What happened to the last crop of 'Wonderkids'?
The term 'wonderkid' is bandied about frequently after a young player impresses on their debut. However, the future does not always pan out so brightly. To demonstrate this point, here's what happened to 15 of the youngest players to have made their debuts between 2010-2016, in the top 5 European leagues.
Starting in England, with Rushian Hepburn-Murphy. The former Aston Villa forward is one of the younger players on the list, aged 21. He failed to make much of an impact in the Midlands, only playing twice in the Premier League and 5 times in the Championship for Aston Villa. In January of this year, he was loaned out to Derby, with the hope of catching some eyes in the Championship. However he was only used in the under-23 squad. This summer he moved to FC Pafos- who finished 7th in the Cypriot League last season. 7 goals in his first pre-season game against FC Riga XI is a good omen for how Hepburn-Murphy's season may pan out, but the change from Premier League 'rising star' to the Cypriot League in just 5 years represents a steep decline.
In 2013, Izzy Brown made his Premier League debut for West Brom, albeit for only four minutes. Despite, West Brom manager Steve Clarke wanting to give Brown Premier League minutes, the winger decided to move to Chelsea. A move that West Brom's former head of youth recruitment laments:
"I absolutely loved Izzy Brown. I thought he was the best of all the players that have left here. He made a decision and his parents made a decision that West Brom wasn't for them at that time."
The move hasn't worked out, as Brown was shipped off to a variety of clubs, as one of a many Chelsea loan players used to generate profit, not to play for their first team. Shoots of promise are beginning to emerge once more after a successful season with Luton Town. 1 goal and 7 assists in 25 Championship games, helped Luton avoid relegation last season. Still, Brown would have hoped to have made more of his career thus far.
Reece Oxford is arguably the most successful of the youngest debutants from England from the last ten years. He debuted and was awarded Man of the Match for West Ham against Arsenal in 2015, at the young age of 16 and 236 days. He went on to make 6 more Premier League appearances that season, but the following year he was loaned out to Reading. That was followed by another loan move to Borussia Monchengladbach and then Augsburg, who he signed for permanently last summer. But, even last season Oxford struggled for game time, racking up a measly 367 minutes in the Bundesliga. The centre-back believes that his career was actually hindered by its fast start:
"Since the age of 15 I had been playing/training with the first team so I missed so much of the stuff I needed like the gym work, which a lot young players do, he said.
"I had so many hamstring injuries and back injuries and that was because I was hardly doing any gym work. In the first team, they don't do as much gym work as the under-16s or under-18s who need to build up their strength and endurance."
Oxford also pointed out that the English media doesn't help young players to find their feet.
"In England it's hard because the media kill you too quick. If you have one bad game the narrative is, 'Oh, he's not good enough. He's not living up to what he's meant to be living up to."
No doubt that these factors were taken into consideration with Oxford's move to Germany. Now he needs to prove himself once again.
Fabrice Olinga is not the best known asset to come from La Liga, but at once stage it looked like he was destined for stardom. Olinga, the godson of former La Liga great, Samuel Eto'o, was signed by Eto's former club Mallorca as a 13 year-old before joining Malaga. At just 16 years and 98 days he made his debut for Malaga, scoring the only goal in a win over Celta Vigo, becoming La Liga's youngest ever goalscorer. But Olinga struggled to live up to the early hype. 2 years after his debut goal, Olinga was playing in Cyprus for Apollon Limassol. His agent, Pini Zahavi was eager for Olinga to move to Apollon Limassol, and promised the Cameroonian a huge wage rise. At the time Zahavi was the owner of Apollon Limassol, clearly the move was to the benefit of the agent, not the player. Unfortunately, Olinga's career has since dragged. He's currently playing for Mouscron in the Belgian Jupiler League, another club that was once owned by Zahavi. One wonders, what the future held for Olinga had he had the right people guiding him...
Paul Quaye is even less well-known. But in 2012 he became the youngest non-Spanish player to play in La Liga at 16 and 120 days; that would be his only appearance for Espanol. Since then he's left Spain and ventured east, joining Slovakian team, FK Senica in 2016. But just one year later Quaye was back in Spain again, playing for lower division clubs. He's currently at fourth division club, Moralo CP. It seems that Quaye was never really destined for the top.
Martin Odegaard joined Real Madrid in a high-profile transfer from Strømsgodset in 2015. It took him another four months until he would debut for the first team though. He replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in the last game of the season, becoming Real Madrid's youngest ever debutant. Despite all the hype, Odegaard took time to settle, and he was largely ineffective at both Real Madrid and Hereenveen, whom he joined on loan in 2017. Odegaard acknowledged the role that the hefty expectation played on him: "As I started so young, there were unrealistic expectations."
He also stated: "When I joined Real Madrid I faced heavy criticism."
