The future of football is Africa. Discovering which clubs and countries are investing and developing talent from it can get teams ahead in the transfer market. Now, Nigeria is quickly becoming the most popular foreign nation in the Czech First League. We used SkillCorner data to find out why.

Ayyoub Bouaddi links to Arsenal are heating up. Last summer, Llew Davies outlined exactly why the Gunners should sign one of the biggest prospects in football to further their revamp of their midfield options this summer. It makes a loads of sense. Read this to find out why: bit.ly/4iCk34q

Real Madrid want a left-back that can play at centre-back? They should check out Diego Aguado.

Savinho to Spurs rumours are kicking up a gear. This time last year, Ashwin Raman argued why the Brazilian winger would be one of the signings of the summer – and it all still applies.

Sporting CP have bought Issa Doumbia for €26 million all in, a big fee for a 22-year-old that has played less than 1,000 minutes of top-flight football – but it has a very good chance of being a shrewd investment in a couple of years. His profile on that platform? That's a launchpad.

No less than 20 of Morocco's 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup were either born in or represented youth teams of other nations. Their active recruitment of their diverse diaspora has elevated the nation to new levels. Find out more in Tiwizi Dreams, an epic Jake Entwistle read in Volume I.

Believe Munongo will be fun to watch in Ligue 2 next season for FC Metz – unless another club snaps him up this summer.

Nico O'Reilly is probably the relevation of the 2025/26 season. His sudden rise to prominence and importance is eblematic of the questions frequently asked in this version of football and its ever-changing midfield. His development is a window to football's future. A SCOUTED essay: bit.ly/4eMdJaQ

Mohamed Kader Meïté has appeared in seven of a possible 22 matches since moving to Al-Hilal in the January transfer window, playing 242 minutes in total.

Our exclusive interview with Adam Wharton. ▫️ Not remembering the FA Cup final ▫️ Moving from Blackburn to London ▫️ Oliver Glasner's all-in mentality ▫️ The mechanics of his scanning ▫️ His obsession for football and sport ▫️ Ability to live life at his own tempo Read now in Volume II: bit.ly/4uHaUwl

The details that defy the data: this is how 19-year-old Eli Junior Kroupi is able to score spectacular goals at the highest levels on a consistent basis.

That is a proper centre-forward run from Morgan Rogers, darting across the front of the defender to crash the near post. Top stuff.

This is your final chance to get Volume II, featuring our exclusive interview with Adam Wharton, in print. Essays and analysis on the future of midfield, all in the first-ever staple-bound SCOUTED magazine. Limited stock available. Grab your copy now: bit.ly/4wCwcx1

Johan Manzambi has those telescopic legs that are effective when winning the ball back: he stretches them in from unusual angles and distances, particularly on chase-downs in transition, and hooks the ball out to often come away with it himself. Handy gadget to have.

Johan Manzambi is starring in a UEFA Europa League final tonight. This is what to expect from one of the silkiest and most exciting players in European football right now.

Victor Froholdt is a player of timing and intensity, an engine who shifts through lines with running, executing simply and reliably, turning work-rate and off-ball power into a tactical advantage. He is a monstrous force, and his arrival signals change. More Monster in Volume II: bit.ly/4umVkq5

One of many things that should be standardised in elite-level football is the recording of players' heights. Too often you have to second guess a player's height, which is obviously wrong, eyeballing it using different players on different camera angles. Impossible task.

Had Wolfsburg not had such a terrible season, a lot more people would be talking about Dženan Pejčinović. His popularity in clubs' recruitment meetings ahead of the summer certainly outstrips his popularity in the public sphere right now.

This is your final chance to get Volume II, featuring our exclusive interview with Adam Wharton, in print. Essays and analysis on the future of midfield, all in the first-ever staple-bound SCOUTED magazine. Limited stock available. Grab your copy now: bit.ly/4wCwcx1

"We’re not thinking about footballers having profiles or skillsets anymore. We’re thinking about them having skillsets within phases." Jake Entwistle and Jon Mackenzie discuss the mysteries of football's enduring centre, and which players will define its future. A SCOUTED essay: bit.ly/4eMdJaQ

A year ago, Adam Wharton played in the biggest match of his young career to date – but he doesn't remember much of it. "I’ve watched a million clips back and I sort of know what happened, but there’s no memory or recollection of the game," he told SCOUTED. Read more in Volume II: bit.ly/4uHaUwl

Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka cost Leeds United a combined £10 million. Excellent transfering.

How important is scanning to Adam Wharton's game? We asked him exactly that in our exclusive interview with him for Volume II., and his answers were an invaluable insight into the processes of an extraordinary passer that is always a step or two ahead on the pitch. Find out more: bit.ly/4uHaUwl

Delighted to work with Scouted again!

