Group A: Raphael Onyedika – Nigeria – 2001 – DM – Market value: €8 million
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Was once about to move to Italy (Milan was interested), but decided on Belgium and FC Brugge in 2022. Onyedika is a defensive midfielder with great passing qualities and is considered to be very clean and variable. He has strong athleticism to close passing lanes, cover opponents and take over the pressing.
Group A: Karim Konaté – Ivory Coast – 2004 – MS – Market value: €15 million
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The next Salzburg jewel. Konaté can read game situations very well and likes to penetrate the penalty area at speed from the left side. He is dangerous because he has tight ball control and strong decision-making for his age.
Group A: Franculino – Guinea-Bissau – 2004 – MS – Market value: €2.5 million
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His comfort zone is the attack center, where he takes possession of the opponent’s penalty area with his physical presence. Franculino, who trained at Benfica and is now being trained at FC Midtjylland, has the physique to hold onto balls and thus decide the tempo of the attack. Good in one-on-one situations and with long balls.
Group A: Jesús Owono – Equatorial Guinea – 2001 – TW – Market value: €0.2 million
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At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the Deportivo Alavés keeper became a national hero when he saved two penalties and led his team to the quarter-finals – the second-best result in history. His jumping ability and shooting ability are among his strengths, but his running out and positioning in rapidly changing game situations still needs to be improved.
Group B: Ernest Nuamah – Ghana – 2003 – RA – Market value: €18 million
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He came to Olympique Lyon in a detour, but the means to establish himself on the big football stage are clearly there: strong acceleration, sudden evasive maneuvers, a left foot that knows how to inspire and usually finds its target.
Group B: Logan Costa – Cape Verde – 2001 – IV – Market value: €5 million
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Costa is getting better and better at FC Toulouse, who also won the Coupe de France thanks to his brace in the final last year. Timing, ball control and footwork are the foundations of his defensive game. This also includes participation in the game structure. A modern central defender!
Group B: Geny Catamo – Mozambique – 2001 – RA – Market value: €4 million
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Catamo has been promoted at Sporting Lisbon for several years and recently took over the right side of midfield. From there he can cover kilometers, widen the playing field and thus add variety to the basic tactical order.
Group C: Yankuba Minteh – Gambia – 2004 – RA – Market value: €8 million
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Strong legs, confident running control, changes of pace that are hard to beat: the Feyenoord attacker, who is strong with his left foot, can particularly demonstrate his advantages when counterattacking from the right side. If Minteh creates space and doesn’t overdo it with individualism, he has the vision and footballing possibilities to cause a stir in the opponent’s penalty area.
Group C: Christopher Wooh – Cameroon – 2001 – IV – Market value: €6 million
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Where 17-year-old Wilfried Nathan Doualla is the surprise of the Cameroon squad, Wooh can already be considered a permanent bench. His height of 1.91 meters allows the Stade Rennais defender to fearlessly engage in physical duels. He can also strengthen the defensive line when building up the game, is often the goalkeeper’s first pass and loves to play forward.
Group C: Lamine Camara – Senegal – 2004 – ZM – Market value: €4 million
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Camara from FC Metz is only twenty years old, but takes full responsibility in midfield with the confidence of a veteran: he interrupts opposing attacks and builds up his own, understands the game, shifts it or plays classic box-to-box, which is more agile and technically as primarily powerful and dynamic.
Group C: Facinet Conte – Guinea – 2005 – MS – Market value: €0.8 million
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Conte is not yet the first choice in Serhou Guirassy’s team, but the Bastia youngster, born in 2005, has all the tools to be ready when it matters: responsiveness, a built-in radar to scan and occupy empty spaces – with or without the ball -, decision making when the first idea turns out to be wrong. A very aggressive and physically strong striker with many talents that still need to be developed.
Group D: Zito Luvumbo – Angola – 2002 – MS – Market value: €6 million
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Italian football fans and especially Cagliari supporters have come to know and appreciate Luvumbo’s qualities over the past twelve months. If the flexible offensive man manages to tame his instincts and play more in a team-friendly manner when the spaces become narrower, he can have a convincing career thanks to his strong technique, speed and good finishing.
Group D: Farès Chaïbi – Algeria – 2002 – OM – Market value: €15 million
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Physical substance and creativity, the perfect mix for the midfield of the “Desert Foxes”, whose game the Frankfurt player could shape in the coming years. He can play on the outside, on the ten and if necessary even in the center on the eight. The Africa Cup of Nations could be Chaïbi’s opportunity to make his final breakthrough in Algerian football.
