Best Young Football Players To Watch In 2025

In 2025 so far, there has been a large amount of footballing talent on show, with some of the most enjoyable to watch being players at the beginning of their careers. For instance, Chelsea’s Estevao scored a wonderful goal in the Champions League against Barcelona, making it three successive Champions League appearances that he has scored in at the age of just 18.

Another example is Lamine Yamal, who at 18 years old has already made a name for himself and is widely considered one of the best players in the world currently based on his performances for both Barcelona and Spain. These are just two from a large sample of young talent in the game that are all playing at the highest level so early in their careers.

**Who Are The 10 Best Young Footballers In The World? **

Nico O’Reilley

The 2025/26 season so far has been a standout season for Manchester City’s left-back. Since the injury of Rayan Ait Nouri at the beginning of the season, O'Reilly has cemented himself into the starting eleven for Pep Guardiola’s side with his contribution to the side defensively but also by providing 3 goal contributions in 8 Premier League starts.

He has impressed so much that in the November international break, he was called up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad and made his debut against Serbia. If he continues to impress, then O’Reilley could find himself going to the World Cup at the age of 21.

🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Nico O'Reilly has been called up to the England squad for the first time. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Well deserved as he's been excellent for Man City this season. 🦁 pic.twitter.com/ZbamerpECF

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 7, 2025

Kobbie Mainoo

At just 20 years of age, it seems as if Kobbie Mainoo has been in and around the Manchester United squad for quite some time. This is because the midfielder made his debut in the 2022/23 campaign and since then has regularly shown his quality when given the chance to play for the Red Devils.

However, it remains to be seen if he will be a Manchester United player for much longer, as he isn’t favoured currently by manager Ruben Amorim. If Mainoo does find himself available on the transfer market, then he would have a lot of interest in him due to his quality.

Arda Guler

Since signing for Real Madrid in 2023, Arda Güler has been a name talked about often when it comes to young talent in football. The Turkish midfielder caught the eye of Real Madrid when he scored 21 goals in 51 games for Fenerbahçe, and quite rightly so, as since arriving in the Spanish capital, he has played 78 times, and that number could have been higher if it wasn’t for unfortunate injuries.

Warren Zaire-Emery

The Frenchman has come through the ranks at Paris Saint-Germain and recently has found himself as one of the first names on the team sheet. For any 19-year-old, this is impressive, and his performances are made all the more so when you consider he is playing for the Champions of Europe and a team that in recent years has spent a huge amount of money on incoming players. With nine French senior international caps under his belt, he is certainly one of the best youngsters on the planet right now.

Kenan Yildiz

In 2022, Yildiz signed for Juventus as a free agent following on from being released from Bayern Munich, which I’m sure is a heavily regretted decision for the German club. Since his arrival in Turin, he has hit the ground running and has been a very important player for the Italian side over the past couple of seasons. His performances so far this season have earned him the Serie A player of the month award for September, which will almost certainly not be the last time he holds that title.

Kenan Yıldız stats under Igor Tudor:

👕 15 Games
⚽️ 8 Goals
🅰️ 8 Assists

…and that’s more than any other first team coach. pic.twitter.com/38Hk3ImGYC

— Forza Juventus (@ForzaJuveEN) September 19, 2025

Pau Cubarsi

It is well known that in recent years Barcelona have developed a huge amount of young talent from La Masia academy over the years that have been vital to their success. One of these young talents is Pau Cubarsi, who has been an important part of their defence in recent years and at the age of 18 has already made 94 appearances for the Spanish club and 10 appearances for his country. Cubarsi is already considered one of the top centre backs in the world at such a young age.

Dean Huijsen

Now to the other Spanish giant, who also have a young star at centre back playing well beyond his years. Huijsen made a move worth in the region of £50 million from AFC Bournemouth in the summer, following a very impressive season in the Premier League and since the move has established himself in the starting eleven for Xabi Alonso’s side. Spain have themselves a very solid centre-back partnership for years to come!

Estevao

Since arriving at Stamford Bridge in the summer, Estevao has shown his quality, especially in the Champions League, where he, as previously mentioned, has scored in his last three appearances in the competition.

He has also made 11 appearances for Brazil already and his technical ability makes him so enjoyable to watch, as he is so direct with the ball at his feet. It wouldn’t be a shock if his recent performances helped him to get a place in the Premier League starting eleven over either Alejandro Garnacho or Pedro Neto.

🗣 Enzo Maresca: "Estevao is already playing at a high level. He is starting for Brazil. He is very young and for sure he can do many things better.

We are very happy with him. It's nice for people who love football to watch Estevao and Lamine Yamal and Pedri. This is the… pic.twitter.com/u8kgf7gbC2

— Vince™ (@Blue_Footy) November 24, 2025

Desire Doue

There is an abundance of talent in the Paris Saint-Germain squad and one of the best of them is 20-year-old attacker Desire Doue. Since arriving from Rennes in the summer of 2024, the Frenchman has made an instant impact in Paris, providing 29 goal contributions in 54 appearances. Recently his performances have earned him a place in the French national team, which has no shortage of competition, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Doue’s teammates Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola fighting for a place.

Lamine Yamal

It is not every day that a player gets so many comparisons with the greatest of all time, Lionel Messi, which shows how much talent this young winger has. He’s been an integral part of the Barcelona team since he was only 16 years old. Now at the age of 18, he has 119 appearances for the Spanish side and has won two La Liga titles and a European Championship with Spain already. And if that wasn’t enough to show you how much talent he has, he was the runner-up for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, which is astonishing at such a young age.

Lamine Yamal is the only player in Europe's top five leagues to complete 200+ take-ons since the start of last season. ⚡

His LaLiga stats since 2024/25:

◎ 338 touches in opp. box
◉ 202 successful take-ons
◎ 81 chances created
◎ 33 big chances created
◎ 19 assists
◎ 13… pic.twitter.com/6usfkhXjkq

— Squawka (@Squawka) November 22, 2025