The next generation list of 2014 has turned out to be a mix of world treaties and overwhelming products, with a collection of players born in 1997 originally tipped for the top
Spotting the crème of the crop in football is one thing, but pulling out the next sensation is a completely different ball game. Every season is in a new wave of potential superstars, but only a select number of pressure really their mark.
It is more than 10 years since the Guardian released his next generation of class of 2014 and presented what was considered 40 of the world's top perspectives born in 1997. Fast forward to today, and the residence of these once praised wonders painting a diverse carpet.
Some have indeed realized the hype, while others unfortunately are driven out of the spotlights, and some are even hung all their boots. Mirror Football visits the list again to see how this hopeful it has done over the years and where they are today.
The commitment is Ousmane Dembele, who played an important role in the long-awaited Champions League triumph of Paris Saint-Germain this season. Under the leadership of Luis Enrique, PSG achieved an unprecedented Treble, in which Dembele earned a lot of praise and a separate balloon d'Or tip from his manager.
“I would give the Ballon d'Or to Ousmane Dembele for the way he defended in this final,” he said about the World Cup champion 2018, those two assists in PSG's emphatic 5-0 win over Inter Milan. “That is what you call that a team leads.
“I sincerely believe that he earns the balloon, without a doubt, not only for the titles he won or the goals he scored, but for his urgent. He did it all season, but exceptionally in this final.”
No one else from the next Gen Stars 2014 is rather similar to the Frenchman, who has passed the turbulent times in Barcelona, where he won La Liga three times. Nevertheless, players such as Youri Tielemans and Dominic Solanke have carved their own remarkable career, with the last recently securing the Europa League trophy after beating Manchester United.
Tielemans, once a miracle member in Andersht, is praised as one of the smartest acquisitions of Aston Villa in the recent memory and is now an integral part of the Unai Emery team. Solanke, on the other hand, defended Underwhelming spells in Chelsea and Liverpool to really break through in Bournemouth before Spurs sealed a club record £ 55 million transfer last summer.
Two talents that appeared on the Guardian list are now as teammates on the Saudi side Al-Hilal, who welcomed both Ruben Neves and Malcom in the summer of 2023. The duo, who came from Wolves and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively, cost a HILL £ 100 million respectively and won the Saudi Pro League in their debut season.
Among the other well -known names on the list are former West Ham -midfielder Nikola Vlasic (now at Torino), Flamengo's Gerson, Bournemouth Striker Eses Unal and AC Milans Luka Jovic. However, not every young star who tipped for greatness 11 years ago has seen their career as planned.
Ex-Boca Juniors Prodigy Guido Vadala was once named the best young player in Argentina and had Stints in Barcelona and Juventus in his teenage years. But today he became somewhat a travel man in South America and is now playing for Bolivian outfit Blooming.
South Korean SEO Jung-Hyun was part of the Poang Steelers team that triumphed in the VAE in Manchester City during a tournament in the VAE in 2014.
The most tragic story from the 2014 class, however, is that Van Abdelhak 'Appie' Nouri, who made a name for the first team of Ajax when he experienced a cardiac arrest in July 2017. His life was irrevocably changed because he was forced to retire with permanent brain damage.
He now tries to increase the consciousness of heart -related problems in football through his foundation, which aims to install Defibrillators in Stadiums worldwide.
Full list of the next generation 2014 and where they are now
1. Daniel de Silva (MacArthur FC, Australia)
2. Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa, England)
3. Alveiro Sanchez (retired in 2019)
4. Malcom (Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia)
5. Ousmane Dembele (PSG, France)
6. Bozhidar Kraev (Western Sydney Wanderers, Australia)
7. Gerson (Flamengo, Brazil)
8. Dominic Solanke (Tottenham, England)
9. Ante Coric (Varazdin, Croatia)
10. Mikkel Duelund (Aarhus, Denmark)
11. Li Zhongyi (Qinghai Kunlun, China)
12. Guido Vadala (Blooming, Bolivia)
13. Jean-Kevin Augustin (Motor Lublin, Poland)
14. Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig, Germany)
15. Federico Bonnazzoli (Cremonese, Italy)
16. Lazaros Lamprou (Rakow, Poland)
17. Maxime Lopez (Paris FC, France)
18. Nikola Vlasic (Torino, Italy)
19. Benedikt Gimber (Heidenheim, Germany)
20. Ryan Ledson (Huddersfield Town, England)
21. Abdelhak Nouri (retired for health in 2017)
22. Daisuke Sakai (PSM Makassar, Indonesia)
23. Erick Aguirre (Monterrey, Mexico)
24. Sander Svendsen (Viking, Norway)
25. Jari Schuurman (Dordrecht, the Netherlands)
26. Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal, Saudi Arabia)
27. Cristian Manea (Rapid Bucuresti, Romania)
28. Luka Jovic (AC Milan, Italy)
29. Dawid Kownacki (Werder Bremen, Germany)
30. Timur Zhamaletdinov (Znamya Truda, Russia)
31. Irfan bin Fandi Ahmad (Port, Thailand)
32. Adrian Marin (Braga, Portugal)
33. SEO Jung-Hyun (retired in 2019)
34. Fagrie Lakay (Cleopatra, Egypt)
35. YELLEN ARELLANO (retired in 2019)
36. Es Unal (Bournemouth, England)
37. Erik Andersson (Orebro, Sweden)
38. Phan Thanh Hau (Quang Nam, Vietnam)
39. Erik Palmer-Brown (Panathinaikos, Greece)
40. Ferran Sarsanedas (Prat, Spain)