With Dowman and de Cat
© TM/Imago
The U17 European Championship has been running since Monday. Numerous hopeful talents will not only fight for the title in the next two weeks in Albania, but will also be able to play in international focus. With the help of its international network, the transfer market takes a closer look at four players, who are predicted in their home countries a great future.
Max Dowman: Arsenal’s offensive jewel on the go
Benjamin Littlemore, Content Manager UK at the transfer market: A few weeks ago, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice described the Gunners-Youngster Max Dowman as “the best 15-year-old in the country”. The 1.83-meter-tall left foot trained the entire season with Mikel Areta’s first team-his Premier League debut only failed because of a rule that this still prohibited him in the current season due to his birth month.
Areta recently honored Dowman as a “big, great talent”. At the age of just 15, he already scored 15 goals in 15 games for the U18 of the Londoners. In 13 games for England’s U17, he has scored four goals so far. Videos of his extraordinary dribbling skills, with which he regularly puts opponents in the shade, his close ball control and excellent conclusion in this country on social media have long been attracted to great attention and the Arsenal fans are very excited about the future potential and the further development of their owner’s plant. At the tournament in Albania, he is definitely a “player to watch” and a personnel that should be remembered.
Nathan de Cat: In Anderlecht at 16 on the way to the first team
Bart Tamsyn, Area Manager Belgium at the transfer market: Nathan de Cat is the only player in the entire selection of Belgium who was allowed to play at the highest level. The RSC Anderlecht even gave him a special permit for this tournament, since it was originally supposed to belong to the squad for the last two match days of the Jupiler Pro League. However, de Cat absolutely wanted to go to the European Championship, and since there was almost nothing at stake for Anderlecht, they agreed. De Cat made his debut for Anderlecht’s first team in February after substitution in the final phase of the Europa League game against Fenerbahçe. He was used six times in the champions play-offs of the highest Belgian league. In the second team of Anderlecht, which plays in the second Belgian league, he has now been promoted to captain despite his young age. He also played four games for the Belgian U19. It is expected to officially belong to the first team next season.
De Cat is a trained defensive midfielder, but can occupy all positions in the center. In the last games at RSCA Futures, he pulled his threads in the offensive center, although the position of the box-to-box midfielder is still the best he is due to his physical qualities. In addition, de Cat can stipulate his direct opponent, which makes it difficult to play in one-on-one situations. The divided most valuable player in the tournament in Albania has a pronounced understanding of the game. He often sees and prevents opposing attacks in the beginning, cuts passlines early and opens up counterattacks with targeted passes. He certainly has air upwards when it comes to speed, which is definitely one of his weaknesses. In addition, he still lacks experience in order to always make the right decision at the right time both defensively and offensive.
Djylian N’Guessan: Among the youngest Ligue-1 professionals in the 21st century
Joachim Durand, Content Manager France at the transfer market: At the age of just 16, Djylian N’Guessan from AS Saint-étienne managed to regularly appear in a crisis and in the relegation battle. His club directly put high expectations in him after signing his first professional contract at the end of November. He was no longer used during the first half of the season, but that changed with the commitment of the Norwegian coach Eirik Horneland at the beginning of the year. From the beginning, the coach also relied on the technical skills and the playful versatility of the youngster and made him the tenthest Ligue-1 professional in the 21st century early on. And N’Guessan demonstrated his great talent at the highest level and brought it to eight missions.
N’Guessan, who contributed a goal to Germany at the start of the tournament at 3-0, is the French talent that you have to have on the radar at the European Championship. A look at his previous statistics in the national jersey speaks volumes: eleven goals in twelve missions, for example, are available for the French U16. Usually the youngster acts as a nine in a 4-4-2 system, but can be used flexibly on the offensive.
Lennart Karl: The “unchangeable” from FC Bayern’s youngsters
Thomas Deterding, head from service at transfermarkt.de: “I really feel like the tournament. Together with the team, I will give everything from the first to last game to bring the title to Germany”, the 17-year-old Lennart Karl illustrated his ambitions to Transfermarkt.de. The performance data of the youngster from FC Bayern Munich in the newly created U17 youth league illustrate why the offensive midfielder is currently one of the country’s greatest young courses: 37 scorers in 17 games. 27 goals, 10 assists. A balance sheet in which you look at first two times before realizing their scope.
Almost inevitable followed with the start of the second half of Karl’s early leap into the U19 of the record champions and also with the professionals, he recently sniffed several times – including the master celebration in the Allianz Arena. “I think he is unequivocable from us,” said the sporting director at the Bayern campus Markus Weinzierl recently about his protégé and Bavaria’s U19 coach Peter Gaydarov explained exclusively to the transfer market: “Lennart is characterized by outstanding technical skills that he continuously developed at a high level. In the course of 2025 Athletic dynamic, but also in his personal development. (Click here for a detailed portrait about Lennart Karl at Transfermarkt.de)
While the youngster was mostly used in the offensive center in the first half of the season, he has also been increasingly over the right side in Bavaria’s U19 in the past few weeks. Karl recorded five scorer points for the U17 national team in the past international game phase for the U17 national team. With seven goals, he led the Europe-wide qualifying scorer list.
His companions in Munich rows describe him as a mixture of Michael Olise and Arjen Robben, who also have nuances of Martin Ødegaard. Against Inter Milan, Karl was already in the premier class in the Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. It remains to be seen whether he will go a similar way to his personally great role model Ødegaard – but Karl is one of the players that you have to have on the slip at the tournament in Albania.