Even in an increasingly global game, big summer international tournaments retain their ability to shine a spotlight on emerging new players.
Euro 2024 is no different, and there are some high-profile youngsters who have made an impact at club level who may now be ripe to step up and do the same on the international stage.
Here’s five of the youngsters to keep an eye on if they get time to make a name for themselves for their respective countries out in Germany this summer.
Five young players to look out for at Euro 2024
Warren Zaire-Emery
A homegrown star for Paris Saint-Germain, well-rounded metronomic midfielder Zaire-Emery only turned 18 in March but already has two full international caps and over 70 senior club appearances to his name.
Didier Deschamps insisted after making Zaire-Emery France’s youngest post-war player last year that the teenager has earned his place on merit, saying: “He stays focused on the pitch. He’s a natural.
“When you become an international, it’s another milestone. There are prospects. The demands are higher. Warren, for example, gets a lot of media exposure. If I call him up, it’s not to make a fashion statement. When I select someone, it’s because I’m convinced they have the potential to stay with us.”
Lamine Yamal
The latest sensation through La Masia was just 15 when he made his first outing for Barcelona and barely 16 when he made his debut for Spain last year, and won’t turn 17 until the day before the Euro 2024 final.
Yet he has played a prominent role for Barca this season, claiming seven goals and ten assists in 49 appearances in all competitions, usually playing off the right wing.
Unusually hard-working off the ball for a winger, Spain manager Luis de la Fuentes said: “If he ends up playing in the European Championship, it will be because he is prepared and because he has that special talent of a chosen one.”
Kenan Yildiz
The German-born former Bayern Munich youngster is now a breakthrough star for Juventus and Turkey, and hopes are high that he can help his country get through a competitive group and into the knockout phase for the first time since they reached the semi-finals at Euro 2008.
A 6’2” 19-year-old playmaker with two good feet and an eye both for through balls and for long shots, Yildiz has been gradually introduced to international prominence by national team boss Vincenzo Montella and scored his first goal for Turkey in a friendly victory over Germany in November.
“He has great potential. From now on he will have to get used to a different career and understand how to manage success. The expectations will be different now,” said Montella.
Antonio Silva
The 20 year old centre-back has already been to a major tournament with Portugal, heading out to the 2022 World Cup and becoming the youngest player ever to represent his country at a World Cup.
A composed old-school defender who makes himself very difficult to get past and has great quality on the ball, Silva has been a rock in a Benfica defence that conceded just 28 goals in 34 league games this season.
Roberto Martinez is well-stocked for defensive options, and Silva will compete with Sporting’s Goncalo Inacio to partner Ruben Dias at this summer’s Euros.
Arthur Vermeeren
When Diego Simeone rates you as a defence-minded midfielder, you’re clearly doing something right.
Playing time has been hard to come by for Vermeeren since his January switch from Royal Antwerp to Atletico Madrid, but the Belgian teenager has acknowledged that he was told when he signed that his introduction would be gradual. As Simeone himself put it: “He needs time, patience. We know he’s a good player, and we know we’re going to need him.”
So too might Belgium, who have already given the 19 year old three senior caps. Although he has just three minutes of competitive experience for his country, Vermeered has the ability to shine if he gets the chance with his defensive work rate supplemented by an impressive ability to make things happen in the final third.
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