also have heat maps and watch the games). Thumbs up.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Nah.

Kai is good but he’s not really that close to Sancho yet.

I mean he does have the most goals in the bundesliga before the age of 21... Largely playing as a midfielder.

 

[YNWA14]

I mean he does have the most goals in the bundesliga before the age of 21... Largely playing as a midfielder.

Sancho will likely break that record and Kai has played a lot in advanced positions. Wasn’t he playing mostly as a winger last season?

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Sancho will likely break that record and Kai has played a lot in advanced positions. Wasn’t he playing mostly as a winger last season?

Possibly never watched him play but this year I've seen him mostly as a midfielder/winger. Just last 2 games as a striker. Like I said I dont watch much of Sancho but Kai is legit. He's incredibly smart so, I have no worries about him plateauing. I think by all accounts he should become one of the best.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I mean he does have the most goals in the bundesliga before the age of 21... Largely playing as a midfielder.

Sancho broke it last week. He’s a year younger.

 

[YNWA14]

Possibly never watched him play but this year I've seen him mostly as a midfielder/winger. Just last 2 games as a striker. Like I said I dont watch much of Sancho but Kai is legit. He's incredibly smart so, I have no worries about him plateauing. I think by all accounts he should become one of the best.

Yeh I mean he's played 10 games on the wing and 7 as a striker this season, and a lot of the time as SS more than AM but even still Kai is fantastic for sure, very skilled, very smart. Sancho is just a step above him though; he's younger, better on the ball, and plays pretty smart too (though I say he could improve here for sure, as he is a bit too in love with his own skill, understandably).

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I could understand some of the reservations about Sancho, if you’ve watched him play a lot.

He isn’t that flashy or physically intimidating. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very skilled and pretty fast, but just speaking of recent young wingers at Dortmund, Dembele’s dribbling creativity, passing vision and explosiveness was more dynamic, Pulisic’s close ball control, ability to turn with the ball and maze-dribbling style lead to more successful dribbling ability, and Mor’s flashiness and raw creativity looked more exciting. The difference between Sancho and all these three young players that recently played for Dortmund, some of which are still pretty good players, is that Sancho is world class in the final third.

Sancho has the ability to have an average game, and he picks up a goal and an assist. These often aren’t flashy plays, but statistically, Sancho’s finishing ability is unparalleled in football. I’ll try to find the stat, but I saw it recently. Some have suggested his finishing is unsustainable because I don’t think this was ever his reputation, but he has a way of not missing his chances. And he almost never over-complicates a play if a teammate is open. He gets so many assists that happen because he doesn’t try to do three meaningless step-overs that another talented young player would do.

I’m not sure how much higher his ceiling is because his talent is not best in the world level, but in his age 19/20 season his numbers are. His numbers have been incredibly good since he started playing first team football. This is not one good season. I think the numbers have to come first. I don’t care how talented you look. If someone else produces better, they are better. If he can keep this up, he’ll be up there for that title.

But I doubt any non-Dortmund fan or England fan would have watched him enough to know all that. I’m not sure if he’ll keep it up, but most people here are just guessing with most of these players, unless they play for your team or country. And that’s not a problem. None of us are experts, but I thought I should add some more to the picture of Sancho’s game.

 

[YNWA14]

I could understand some of the reservations about Sancho, if you’ve watched him play a lot.

He isn’t that flashy or physically intimidating. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very skilled and pretty fast, but just speaking of recent young wingers at Dortmund, Dembele’s dribbling creativity, passing vision and explosiveness was more dynamic, Pulisic’s close ball control, ability to turn with the ball and maze-dribbling style lead to more successful dribbling ability, and Mor’s flashiness and raw creativity looked more exciting. The difference between Sancho and all these three young players that recently played for Dortmund, some of which are still pretty good players, is that Sancho is world class in the final third.

Sancho has the ability to have an average game, and he picks up a goal and an assist. These often aren’t flashy plays, but statistically, Sancho’s finishing ability is unparalleled in football. I’ll try to find the stat, but I saw it recently. Some have suggested his finishing is unsustainable because I don’t think this was ever his reputation, but he has a way of not missing his chances. And he almost never over-complicates a play if a teammate is open. He gets so many assists that happen because he doesn’t try to do three meaningless step-overs that another talented young player would do.

I’m not sure how much higher his ceiling is because his talent is not best in the world level, but in his age 19/20 season his numbers are. I think the numbers have to come first. I don’t care how talented you look. If someone else produces better, they are better. If he can keep this up, he’ll be up there for that title.

But I doubt any non-Dortmund fan or England fan would have watched him enough to know all that. I’m not sure if he’ll keep it up, but most people here are just guessing with most of these players, unless they play for your team or country. And that’s not a problem. None of us are experts, but I thought I should add some more to the picture of Sancho’s game.

I think Sancho definitely has times where he overcomplicates things, not to take away from his proficiency in the final third (also he's improved from last season to this season in that regard). His dribbling for me is just as dynamic as anyone out there, too. At least IMO.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think Sancho definitely has times where he overcomplicates things, not to take away from his proficiency in the final third. His dribbling for me is just as dynamic as anyone out there, too. At least IMO.

These players are all still learning the game and turn the ball over, but he over-complicates things way less than everyone else. That’s why he puts up the numbers he does. I don’t know if there’s a stat that proves that he over-complicates plays less, but his numbers that are numerically unsustainable in a small sample but are being sustained over a large sample prove that, in my opinion. I’m going to try to find the stat I saw about this recently, but it’s convincing.

I’m also not suggesting he’s some no-talent hack, but I wouldn’t say he has an advantage on players like Havertz, Felix, Sane and other young non-Mbappe young in terms of raw talent. His advantage comes in the numbers he produces, which for a few seasons now are incredibly good, and this season are the absolute best in Europe.

 

[Albatros]

Except Cavani and Zlatan weren't doing it at 19 and 20. And not mostly at wing and not shooting penalties.
But of course, those "details" are not in your agenda.

Zlatan was indeed 34 years old when he scored 38 goals and 12 assists in 31 league matches for PSG. 50 goals in all competitions. Whether Mbappé will have reached another level by 34 remains to be seen, but either way the last two years his development does not have much upward trajectory. Should he have failed to score at a similar level to Zlatan and Cavani he would not have a future in Paris.

 

[Evilo]

So you're missing the issue again. If Mbappe had shot penalties over those two years and played striker both years, he'd have WAY more goals than either Cavani or Ibra.
So that tells you how impressive he is.

 

[Albatros]

There's no such issue. Of Zlatan's 50 goals 7 were penalties, of Mbappé's 39 goals 3.