Getty/GOALSince NXGN's launch in 2016, GOAL has profiled the 50 best footballing wonderkids on the planet on an annual basis. Some of those recognised for their talent as teenagers are now household names, but others have not yet realised their potential.
So, after the NXGN 2025 list was revealed, check out where the stars of 2024 are now:
Every NXGN list |
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Getty Images Sport2024: The young brother of Real Madrid star Jude, Bellingham was enjoying an eye-catching first season at Sunderland in the Championship having departed boyhood club Birmingham City the previous summer.
2025: Having been moved back into midfield after playing much of last season as a forward, Bellingham has taken his game to new levels in 2024-25 as the Black Cats chase promotion to the Premier League. Top clubs in England and around Europe continue to keep tabs on his progress.
Getty Images Sport2024: Having emerged as the top talent within Australia's A-League thanks to his powerful attacking play and rocket-launcher of a left foot, Irankunda had already agreed a record-breaking transfer to Bayern Munich and earned a first international call-up from the Socceroos.
2025: Irankunda spent his first six months in Germany playing for Bayern's reserve side in the third tier before completing a loan move to FC Zurich in January as he looks to gain experience of top-flight European football.
Getty Images Sport2024: Cremaschi had emerged as one of the best young players in MLS after striking up a strong on-field relationship with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, with his form having earned him a first call-up to the senior United States squad.
2025: The midfielder was a rotational member of the Miami squad in 2024 as they won the MLS Supporters Shield but is expected to take on an even bigger role under new coach Javier Mascherano.
Getty Images2024: Having been dubbed 'the next Martin Odegaard' within Norway, Nypan was already a regular in the Rosenborg line-up, and was just beginning a campaign that would end with him providing 15 combined league goals and assists from midfield in just 28 appearances.
2025: Arsenal and Manchester City were among the clubs who attempted to sign Nypan during the January transfer window but he has instead opted to stay with Rosenborg until the summer before considering his next move.
AFP2024: The winner of the Golden Boot at the 2023 Under-17 World Cup, Ruberto was earning interest from a host of Premier League clubs as he prepared to take his first steps into the River Plate first team.
2025: The striker was limited to substitute appearances during his debut campaign at senior level but there is hope he will force his way up the pecking order over the next 12 months.
Getty Images2024: A genuine goal machine at youth level, Rijkhoff had returned to Ajax in January 2024 having left for Borussia Dortmund three years earlier, and was beginning to earn first-team opportunities off the bench in Amsterdam.
2025: The striker has been unable to kick on over the past 12 months, and has played exclusively for Ajax's reserve side in the Dutch second division so far in 2024-25.
AFP2024: Diao burst onto the scene when he marked his first two Real Betis appearances with goals and while he had been unable to keep up that impressive strike-rate, the winger had continued to catch the eye in La Liga.
2025: The Senegalese-born starlet fell down the Betis pecking order at the beginning of the 2024-25 season and left to join Italian side Como in January for €12 million (£10m/$12.5m). He made an instant impact for Cesc Fabregas' side, too, netting on his first two Serie A starts.
Getty Images Sport2024: The fourth member of his family to play for Leeds, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-uncle, Gray had become an ever-present in Daniel Farke's promotion-chasing side, as he shone both in central midfield and at right-back for the Elland Road outfit.
2025: Having been crowned the Championship's Young Player of the Year, Gray left Leeds to join Tottenham in July 2024 for a fee of around £30m ($37m), and while he was initially eased into life in the Premier League, an injury crisis has given him the chance to further showcase his versatility with some impressive displays at centre-back in north London.
Getty Images Sport2024: Duranville had been touted as a future Ballon d'Or winner by his former Anderlecht coach Vincent Kompany and, having joined Dortmund in January 2023, the Belgian forward had begun earning first-team opportunities with the Bundesliga giants.
2025: A series of injuries ruined the 2023-24 season for Duranville and he has had to be patient as he looks to re-establish himself at Signal Iduna Park. He has earned regular minutes off the bench thus far but his true breakout moment has yet to arrive.
Getty Images Sport2024: Nwaneri made headlines when he became the first 15-year-old to appear in the Premier League in September 2022, though Arsenal then had to fight off competition from Chelsea and Manchester City to keep a hold of the record-breaking teenager. That they did, though, and he was beginning to appear in more and more of Mikel Arteta's matchday squads.
2025: Whether playing in central midfield or out wide on the right, Nwaneri has impressed all who have seen him play in the Gunners' first team during 2024-25, with the 17-year-old now fully established as one of English football's top young talents having already found the net in both the Premier League and Champions League.
