That goal is exactly why Newcastle United spent upwards of £10 million on Will Osula after he scored zero goals in 784 Premier League minutes for Sheffield United. Look at the legs, the speed, the run, the finish: they invested in his dynamic profile and flashes of potential. Profile and potential.

21-year-old Ota Yamamoto has started the new J2 LEAGUE season in excellent form on loan at RB Omiya Ardijia, scoring three in three. He is a huge outlier on SkillCorner data and, back in January, Jake Entwistle earmarked him for a move to the Championship. He should be on shortlists this summer.

Volume I is our first digital-only magazine of 2026. It includes 23,000 words on the future football, with features on Morocco and Yan Diomandé, plus analysis of Jérémy Jacquet, Johan Manzambi and more. It's available to download on your PC, phone or tablet right now, right here: bit.ly/4qGaB2z

The A-League used to prioritise veterans on big wages to boost international profile. Now, many of its clubs are turning more and more to home-grown prospects to play, develop and sell on for profit. Jake Entwistle has used SkillCorner data to pinpoint the next batch set for bigger, better things.

2013: Antoine Griezmann at Real Sociedad.

Senne Lammens deserves huge plaudits after that performance. Dealt with everything with relative calm and ease: clean catches and firm punches, taking responsibility under extreme and agitating pressure. Only saw him whinge once about those corner scrums. Unflappable.

Benjamin Šeško: very tall and very fast.

Watch out for Tawfik Bentayeb. He reclaimed his place as top scorer in Ligue 2 this season with a brace against Pau on the weekend, including this last-minute leap to head in the winner in Troyes' 4-3 victory. A 24-year-old Moroccan striker with great striker's instincts.

Elliot Anderson is everything, and everywhere, and all at once. Proper midfielder.

On Thursday, 18-year-old winger Bryan Zamblé became the first player to move directly from the Right to Dream academy in Ghana to San Diego FC, their newest club. On Saturday, he scored four minutes into his debut with his first touch in MLS. Another significant milestone for a unique model.

Ayyoub Bouaddi continues at right-back.

As soon as I watched Johan Manzambi, he became one of my favourite players. I love midfielders that contribute to every phase of play – from press-killing dribbling to sneaky box-crashing, and everything else between the boxes – and the Swiss is one of them. You will hear a lot more about him.

This Club Brugge squad from 2021 is one of our favourite UEFA Youth League teams ever, a proper side that went toe-to-toe with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to reach the knockout stages—and its 'hit rate' is remarkable. First teamers, top-flight regulars, and over €50 million in sales.

Still find it a bit perplexing that Stuttgart had a free run, more or less, at getting Bilal El Khannouss for €22 million last summer.

Volume I is our first digital-only magazine of 2026. It includes 23,000 words on the future football, with features on Morocco and Yan Diomandé, plus analysis of Jérémy Jacquet, Johan Manzambi and more. It's available to download on your PC, phone or tablet right now, right here: bit.ly/4qGaB2z

The best thing about football is the breadth and depth of talent. There is always another player ready to come through; there will always be alternatives and newcomers to that one player which everyone is fixated on. Talent is everywhere, at every level. Go and find it.

This is 18-year-old Thiago Pitarch Another highly-rated product of La Fábrica, he made his debut for Real Madrid in their Champions League match against Benfica. A high-energy connector that plays with zip beetween lines or at the base; a Spain U-20 international with Moroccan heritage. Keep tabs.

Marli Salmon is just a very impressive defensive prospect. Clear similarities to William Saliba in that everything he does has that calming sense of composure and connection: smooth in his movements, assertive in challenges, rock-solid on the ball. Extremely controlled and grounded.

Johan Manzambi is a proper midfielder. By 'proper midfielder', Llew Davies means a midfielder who can do everything – and the Swiss midfielder can do everything. The 20-year-old's do-it-all skillset will have clubs shuffling their transfer agendas already. Find out more in Volume I: bit.ly/4anAvDm

Very proud to have put together SCOUTED: Volume I, our first digital magazine of 2026, along with Tom and Jake. Plenty of hard work put into it, and the product speaks for itself. If you want to get ahead of the curve on the future of football, make sure to download Volume I.

Chelsea against Manchester City in the FA Youth Cup last week featured the sons of Emile Heskey, Chris Samba, Emmanuel Eboué and Ben Watson. Plenty of Barclays 'eritage right there.

Very late to the party, but my point stands - nobody does it like @scoutedftbl.com. What Tom, Jake and Llew are continuing to create with minimal resources (and in a rapidly changing media landscape) never ceases to amaze me. Please consider supporting and downloading great work.

Ayyoub Bouaddi played as a right-back yesterday, and Mikel Arteta has put him at the top of his summer wishlist this morning.