Fast forward to 2018, at Vitesse, the hype over Odegaard had simmered down. Presumably that played a role in the upturn in the Norwegian's form. The playmaker finished the Eredivisie season with 8 goals and 11 assists in 31 games, concluding the year in the division's Team of the Season. Last season he was loaned out again, this time to Real Sociedad. He accumulated 10 goal involvements in 31 games, but even more impressive was his all-round play in knitting attacks together. It appears that Madrid have taken notice too, after all, they cut short his two-year loan spell at San Sebastian. Zinedine Zidane, who coached him for Real Madrid Castilla, all those years ago, will look to fit the Norwegian into his midfield plans next year. Despite a shaky start to his career, Odegaard is on track to match the feats that were once expected of him.
Sandro Tonali has been heralded as the 'next big thing' in Italy. But nearly ten years ago that name was Lorenzo Tassi. His anonymity now demonstrates the faint impact of his career. In 2011, he made his debut for Brescia, after being dubbed "the new Baggio" by the club's president. That summer, he was signed by Inter for 2 million Euros. Until this summer, he was still at the club, but astonishingly he never made a first-team appearance. He's had a multitude of loan spells at a variety of different lower-level Italian clubs. Most recently at Serie C club, Arezzo. The hype and the big money move certainly seemed to have drained Tassi of his early promise.
Brescia were keen to integrate young blood into the team in 2011. Nana Welbeck made his debut in the same match as Tassi, aged 16 and 178 days. Unfortunately his career has gone much the same way as Tassi's. In 2014 he moved to Slovenian team Krka. In 2019 he returned to Italy to play for the once prestigious, Catania, who now reside in Serie C. However, heart problems have limited to Ghananian to only four appearances since joining the club. Hopefully Welbeck can recover fully to play his part again some time soon.
The most successful of the youngest debutants from Serie A across the last ten years has been AC Milan stalwart, Gianluigi Donnarumma. Incredibly the goalkeeper is still only 21, despite making over 200 appearances for the Rossoneri. However, the young Italian has come into criticism in his career. In 2017 a string of bad performances led many to believe that Donnarumma's head had been turned by the queue of European super-clubs baying for his signature. But, the Italian has recovered and become a consistent performer for a Milan team that has been anything but over recent years. Donnarumma captained the team in a 1-1 draw with Atalanta at the tail-end of last season, and Milan fans will be hoping he can be the future captain of the team for years to come, but undoubtedly the list of top clubs looking to acquire Donnarumma will remain.
Albert Rafetraniaina made his Nice debut aged 16 and 27 days in 2012. He played a further 29 times for Nice over the next few years. After four years at the Cote d'Azur club, the midfielder moved to Italy, playing for Bisceglie, whom he helped preserve the place in Serie C last season. Still, Rafetraniaina would've hoped for lofty achievements after his impressive start to life in Ligue 1.
Nice also handed Neal Maupay his debut, unlike Rafetraniaina, Maupay's career has been going on an upwards path, although that was not always the case. He made his debut for Nice, also in 2012- and he'd go on to score 12 goals in 53 games for 'Les Aiglons'. Despite the steady goal tally, Maupay never believed he had the backing of the club:
"My ambition was to impose myself in my heart club. I didn't have that chance."
A move to Saint Etienne quickly materialised, but it was at Stade Brest in Ligue 2 where Maupay realised his potential. 11 goals in 30 games, persuaded Championship club Brentford to sign the striker. Two more successful years at Brentford, convinced Brighton to sign Maupay. His first season in the Premier League was a success, he finished as Brighton's top scorer with ten league goals. Still, only just 24, Maupay will be hoping to cement his place as one of the Premier League's most sought after forwards.
Sticking with the south coast of France, is Marseille's one-time prodigy, Bilal Boutobba. In 2014, he became Marseille's youngest player, aged 16 and 8 months. His performances at youth level had attracted interest from Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. But instead, Boutobba decided to join Sevilla. The move was a failure, and he soon moved back to France to play for Montpellier. However, he flattered to deceive once again- making just two appearances in three years. Boutobba's care-free attitude may be the reason for his disappointing career thus far.
"In Marseille, I mostly went to training to laugh with friends. When I went up with the pros, I didn't care about anything."
Unsurprisingly, Boutobba's laissez-faire approach to football caught up for him. This summer he was released by Montpellier, and he's since been signed by Ligue 1 club, Chamois Niort.
At 26, Julian Draxler is one of the older players' on the list. The playmaker made his debut for Schalke in 2011, at the age of 17. He made a successful career for himself in Gelsenkirchen, playing for the club 170 times. In 2015, he moved to wolfsburg for £38 million, to replace the departing Kevin De Bruyne. Just 18 months later, Draxler moved to PSG. In Paris, the German's career has stalled somewhat. Although 52 goal involvements in 132 games is impressive, Draxler is often second-fiddle to Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria - last season he was only in the starting XI for 26% of PSG's league games. Still, Draxler has won over 50 caps for German, and was part of the victorious World Cup campaign of 2014. He's won every trophy possible with PSG too. However, the German may move soon to truly extrude the best years of his career.
