For scouts from most Premier League clubs, the Under-17 World Cup at the end of last year was an opportunity to see some of the best young players on the planet in the flesh for the first time. But for a select few such as Brighton and Manchester City, who have been quick to take advantage of football’s increasingly global pool of emerging talent, the tournament in Indonesia was more about crossing fingers and hoping their secrets remained under wraps.
“Whenever a player travels to an international tournament, their clubs understand that there will be a lot of foreign clubs watching them live and that always pushes up the interest,” says Matías Lipman, who works as an intermediary for South American players. “They give them a lot of visibility and the local clubs know it.”
Just ask City. The European champions ended up agreeing to pay Claudio Echeverri’s €25m (£21.4m) release clause after El Diablito (little devil) scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Brazil in the quarter-finals, to see off interest from Barcelona and Chelsea, despite scouting him for almost two years. Echeverri, who turned 18 on 2 January, is expected to remain at River Plate for another year before following in the footsteps of Julián Álvarez and swapping Argentina’s Primera División for the Premier League.
Álvarez’s move to City was announced on his 22nd birthday in January 2022 and the forward did not arrive in England until six months later. But Echeverri’s transfer reflects a quickly growing trend of clubs signing players from outside Europe at increasingly younger ages. He will only just have turned 19 when he likely arrives and is expected to be sent out on loan.
“A major reason has been Brexit and the new points system that was introduced as a result – that has facilitated the transfer of younger players from around the world,” says Lipman. “The Premier League is interested in having the best South American talents and so instead of them going to other leagues first, the new rules mean they can sign players like Álvarez and Echeverri, who would have eventually moved to Europe anyway. But now they can buy them earlier and for less money.”
The governing body endorsement (GBE) system that was introduced in January 2021 after Brexit meant clubs were allowed to sign players over the age of 18 from anywhere in the world as long as they met the points requirements from playing in their domestic leagues or for their national team.
That was updated significantly in June last year, with English league clubs permitted to sign two players who do not meet the points requirements – known as elite significant contribution players (ESC) – in a move described by the Football Association as “a new football solution which works for everyone and provides additional access to exceptional international talent”. Premier League and Championship clubs can take up to two further ESC players – or as some scouts have started referring to them, “wildcards” – depending on the percentage of minutes they offer to English players, either in the first team or on loan.
“It’s made everything much easier for clubs to take a chance on a young player from the other side of the world,” says a scout from a leading Premier League club who does not want to be named.
Ronaldo: PSV to Barcelona, 1996, aged 19
After moving to Catalonia, Ronaldo held the distinction of not only being the world's most expensive teenager but the most expensive player of any age. Although he only remained with Barcelona for a single season before departing after contract disputes, his move there sped the development of one of the greatest talents the game has seen.
Sébastien Frey: Cannes to Internazionale, 1998, aged 18
Signed by Inter after one senior season at Cannes, Frey was regarded by many as a future star. He made nine league appearances in his first season before being loaned out and was sold to Parma in 2002, to replace the outgoing Gianluigi Buffon. He remains the most expensive teenage goalkeeper.
Antonio Cassano: Bari to Roma, 2001, aged 19
The forward was likened to Maradona but inconsistent performances and attitude problems meant he never reached his potential, notably falling out with Fabio Capello, who coached him at Roma then at Real Madrid, where Cassano failed to establish himself. The term ‘cassanata’ has become synonymous with being a bad teammate in the Italian football sphere.
Wayne Rooney: Everton to Manchester United, 2004, aged 18
For many in England, the definitive teenage transfer. Rooney was a talent the likes of which English football had seldom seen before and has seldom seen since. He went on to win a Champions League, five Premier Leagues and become the top scorer for United and England, claiming both records from Sir Bobby Charlton.
Anthony Martial: Monaco to Manchester United, aged 19
One of the hottest prospects in football when United bought him for a then record fee paid for a teenager. Of a prospective almost £60m only about £45m was transferred because Martial failed to achieve predetermined goals, such as appearance- and Ballon D’or-related conditions. Once touted as a successor to Thierry Henry or Nicolas Anelka, Martial has had a spell on loan at Sevilla, where he failed to score a league goal, and been exiled from the France team, with no cap in more than two years.