AFP2024: Named Player of the Tournament as Germany won both the U17 Euros and World Cup in 2023, Brunner was being forced to wait for his chance in the Dortmund first team, with disciplinary issues meaning he was struggling to gain the club's full trust.
2025: Brunner left Signal Iduna Park ahead of the 2024-25 season, joining Monaco in a €4m (£3.3m/$4.2m) deal before he was immediately sent out on loan to Cercle Brugge. He has struggled for consistent minutes in Belgium, however, with injury issues stalling his progress somewhat.
Getty Images Sport2024: Having arrived at Anfield from Celtic in the summer of 2022, Doak had become the Premier League's youngest-ever Scottish player and continued earning first-team minutes under Jurgen Klopp before a meniscus injury suffered in December 2023 brought his season to a premature end.
2025: Doak was sent out on loan to Middlesbrough in 2024-25 and he has emerged as one of the Championship's most devastating attacking players while holding down a regular spot in the senior Scotland line-up after some scintillating Nations League displays.
Getty Images2024: Already River Plate's youngest-ever goal-scorer at the age of 16, Mastantuono was drawing admiring glances from the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona thanks to his performances for the Argentine giants.
2025: Europe's elite continue to closely track the midfielder's progress following an encouraging first full season of senior football and he is widely expected to complete a transfer to a Champions League-level club once he turns 18 in August.
AFP2024: Guiu made headlines when he scored a late winner against Athletic Club with his first touch for the Barcelona senior side, and he backed that up by netting in the Champions League a few weeks later as the striker looked set to become the next great La Masia talent to become a Blaugrana icon.
2025: Things didn't quite turn out that way for Guiu, as he was sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2024 for £5m ($6.2m), and he has very much been a back-up option for the Blues thus far, though he did score six goals in as many Conference League league-phase games.
AFP2024: Having joined from Amiens in 2023, Ilenikhena was enjoying a superb breakout campaign with Antwerp as he netted 14 goals in all competitions, including a late winner against Barcelona in the Champions League.
2025: Monaco were suitably impressed by Ilenikhena and paid in excess of €18m (£15m/$18.7m) to bring him to Stade Louis II ahead of the 2024-25 season. However, despite opening his account for the club with another winning goal against Barcelona, he has been limited to mostly substitute appearances in Ligue 1 thus far.
Getty Images Sport2024: Wanner became Bayern's youngest-ever player when debuting in January 2022, but after struggling to break into the first-team picture much thereafter, he was spending the 2023-24 season out on loan at second-division side Elversberg, for whom he contributed six goals and three assists from midfield.
2025: The languid playmaker is out on loan again this term, after joining Bundesliga outfit Heidenheim. He scored in each of his first four games for the club, too, though his attacking returns have dried up since then as the club battles to avoid relegation.
Getty Images Sport2024: Though not yet a regular starter, Babadi had shown in flashes just why he was regarded as one of European football's top midfield talents, with AC Milan and Atletico Madrid among the clubs who had shown an interest in him before he signed a new PSV contract in March 2024.
2025: With knee injuries seemingly plaguing him, Babadi has struggled to force his way into contention for the Dutch champions, and he has been forced into getting minutes with the reserve side to maintain his match fitness.
AFP2024: Ben Seghir made a superb first impression in Ligue 1, scoring twice on his domestic debut in December 2022 to become the youngest player to net a brace for Monaco since Thierry Henry. Injuries had, however, limited his involvement in the season that followed, as he made just 13 league appearances in 2023-24.
2025: Now back fully fit, Ben Seghir - who is an established member of the Morocco national side - has emerged as one of the most creative players in the French top flight, while he is also enjoying his best goal-scoring season to date.
AFP2024: At just 16, Pafundi became the youngest player to represent Italy in over 100 years in November 2023, though he subsequently struggled to kick on at Udinese as many hoped he would, and he thus joined Lausanne on a 12-month loan in January 2024.
2025: Pafundi's first half-season in Switzerland was encouraging, but injuries and a dip in form meant he made just three substitute appearances in the 2024-25 season, leading to Lausanne deciding against taking up the option to sign him permanently. He is, therefore, now looking to re-establish himself in Serie A with Udinese.
Getty Images Sport2024: Hinshelwood comes from a family of professional footballers, so he unsurprisingly took to first-team action at Brighton with ease, as he showed excellent poise both in midfield and at right-back for Roberto De Zerbi's side before a broken foot suffered in February 2024 brought his debut season to a premature end.