In 2013, Marc Stendera made his Eintracht Frankfurt debut aged 17. At the time, he was considered one of Europe's top young talents. At the 2014 UEFA European u19 Championship, Stendera was selected in the team of the tournament. His ability to perform in the Bundesliga was validated in the 2014/15 season too, when Stendera had 9 goal involvements in 26 games. He was WhoScored's 3rd highest rated teenager in Europe in 2015, only behind Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman. But, soon the German would be plagued by injuries. During his 6 years at Eintracht Frankfurt, Stendera missed over 130 games. Seemingly, the injuries have taken a toll on Stendera's career. He is now a free agent, after being released by Bundesliga 2 club, Hanover 96 after just one season.
Although his career is still in its infancy, Christian Pulisic looks to be the most promising young debutant from the Bundesliga from the last decade. He made his first Bundesliga appearance after his 17th birthday, and went on to make 127 games for his former club, Borussia Dortmund - scoring or assisting 45 times. Since his debut, he has been heralded as one of the few shining lights to come out of American football, something that will undoubtedly weigh heavily on Pulisic's shoulders. But, it seems that the 21 year old is coping well with the pressure. He moved to Chelsea last summer, and after a patchy start, the American hit his best form after the restart. 21 direct goal involvements in 34 games is a highly impressive tally considering that it was Pulisic's first season in English football. Now he'll be hoping to build on his strong start, and become the greatest American footballer.
By ranking each individual players' quality and the impact of their career, we can see more clearly how this generation's group of 'wonderkids' have faired:
7 (46.7%) can be categorised as lower-level players, 3 (20%) are average players, 2 (13.3%) are good players and 3 (20%) are very good players - with the potential to become world-class. Of course, an opinion on a player is subjective, but the way that the majority of the careers we have outlined have failed to build on their early debut, shows that for the most part there was a significant drop-off. So why did so many of the 'wonderkids' fail to live up to the ambition?
The simple answer is, a multitude of reasons. Each players' case is independent, but there are a few common factors that go some way to explaining why many of the 'lower-level' and 'average' players have not achieved more.
Firstly, is the fact that some of the players' were never considered to be 'wonderkids' to begin with, even if they have broken records for youngest player in 'x' league. 5 out of the 15 players made their debut in the final, or penultimate matches of the season. These would be games that meant little more than pride, so the managers could afford to take gambles, like fielding young players.
The weight of expectation is something that will be felt by any footballer. But it is highly probable that such pressure would've been surmountable for many of these 'wonderkids'. Tassi being dubbed as the 'new Baggio' is a perfect example of how praise can actually be negatively impactful on a players career.
There can also be negative pressure, as Odegaard points out, he faced "very heavy criticism" as a 16 year old, after his performances for Real Madrid. Perhaps more of these players would've been more successful, were they quietly pushed up from the academy, rather than such a sudden and immediate step-up. In the case of Oxford, the very fact that he was rushed into the first-team, resulted in him having to catch-up on the fitness work of his academy colleagues. Evidently, many issues can be birthed out of such early starts in professional football.
There are also unexpected circumstances. Zahavi forcing Olinga's move to Cyprus, when he would've been better off developing at Malaga, is not something you'd predict at the start of a 'wonderkids' career. Similarly, Welbeck's heart problems is not seen as a common case in football.
Although not as rare, but not something that is automatically taken into account are injuries. Oxford and Stendera are two of the players that have suffered most from injuries, which are likely caused, because the players bodies are not physically capable yet to deal with the strains of professional football.
The final reason for underwhelming careers is moving clubs too early. Often this would be to a bigger club, for an inflated wage, but this would limit the players game-time, or put too much pressure at too early a stage for the player. For example, Izzy Brown's move to Chelsea destablisied the youngster's career. 6 of the 15 players moved to bigger clubs, or clubs offering more money soon after their debuts. In each case, the players' career has declined, apart from Odegaard.
Despite this, there is still a pool of players who have had successful careers. In particular, Odegaard looks ready to star as Real Madrid midfielder in years to come, Donnarumma is considered one of world's best goalkeepers, and has nailed down a spot as Italy's number one, whilst Pulisic has already shown his ability to become a world class Premier League player.
These careers haven't been without problems, some of the more successful players have transformed their negative situations into positive ones. Odegaard and Maupay are examples of players struggling for gametime at the top level, who moved to clubs in lower leagues to increase their gametime.
As we've already seen, Odegaard faced "heavy criticism", and Donnarumma's position as AC Milan's goalkeeper came into doubt after a string of bad performances. As much as the quality of the players eventually shines through, the mentality to come through a bad patch is paramount. Certainly, all the players who've had considerably more success would be more likely to have a tougher mentality in order to overcome various hurdles.
Ultimately, a large majority of the youngest players to debutise in the top 5 leagues between 2010-2016 have seen their careers falter. The reasons for this are widespread and varying, and in most cases each player has suffered from more than one of these issues. Despite this, 33% of the players have gone on to have at the very least, decent careers. The decision to field 16 and 17 year olds, when they can be at such a fragile stage both mentally and physically is a risky one, but there are certainly cases when that debut becomes the start of something special.