Kylian Mbappé: Monaco to PSG, 2017, aged 19
From the Monaco graduate who failed to reach the promised land, to the one who many believe has conquered it. Mbappé was initially loaned to PSG in 2017 and when the deal became permanent the following summer he was a certified world beater. Two weeks later he become a world champion with France. Since then he has added eight major honours to cabinet, been named as France's player of the year three times and claimed the title of Ligue 1's top scorer five times on the bounce, a joint record.
Endrick: Palmeiras to Real Madrid, 2024, aged 18
The deal was agreed in December of 2022 when Endrick was only 16 but will technically be completed in July of this year. At the time of putting pen to paper, Endrick had played 300 minutes of senior football, spread across seven games, but had convinced Real Madrid he was worth an investment of about €60m and an 18-month wait for him to join. Raphael Boyd
Brighton did not need a wildcard to secure the signing of Valentín Barco from Boca Juniors, the 19-year-old defender having achieved the requisite points to be granted a work permit after clubs in the top divisions of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico were upgraded to the highest band when the original points system began three years ago. But it is understood Brighton were one of the few Premier League clubs who were against the extension of the rules to allow the signing of players who do not meet the visa requirements – perhaps unsurprisingly given their previous successes in South America under the existing system.
Barco, who turned down interest from City, is expected to be introduced slowly into Roberto De Zerbi’s squad, with Brighton using the approach applied to help integrate Moisés Caicedo and several other imports such as Argentina’s Facundo Buonanotte and the Paraguayan Julio Enciso.
“There are big opportunities here in South America and some English clubs have understood this very early, like Brighton,” says Lipman. “But most are still reluctant to do any business directly with local clubs because they don’t want to take a risk and they fear the adaptation might not work out. They prefer for players to develop elsewhere and then evaluate whether they are ready for the Premier League. Not all clubs have the same philosophy but more are realising what bargains can be had.”
Chelsea have been increasingly active in South America since Todd Boehly’s and Clearlake Capital’s takeover. They have snapped up the Ecuadorian wonderkid Kendry Páez after he became the youngest South American to score in a World Cup qualifier at 16 years and 161 days old in October. Páez, who will remain with Caicedo’s former club Independiente del Valle until he turns 18, will not even be eligible to make his debut for Chelsea until the start of the 2025-26 season.
That has not stopped them from making a move for Estêvão Willian, a 16-year-old Brazilian known as Messinho who plays for Palmeiras and starred at the Under-17 World Cup. Arsenal and Barcelona are among the other clubs believed to be interested but Chelsea’s technical director, Laurence Stewart, was reportedly in Brazil last week to discuss the €60m (£51.4m) release clause – a fee that would not be far short of the £58m they paid to sign Roméo Lavia, a British record for a teenager. That mark was previously held by Anthony Martial for almost a decade after his move to Manchester United from Monaco in 2013 for £44.7m but, as Lipman acknowledges, the market is changing rapidly.
“The clubs know the players very well and have their eyes open,” he says. “There are scouting systems all over the world with a lot of people working very hard to find the next big star. It’s very different from even five years ago when you would never have seen English clubs trying to sign players directly from South America. I’m sure there are going to be plenty more over the next few years.”
Chelsea are also believed to have snapped up Pape Daouda Diong from the Dakar-based side AF Darou Salam after his impressive performances for Senegal in Indonesia. The 16-year-old, who is also expected to move to London when he turns 18, was at Stamford Bridge with Páez for Chelsea’s Carabao Cup victory over Newcastle in December and could become a trendsetter for signing players directly from clubs in Africa. Amara Diouf, a 15-year-old winger from Sadio Mané’s former club Génération Foot who has made his senior international debut, is on the radar of several big Premier League clubs after being nominated for young African player of the year.“Previously, the focus was on signing the best 16-year-olds from Europe but that option isn’t available so clubs have had to look elsewhere,” says the scout. “It’s made it a much more level playing field for players from other parts of the world.”