Introducing: Volume II., our second magazine of 2026. It features an exclusive interview with Adam Wharton, plus stories on the future of midfield, Kees Smit, Pablo Barrios, Victor Froholdt, and Kennet Eichhorn. Available to pre-order in print and download in digital now. Go get it: bit.ly/4trYabL

Joane Gadou is exactly the type of prospect Borussia Dortmund should be signing. He's the type of prospect that Borussia Dortmund were signing when they were the envy of and example to almost every club in Europe.

Warren Zaïre-Emery is a 20-year-old that has almost 200 senior appearances and won everything and plays like a 32-year-old with over 800 senior appearances that has won everything multiple times. Just built differently, and it was obvious since the first watch.

2009: Ashley Young at Aston Villa.

How good was that header from João Neves last night? Heading the ball has always been one of his outstanding traits since breaking through at Benfica. He might be little but he has a big spring, as well as excellent timing and conviction to get up and attack the ball. We love it.

Mad to think how close Manchester United were to losing Kobbie Mainoo.

The best thing about football is its incredibly nuanced: there are so many different types of athleticism, movements, challenges, passes, dribbles, and so on. A player can be at opposite ends of a skill spectrum that falls under the same catch-all term. The intricacy is endless.

Eli Junior Kroupi is great at scoring goals.

One of the biggest differences between grassroots football and professional-level football is how often (and effectively) players use their arms in countless scenarios for balance, awareness, deception, separation, leverage, disruption, and more. Differential skills to have.

Normal things are happening at Chelsea.

A lovely delivery from SCOUTED HQ.

Real Madrid are 2025/26 UEFA Youth League champions! They win it for the second time in history, beating first-time finalists Club Brugge, becoming one of only three clubs to win the competition on multiple occasions and the first to win the final after a penalty shootout. La Fábrica does it again.

Hayden Hackney is the EFL Championship Player of the Season, his reward for another strong campaign at the heart of the Middlesbrough midfield. The 23-year-old progresses the ball in his sleep, the type of playmaking midfielder that can drive games. Read Ashwin's analysis: bit.ly/4l2WYYg

Club Brugge are in this season's UEFA Youth League final by beating Benfica in the semi-final, after beating Atalanta, Bayern München, Barcelona, Arsenal, Monaco (twice) and Atlético Madrid earlier in the competition. Big achievement for a club investing loads into its high-performing academy.

We think the upcoming transfer window will be the sell-cheaper-to-buy-back-later summer. Recent examples like Nico Paz and Kerim Alajbegović have proven the concept works, and more and more clubs on both sides of deals will prefer this method rather than the simple straight-up loan.

Michael Olise and Ademola Lookman: from starting out in the Championship to scoring their way into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

MICHAEL AKPOVIE OLISE.

What defines the Belgian Pro League? We'd say it's diverse and youthful recruitment. Most top-flight Belgian clubs continually find undervalued young talent from every corner of the world, sign, develop, then sell them on for significant profit. Llew Davies highlights why and how they do it.

Just watched NEC Nijmegen 1-1 Feyenoord back from the weekend, an exciting match between two sides battling each other to get into the UEFA Champions League. Our biggest takeaway? Feyenoord could have done with Kodai Sano in their midfield. He shouldn't be in the Eredivisie next season.

Joan García is very good, and it was very obvious that he was very good while he was at Espanyol. A proper slam dunk signing for Barcelona.

18-year-old Shim Mheuka has scored 23 goals in PL2 and the UEFA Youth League for Chelsea this season but only featured in the first-team matchday squad five times, playing 31 minutes across three appearances. Why has Marc Guiu had more opportunities than Mheuka has had?

Even in their temporary scaffold stadium in the middle of a car park on the outskirts of the city, Real Zaragoza still have the iconic four-metre-deep goal nets from La Romareda. Touch of class.

A big tick Vincent Kompany gets at FC Bayern München is the opportunity he offers to academy players. There has been a big effort to provide debuts this season, which will only be of various benefit. Their dominance is a factor, but how many coaches in his position would do the same?

Nico Paz is a blend of old and new, offering creative quality while contributing to pressing and off-ball work. He’s a chocolate glazed doughnut you don’t need to add an extra mile to your morning jog to compensate for, as Ashwin Raman underlined last summer.

19-year-old Andrés Antañón gets his first LaLiga start today. Born in Vigo, an important B team player and Spanish youth international, and another graduate of an excellent RC Celta academy with clear pathways into first-team football under Claudio Giráldez. One to follow for the future.