With all the data and all the video footage you could ever hope for, there really shouldn't be many secrets left in the world of youth football. Sure, progress isn't linear and some players' attributes translate better to the adult game than others, but for most teams, picking and finding the best young talent still feels like a bit of a lottery, at least from the outside looking in.

Rennes are no strangers to producing some of the best players around, and Mohamed Kader Meite looks primed to become the next elite talent to step off the conveyor belt after the likes of Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Eduardo Camavinga. Still just 18, the towering striker is already said to be turning heads across Europe.

From Ibrahima Konate winning the title with Liverpool, to William Saliba anchoring Arsenal's charge to the top of the table or Leny Yoro's big-money signing for Manchester United, French centre-backs have had a massive influence in the Premier League's recent history. Now, the race to sign Les Bleus' next great defender is on as the top clubs from England and beyond circle Tylel Tati.

In a bombshell seven-and-a-half-minute interview after Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Leeds United last weekend, Mohamed Salah accused the club of throwing him "under the bus" and claimed he no longer has any relationship with head coach Arne Slot. The 'Egyptian King', who has scored 250 goals for Liverpool over the last eight years and was the driving force behind the 2024-25 Premier League title success under Slot, didn't see a single minute of action at Elland Road after being named on the bench for the third game in a row, and decided to go public with his grievances.

Fifteen years ago, Manchester City were so enamoured with the all-conquering Barcelona that they sought to replicate the same structure. They began by hiring chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, before eventually landing Pep Guardiola to manage the team. All that was missing was Lionel Messi - though they nearly signed the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner at the very start of the Abu Dhabi-led project by mistake!

Steven Heighway knew when Steven Gerrard was still only 14 years of age that the midfielder was going to "make it" as a footballer. The man himself, though, was less convinced of his quality - at least when he took his first tentative steps in the professional ranks. When Gerrard warmed up in front of the Kop for the first time ahead of his Liverpool debut on November 29, 1998, the nerve-racked teenager "could almost hear them saying, 'Who's this skinny tw*t?!'"