2025: The change of manager at the Amex Stadium didn't stall Hinshelwood's progress as he was quickly installed as a starter by Fabian Hurzeler, though a knee injury suffered in November did cause him to miss two months of action around the turn of the year.
AFP2024: Kroupi was earning Kylian Mbappe comparisons for his performances in a struggling Lorient side, as he netted five goals in his first full Ligue 1 season despite his club eventually suffering relegation.
2025: The forward surprisingly stuck with Lorient and has been one of the standout players in Ligue 2 as a result, leading to interest from clubs competing near the top of the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A.
Getty Images Sport2024: Born in the Netherlands but raised in Spain, centre-back Huijsen had chosen to learn the art of defending in Italy after signing for Juventus in 2021, and he was getting his first taste of regular top-flight action with Roma after joining the Giallorossi on loan in January 2024.
2025: Huijsen's performances caught the eye of Bournemouth, who invested an initial £12.5m ($15.5m) to get him to the Vitality Stadium. Under Andoni Iraola's tutelage, Huijsen has emerged as one of the best young defenders in the Premier League, and elite English clubs are queuing up to sign him this summer.
Getty Images Sport2024: Having scored at an outrageous rate for Milan's youth sides, Camarda made history when he became the youngest player in Serie A history after making his top-flight debut in November 2023 as a 15-year-old. A lack of clarity over a new contract, however, meant that elite clubs from around Europe were circling.
2025: Camarda eventually committed his future to the Rossoneri and he was subsequently named Player of the Tournament as Italy won the U17 Euros. He has continued to earn sporadic appearances in the Milan first team and the club even turned down advances to take him on loan in January so his development can be accelerated at San Siro.
Getty Images Sport2024: Having emerged as one Argentina's top talents at boyhood club Velez Sarsfield, Prestianni was heavily linked with a switch to Real Madrid before Benfica swooped in and paid €9m (£7.5m/$10m) to bring the playmaking forward to Lisbon in January 2024.
2025: Prestianni was expected to leave on loan ahead of the 2024-25 campaign to gain first-team experience, but a strong pre-season led to him remaining in Bruno Lage's plans. However, despite starting the season in the line-up, the teenager has since dropped down the pecking order due to both injuries and performance level.
Getty Images Sport2024: Having been likened to Paulo Dybala, the attacking midfielder had earned minutes for Inter in Serie A and the Champions League before heading out on loan to Monza ahead of the 2023-24 season, where he put in consistent performances, leading to him earning a first Argentina cap in March 2024
2025: Carboni joined Marseille on loan for the current campaign, but tore his ACL in October and has since returned to Milan to recover.
Getty Images2024: Having broken Victor Osimhen's record for the most goals at a single U17 Africa Cup of Nations in 2023, Diouf subsequently made his full Senegal debut at the age of just 15 and was drawing interest from a number of Europe's biggest clubs.
2025: The forward is set to return to action after suffering a serious knee injury in September, with rumours swirling that Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool are among the clubs set to fight over his signature in the near future.
Getty Images Sport2024: Ouedraogo enjoyed a breakout season at Schalke as it quickly became clear that the teenage midfielder was one of the most talented players in Germany with his performances in the second tier.
2025: RB Leipzig beat off competition from Liverpool and Bayern Munich to sign Ouedraogo in a €10m (£8.4m/$10.4m) deal ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, but knee and hamstring injuries have meant that the youngster has barely featured for Marco Rose's side since then.
Getty2024: After a rapid ascent through Swedish football, Bergvall had already agreed an £8.5m ($10.8m) move to Tottenham after rejecting advances from Barcelona, and was set to move to north London in the summer of 2024.
2025: Bergvall has enjoyed some eye-catching moments in his debut season at Spurs, though he has arguably played more than expected due to the club's injury crisis.
AFP2024: The first player born in 2005 to score in one of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues, Doue had grown into one of Rennes' most important players over the course of his two seasons in the first team as he looked set to follow in the footsteps of Ousmane Dembele and Eduardo Camavinga in emerging from the club's academy before joining a European giant.
2025: Paris Saint-Germain subsequently paid €50m (£42m/$55m) to sign Doue in the summer of 2024, and after a quiet start, he has begun to produce his best at Parc des Princes as part of an exciting attacking unit.
AFP2024: Nicknamed 'Messinho' due to the similarities in his game with the Argentine legend, Estevao was being linked with Europe's biggest clubs despite making only a handful of appearances for the Palmeiras first team.
