Five young stars to watch out for at Euro 2024
From Bellingham to Wirtz, the sport’s next generation is eager to stamp its mark in Germany
WHEN the Euro 2024 football championships begin in Munich in a week’s time, everyone will be looking out for the likes of France’s Kylian Mbappe, England’s Harry Kane and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and other established household names.
But these major international tournaments are also where many of the sport’s younger talents tend to make their mark too. Ahead of the big kickoff, BT Weekend puts the spotlight on five rising stars.
Jude Bellingham (England)
There probably has not been this much hype surrounding a young England player since a teenage Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene 20 years ago at Euro 2024.
What a season this has been for Bellingham. The Real Madrid midfielder, who is just three weeks shy of his 21st birthday, helped his club win the Spanish league title and a 15th European Cup.
Bellingham, who netted 19 times for Real and provided an assist in the Champions League final, was just named the best player in La Liga. He is also a frontrunner for the Ballon d’Or. He could turn a great year into an even better one if he can help England win a first major trophy for the first time since 1966.
England will face Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia in their Euro 2024 group.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
Nico Williams (Spain)
This Spanish-born winger with Ghanaian heritage will turn 22 in a month’s time, and he is seen as one of his country’s most promising young talents. His immense pace, dribbling ability and vision on the pitch helped his club Athletic Bilbao end a 40-year trophy drought last season as they won the Copa del Rey in April.
In all, Williams scored five times and had 11 assists in 31 games for Bilbao last season. He has already left quite an impression for the Spanish national team too, with a goal and three assists in four appearances.
Williams has caught the eye of several of Europe’s top teams including Barcelona and Chelsea. His star could be even brighter if he can help Spain to a record fourth European crown. The Spaniards are in the same Euro 2024 group as Italy, Croatia and Albania.
Xavi Simons (Netherlands)
This versatile 21-year-old midfielder, who is currently on loan at RB Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain, has the ability to play in a variety of attacking positions. With the German club he has been deployed as a left-winger, right-winger and an attacking midfielder, doing well no matter where he has been deployed.
Simons netted 10 times and made 15 assists in 43 games for Leipzig in all competitions, with his club finishing fourth in the table, just seven points behind Bayern Munich.
Simons has not opened his goalscoring account for his country yet, but if given the chance by coach Ronald Koeman, he will prove to be a serious attacking threat for any of the Netherlands’ three group opponents (France, Poland and Austria).
Florian Wirtz (Germany)
Bayer Leverkusen dominated all before them in the German Bundesliga this past season, going the entire campaign undefeated for the first time in their history en route to winning the championship. They also scooped up the German Cup and were runners-up in the Europa League, and one young man they have to thank for their success is the Florian Wirtz.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a stellar campaign at Leverkusen under coach Xabi Alonso, scoring a glorious hat-trick against Werder Bremen that sealed the Bundesliga title.
He produced 12 assists in total, a feat that was only bettered by six other players across Europe’s top five leagues. In total, he scored 18 goals and made 20 assists, and German national coach Julian Nagelsmann will be hoping Wirtz can replicate his fine club form for his country at Euro 2024.
Germany will open the tournament against Scotland, followed by group games against Hungary and Switzerland.
Arda Guler (Turkey)
Another Real Madrid young star who has caught the eye over the last 12 months is Turkish midfielder Arda Guler, who has impressed in his first season at the Spanish club after joining on a six-year contract in July 2023.
The 19-year-old has not played as much as he would have liked under Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, but whenever he is on the pitch he normally turns on the style. He scored six goals in 10 league games for Real, needing just 330 minutes of play to do so. This included a brace against Villarreal in an action-packed 4-4 draw last month.
Guler has already earned six caps with Turkey and he scored against Wales in June 2023. His fine form in recent months for Real have pushed him into firm contention for a starting place under national coach Vincenzo Montella.
Turkey are in the same group as Portugal, Georgia and the Czech Republic.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