Group D: Adamo Nagalo – Burkina Faso – 2002 – IV – Market value: €6 million
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He plays the role of defensive leader with the sass of his age. FC Nordsjaelland’s top talent is fearless when it comes to attacking presses outside of his own area of expertise, often taking risks even after winning the ball back. Nagalo is less precise and physically dominant when taking positions in out-of-possession periods, where he tries to make up for this with intuition.
Group D: Ibrahima Keita – Mauritania – 2001 – RV – Market value: €0.15 million
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Keita is not particularly noticeable on the field, but he knows how to influence his team’s game, provide width and create superior numbers. His football is also useful in set pieces. Defensively, the professional from Congolese club TP Mazembe still finds it a bit difficult to adjust to sudden changes in possession.
Group E: Prins Tjiueza – Namibia – 2002 – LM – Market value: €0.125 million
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For years, Tjiueza has been considered the “next big thing” in his home country, which he left a year and a half ago to play for KF Liria Prizren in Kosovo. A flank runner who can bring a lot of energy to the last 30 meters of the field, even more so if he manages to escape the opponents’ gaze and find space with space in front of him.
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Group E: Anis Slimane – Tunisia – 2002 – ZM – Market value: €2.5 million
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With the 2022 World Cup and experience at various clubs in Europe, Slimane, now at Sheffield United, has changed his game over the past few years. Today he is a proactive midfielder who seamlessly switches from attacking to supporting in high-pressure situations in his own half – serving as a pass-on or helper to his teammates anywhere on the field.
Group E: Dorgeles Nene – Mali – 2002 – MS – Market value: €4 million
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With his small size for a center forward (1.74), Nene likes to rotate around a teammate positioned on the “nine” and/or attack the area in which he can particularly hurt the opponent when they have the ball in the build-up. When it comes to speed and one-on-one skills, he still alternates between good ideas and uncertainties. But he is currently starting to make a name for himself in the Red Bull cosmos – as he did last season in Belgium on loan at KVC Westerlo.
Group E: Kamory Doumbia – Mali – 2003 – OM – Market value: €2 million
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With a four-pack for Stade Brest against Lorient, Doumbia is slowly winning over the critics and is about to revive the Italian saying that there is good wine in small barrels. At just 1.70 meters tall, with slim legs but enviable assertiveness. And then this intelligent look… He perceives the space, gives the pass and delivers it cleanly, precisely into the opponent’s interface.
Group E: Oswin Appollis – South Africa – 2001 – OM – Market value: €0.35 million
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Polokwane City FC’s Appollis is in the spotlight when he has the ball at his feet and can carry it around the field looking for the best trajectory towards goal. Without being endowed with remarkable physicality, he often leaves the densely populated center and takes advantage of the width of the field – always with the attitude of a genius looking for someone to “rub” him instead of reflecting himself in the lamp.
Group F: Bilal El Khannouss – Morocco – 2004 – OM – Market value: €22 million
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A sparkling crystal. KRC Genk’s super talent looks for the ball, tames it with elegance and takes it into spaces that only those with an extraordinary vision can imagine. El Khannouss has the mental and physical strength necessary to compete on the big stage.
Group F: Chadi Riyadh – Morocco – 2003 – IV – Market value: €6 million
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Barcelona raised him and at Betis he shows what he can do. Riad combines the character of a fighter with a mind that can tame impulses and skillfully choose the moment to intervene. Especially when he has to defend a lot of space behind him or correct his own mistakes or those of his teammates. The ability to quickly survey the field and the positioning of the opponents completes the picture of a modern defender.
Group F: Lameck Banda – Zambia – 2001 – LA – Market value: €6 million
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Pantaleo Corvino, one of Italy’s most prolific talent scouts, plucked Banda from Israel and brought him to Lecce, where he found a place in the starting eleven and proved to be the classic disruptive winger. Tight slaloms and dribbling make him a dangerous player, and he would be even more so if he had better decision-making.
Group F: Novatus Miroshi – Tanzania – 2002 – LV – Market value: €0.8 million
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Arriving at Shakhtar Donetsk as a left-back, Miroshi centers his area of influence to take advantage of the calmness in ball handling and the passing lanes he can find. He has some holes to fill in man-to-man play, but he shows the desire and willingness to improve as much as he needs to in order to get a chance in a top league.