2025: Estevao is gearing up to join Chelsea this coming summer after the Blues paid an initial £29m ($37m) to bring the Brazilian to Stamford Bridge. In the meantime, he has broken into the Selecao set-up and finished third in the Brasilerao scoring charts for the 2024 campaign with 13 goals.
Getty Images Sport2024: Often the Robin to Endrick's Batman when the pair were coming through the Palmeiras ranks together, Guilherme was finally being spoken about as a potential star of the future amid comparisons to Rivaldo in Brazil.
2025: West Ham paid £25m ($31m) to sign Guilherme ahead of the 2024-25 season, but he has struggled to settle in England and has made just a handful of substitute appearances in the Premier League.
Getty Images Sport2024: Regarded as the top prospect within the Newcastle academy, Miley was thrust into first-team action amid an injury crisis at St James' Park. However, he did not look out of place and instead thrived in the spotlight, with his performances in the Champions League particularly impressive.
2025: Miley began the 2024-25 campaign on the sidelines with a broken foot, and he has been limited to substitute appearances since his return to fitness due to the good form of his more senior colleagues.
AFP2024: Vermeeren had caught the eye of Europe's biggest clubs with his performances for Royal Antwerp as they won the Belgian league and cup in 2023, and while Barcelona and Manchester United were heavily linked with the midfielder, it was Atletico Madrid who won the race for his services, paying €18m (£15.5m/$19.5m) to bring him to the Metropolitano.
2025: After making just five appearances for Diego Simeone's side in the second half of the 2023-24 season, Vermeeren was loaned to RB Leipzig last summer, and he quickly established himself as a starter in Germany. His performances have been so impressive that Leipzig have already agreed to pay the €20m (£17m/$21m) option that was included in the deal to make it permanent in June.
Getty Images Sport2024: Cubarsi was earning rave reviews after breaking into the Barcelona first team as a 16-year-old and almost immediately locking down a starting role in the centre of defence, with his Champions League displays genuinely astounding as he went toe to toe with some of Europe's finest attackers.
2025: Undoubtedly Barca's best centre-back despite his age, Cubarsi continues to go from strength to strength for both club and country.
Getty Images Sport2024: One of the top talents in Brazilian football, PSG paid €20m (£17m/$22m) to sign Moscardo in January 2024, though they immediately loaned him back to Corinthians so he could recover from season-ending foot surgery in a familiar environment.
2025: The defensive midfielder was loaned to Reims for the 2024-25 season to gain experience of Ligue 1 football, but he has failed to make an impact thus far, partly due to more injury woes.
Getty Images Sport2024: Thierry Henry had likened Restes to France legend Fabien Barthez because of the supremely confident way in which he had taken to senior football at Toulouse. The teenager was also regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Ligue 1 despite his relative experience and it felt like a matter of time before bigger clubs came calling.
2025: Despite some reports linking him with an exit, Restes remains between the sticks for Toulouse and is enjoying another stellar campaign in the French top flight.
Getty Images Sport2024: It had been announced in June 2023 that Paez would be joining Chelsea in 2025 after they agreed to pay £17m ($21.5m) for the Ecuadorian wonderkid, and he had spent the time since showing just why the Blues were so keen to secure his signature, as he became the youngest player to ever score in South American World Cup qualifying while shining for club side Independiente del Valle.
2025: Paez finished the 2024 season with eight goals and five assists to his name for IDV, though there were questions asked of his form towards the end of the campaign. He and Chelsea will hope that is just a blip as he prepares to make his switch to west London this summer.
AFP2024: The youngest goal-scorer in Danish Superliga history, top European clubs were tracking Bardghji's progress, with the forward having been dubbed 'the Swedish Messi' as he came through the ranks at Copenhagen.
2025: Bardghji tore his ACL in May and is still recovering from that injury. Despite the seriousness of the setback, the hope remains that he can prove he is ready for a move to a 'big five' league in the near future.
AFP2024: A versatile defender who was extremely comfortable in possession, Hato was an ever-present in the Ajax team in 2023-24, and even captained the side in the Europa League at the age of 17. That maturity drew admiring glances from Arsenal, in particular, as he began to be linked with a move away from Amsterdam.
2025: Now playing almost exclusively as a left-back, Hato has fully established himself as one of the best young defenders in Europe, while he has also begun to nail down a starting spot for the Netherlands ahead of a likely summer transfer.
AFP2024: The second-youngest goal-scorer in both the Champions League and the Norwegian top flight, Nusa had been nicknamed 'the Norwegian Neymar' before he arrived at Club Brugge, and he was earning interest from the Premier League with his performances in Belgium.