Berserker: The Morgan Rogers Archetype A powerful runner that can obliterate defensive lines. The Berserker combines destructive carrying through central areas with unstoppable momentum and frenzied passing. Read for free online or download Volume I to keep forever. Go berserk: bit.ly/4qGaB2z

Here it is: Volume I, our first digital magazine of 2026. 23,000 words on the future of football, yours to download and keep on your computer, phone or tablet. All stories have been published individually online, so you can read each at your own pace. We hope you love it: bit.ly/4qGaB2z

After the likes of Kuryu Matuski, Kota Takai and Rion Ichihara, the next player we want you to keep tabs on as the new J.LEAGUE seasons kick off is Yotaro Nakajima at Sanfrecce Hiroshima. He should have a breakout year, as long as he stays healthy, and would be a good Kodai Sano replacement.

The duality of Bournemouth's Rayan. Against Everton, he cracked a couple of long-range pot shots off – both blocked a yard away – then arrived at the back post for a headed goal. His explosive left foot is a highlight maker, but his ability to crash good areas in the box is the ceiling raiser.

17-year-old Anísio Cabral has scored two goals in 20 minutes for Benfica across his first three senior appearances. Both were good headers, which has yielded comparisons to Didier Drogba from José Mourinho. Pump the brakes on them a bit, but he is an exciting centre-forward prospect.

Mohamed Kader Meïté went viral last September with a pin-rip-and-spin move as he powered Stade Rennais to a comeback win. It was a match-winning cameo showcased why the teenager is the "the most exciting centre-forward prospect in Europe" right now. Llew Davies analysed it, action by action.

Thierno Barry. Darting across the front of a centre-back for a near-post finish. Proper centre-forward.

Could we interest Liverpool in Dayann Methalie?

Whichever clubs spends upwards of €20 million to sign Sidiki Chérif must do everything they can to put him in situations that make the most of his skillset: big spaces, fast breaks, isolated defenders, channels to curl and carry into. If they do that, the upsides are huge.

This was a nice little movement by RB Leipzig's Rômulo Cardoso to score against FC Bayern last weekend. The timing of it is the key: he hangs out when the defender has eyes on him, then darts across once the defender locks onto the ball. The type of run that makes for a good striker.

Nico Paz is very good. A player out of time, the Como creator is even better than you think, as Ashwin Raman deconstructed last summer.

Aerial Duels is a metric that needs a lot of visual context. We've often watched players who have high success rates that aren't as dominant in the air as the data suggests, and others that have low(er) success rates who are better in the air than the data suggests.

Manex Lozano is a young centre-forward to keep tabs on. 18 years old, graduate of the Athletic Club academy, now on loan at Racing Santander in the Segunda División. He's tall, quick, makes sniping runs off the shoulder, brings others into play, and is an explosive ball-striker. Catches the eye.

Nine of Everton’s starting XI against Aston Villa are six foot or taller. It includes 6’6” Jake O’Brien, 6’5” Thierno Barry as the centre-forward, plus 6’3” Merlin Röhl and 6’2” teenager Harrison Armstrong in midfield. David Moyes’ Jumbo Package.

Arnaud Kalimuendo is going to have lots of fun with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.

Mohamed Kader Meïté must not be allowed to go to Saudi Arabia. We must come together as a football community and make sure that transfer never happens. Mobilise!

Since last summer, table-topping Hearts have signed 14 players from 12 different countries – including Kazakhstan, Estonia, Iceland and Montenegro – at an average age of 23.4 years old. Tell me Tony Bloom has invested in Hearts without telling me Tony Bloom has invested in Hearts.

My new long-read is out. Something for everybody: "the next five actions," the hidden layers of football athleticism, what happened against Liverpool, the new midfield geometry, box arrivals, promising Eze undercurrents, fresh defensive tweaks, and the Return of the Kai.

Go watch clips of Sidiki Chérif and you'll see a teenager that carries attacks by himself. Feed him in isolation and watch him cause chaos, driving at scrambled defences, burning past slower defenders, cracking shots off at the end. His skillset is tailor-made for the rock-and-roll Bundesliga.

Why doesn't Pablo Barrios get more attention?

It doesn't get much more Royale Union Saint-Gilloise than signing Massiré Sylla, a 21-year-old, 6'5" Senegalese centre-back from the Norwegian second division for €1.5 million after a breakthrough season in which he won the Young Player of the Year award. Always niche.

Our favourite moment of the FA Cup weekend may well be 22-year-old Lamine Cissé absolutely walloping a bouncing ball into the top corner from 25 yards for Stoke City to beat Coventry City in the last knockings of their match. It was his first goal in English football. Magic.

Aston Villa and Brentford have paid a combined €22 million on teenage centre-forwards that have played a combined total of 349 first-team minutes in their senior career this January. That's a good example of the financial firepower of Premier League clubs.

SCOUTED is changing in 2026. Let us walk you through our exciting new direction as we enter an exciting new year.

Ridiculous to think that Lamine Yamal is only 18 years old. What an absolute freak.