2025: RB Leipzig eventually won the race to sign Nusa, spending €21m to sign him in August, and he quickly established himself as a dangerous creative player in the Bundesliga.
AFP2024: Yoro was being likened to Raphael Varane and William Saliba after emerging as one of the top centre-backs in Ligue 1 with Lille, and had a host of Europe's biggest clubs scrambling to sign him at the end of the season.
2025: Manchester United eventually beat Real Madrid to Yoro's signature, paying £52.2m to do so, though a foot injury suffered in pre-season meant he didn't make his competitive debut for the Red Devils until December, and he is still getting used to Premier League football amid United's overall struggles.
Getty Images Sport2024: Manchester City had moved fast to sign Echeverri in January 2024, as the Premier League champions paid £12.5m to beat off competition from the likes of Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain to sign a player who, perhaps unsurprisingly, was being likened to Lionel Messi back in Argentina after impressing for River Plate.
2025: Echeverri spent the remainder of 2024 back on loan at River, where he earned valuable first-team experience, and recently arrived at the Etihad Stadium to begin his education under Pep Guardiola.
Getty Images Sport2024: Plucked from Bayern Munich's academy amid competition from Barcelona, Yildiz was starting to make waves in the Juventus first team having earned comparisons to Alessandro Del Piero in Turin.
2025: Having inherited the No.10 shirt for the 2024-25 season, Yildiz has been a regular starter for Thiago Motta, though his goal and assist numbers have underwhelmed slightly.
Getty Images Sport2024: After recovering from a pre-season injury, Mainoo had established himself in the Manchester United line up under Erik ten Hag, and was already being spoken about as a potential starter for England despite only having a couple of months of first-team experience under his belt.
2025: Mainoo capped his breakout season with a goal in the FA Cup final before playing a key role as England finished runners-up at Euro 2024. However, injuries and inconsistent form have meant he hasn't quite progressed as he would have liked at Old Trafford in 2024-25.
AFP2024: Having been likened to Ronaldo following his breakout at Cruzeiro, Roque struck 28 times in his first top-flight season-and-a-half with Athletico Paranaense, which in turn led to him joining Barcelona for €40m in January 2024, and he scored twice in his first five La Liga appearances.
2025: Roque soon fell down the pecking order in Catalunya, however, and he joined Betis on loan for the 2024-25 campaign. He managed seven goals in all competitions in Seville before Barca made the decision in February to sell him to Palmeiras for €25m.
Getty Images Sport2024: Dubbed 'the Turkish Messi' ever since breaking into the Fenerbahce first team in 2021, Real Madrid beat Barcelona to the signing of Guler in the summer of 2023, paying €20m to do so, though injuries have largely ruined the Turkey international's first campaign in the Spanish capital.
2025: The arrival of Kylian Mbappe at the Bernabeu has pushed Guler further down the pecking order and he may be forced to leave to earn more opportunities going forward.
Getty Images Sport2024: Having become the youngest player in Rennes history, Tel had earned a €20m move to Bayern in the summer of 2022, and quickly became the club's youngest-ever scorer in the Bundesliga with one of his many goals off the bench.
2025: Chances proved harder to come by for Tel under Vincent Kompany's management, and he was thus loaned to Tottenham in January, with Spurs expected to make that move permanent come the summer.
AFP2024: The youngest debutant, starter and goal-scorer in PSG history, Zaire-Emery was making a major impact on the star-studded first team at Parc des Princes having reverted to his favoured midfield role after breaking into the senior side on the right-hand side.
2025: Amid increased competition for places, Zaire-Emery hasn't quite hit the same heights as yet this season, though he remains one of the top teenage talents in the game.
Getty Images Sport2024: Endrick was being dubbed the biggest Brazilian talent since Neymar and, after scoring three goals in his first seven senior appearances, he agreed to join Real Madrid for €60m in January 2023, though he would not move to Spain until the summer of 2024. In the meantime, he scored 11 goals as Palmeiras won the league title in 2023.
2025: The forward arrived in Madrid ahead of the 2024-25 season and despite scoring on both his La Liga and Champions League debuts, his opportunities have been limited due to the Blancos' star-studded attack monopolising the available minutes of match time.
Getty Images Sport2024: Yamal had already broken countless records for Barcelona and Spain after making his debut for the former as a 15-year-old, with some believing he was already Barca's most important player.
2025: Having played a leading role for Spain as they won Euro 2024, with some even believing he should have been named Player of the Tournament, Yamal's all-round game has led to him being described as the best player in La Liga despite not yet being 18, and there is genuine Ballon d'Or buzz surrounding the teenager.