Today is the last day to back Best Eleven, a unique football board game that looks like a lot of fun from our friend and collaborator Matthew Shipley. Give it your backing. Independent football media, forever.

We're collating all the votes for the upcoming SCOUTED50 release. Here are some interesting statistics: ▫️A total of 32 voters (so far) ▫️15 different players voted as #1 ▫️One player received nine #1 votes ▫️Only five players received 0 votes This year's list is a really, really good one.

As an alternative to the Ballon d'Or ceremony, learn more about Can Uzun and Nicolò Tresoldi before the latest download statistical standouts, including the No.1 MLS SuperDraft pick.

Wolves' Fer López showcased his excellent weight of pass for his first Premier League assist: a deft bump-and-run ball, first time off the set from Tolu Arokodare, into the path of Krejčí's third-man run from deep to finish with his first touch. One of his outstanding skills. Quality.

Divine Mukasa is making the subs' bench for Manchester City every week now. He was an emerging prospect we were really keen to see what was planned for them this season—and it looks like plenty of first team involvements and some minutes here and there. Top-level talent with a dynamic skillset.

Stade Rennais' Mohamed Kader Meïté is maybe the most exciting centre-forward prospect in football right now. A jumbo-sized, 17-year-old striker that can do almost everything at the point of attack, his match-winning impact on Sunday night proved it. It went viral; I analysed it play by play.

Mohamed Kader Meïté went viral for one clip in a 21-minute cameo last weekend. Watch it in full and you'll be even more excited about the 17-year-old Stade Rennais centre-forward, one of the most exciting in Europe and symbol of the jumbo-sized striker. Llew Davies has analysed it, play by play.

Remember that period of time when Barcelona and Spain used Pedri has a low-touch, off-the-ball, box-crashing number ten? Thank fuck that period is over.

Get ahead of the curve by watching Club Brugge against Monaco in the #UCL. Loads of exciting talent across the pitch, many of which will be playing at this level for a long time. It is the type of match you will recall in five years time (and beyond) for the players you saw before most others did.

The future, coming soon. Watch this space.

Paris Saint-Germain's goalkeeper in their UEFA Youth League opener is a French 17-year-old called Martin James. He sounds more like a retired full-back that had a middling career in League One and six caps for Wales.

▫️ 1.98m Nick Woltemade ▫️ 1.94m Tim Kleindienst ▫️ 1.93m Kai Havertz ▫️ 1.93m Phil Harres ▫️ 1.91m Nelson Weiper Using SkillCorner data and a spawn of Big German Forwards, Jake Entwistle shows there are multiple ways a massive number nine can use their jumbo frame.

Arsenal would be very happy with Cristhian Mosquera thus far had he cost €45 million, let alone €15 million.

The scorer of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise's first-ever goal in the UEFA Champions League is Promise David, a Canadian-Nigerian striker signed from Estonia for €600,000 that previously played in Canada, Croatia, USA and Malta. He embodies the process that has got them back to the pinnacle of Europe.

Tonight, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise play their first-ever UEFA Champions League match. Two years ago, Joe Donnohue visited Brussels to find out how one of Belgium's grand old clubs built back from almsot complete ruin to become one of the most innovative, efficient and successful in Europe.

Introducing 17-year-old Manex Lozano. He scored twice for Athletic Club in their UEFA Youth League opener and took twice as many shots as he played passes. Tall and fast, constant threat with driving, direct runs into space behind the Arsenal defence, which fits our Power Forward archetype.

We're 45 minutes into the new UEFA Youth League season and Selton Sánchez (2007) has been outstanding for Athletic Club against Arsenal. Basque-Brazilian, dynamic mover in midfield, contributing to every phase and playing with a smoothness and a swagger. New one for us—and we like him a lot.

Against Nottingham Forest, Noni Madueke became the first Arsenal player to record 5+ Successful Take-ons, 5+ Carries into the Penalty Area and 5+ Key Passes in a single Premier League game since the start of the 2017/18 season. The 10th different player to do so on the @fbref.com database.

In a display of devastating ball-carrying against Nottingham Forest, Noni Madueke did something that no Arsenal player has done in the last eight seasons. Meanwhile, in France, the most exciting centre-forward prospect in Europe destroyed a team that hadn't even conceded a goal.

Sadly, the Summer of SCOUTED is over and Ashwin Raman has left his temporary role on our editorial team. We're proud to have platformed his work this summer. It was a joy to work with one of the sharpest minds in football analytics and bring it to our readers. See it all on SCOUTED: bit.ly/4mdn5wb

David Datro Fofana has just gone out on his fourth loan in the two-and-a-half years since joining Chelsea, this time to Fatih Karagümrük in the Süper Lig. Him (not) moving to one of the talent-developing clubs after his breakout year at Molde is one of our big 'what ifs' of recent times.

▫️ Started hot, then went quite cold ▫️ €50 million move to Real Madrid ▫️ Ghana to the USA, via... Slovakia? ▫️ Four signings for the Saudi Pro League Almost a year on, we've looked back at the Class of 2025 of SCOUTED50, picking out the important stories and key developments from the best prospects.

One of the best deals of the summer was Mainz getting Nelson Weiper to sign a new long-term contract. Tall, mobile, instinctive: the 20-year-old gets all kinds of shots and cracks them off pretty quickly. If you want a young striker to invest stocks in, Weiper is one of our recommendations.

The sons of Emmanuel Eboué and Christopher Samba are currently playing for England U-17s.

How the perfect balance of Spain's midfield, an England 2026 World Cup squad hypothetical, Nick Woltemade's confounding profile and the release of a video game provided clarity for @jakeentwistle.bsky.social on the Archetypes project. All in tonight's Monday Night SCOUTED:

Jens Hjertø-Dahl. Get him on your watchlists.

If Sunderland survive in the Premier League this season, then 22-year-old Robin Roefs will have played a significant role between the sticks—and garnered a lot of big club attention. That's why Llew Davies has him down as one of his favourite transfers of the summer. More on SCOUTED: bit.ly/4gdLb8N

Just caught up with Konstantinos Karetsas' goal-and-assist performance for Greece against Belarus. What a fun little footballer. He's the type of talent people would very happily pay to watch, us included.

Not long ago, everyone was lamenting the death of the dribbler. But now, mazy maestros are back on the menu in a big way—as shown by significant transfer spending at the elite level this summer. Ashwin Raman has explored the multitude of reasons why the profile is making a return.

17-year-old Mason Melia scored twice for Ireland against Moldova to kick off the latest #U21EURO qualifying cycle with a win. A brace on his second U-21 app continues a season that has seen him score 11 goals in ~2,000 minutes for St. Patrick's Athletic. He moves to Tottenham Hotspur in 2026.

The summer transfer window has closed. It was crammed with excitement and nonsense. From Roefs to Rômulo, Llew Davies has delved into his massive spreadsheet of Interesting Transfers to pick out five of his favourite moves across the Big Five Leagues with an eye on the season ahead.

Roger Fernandes is going to Saudi Arabia when he was just getting going in his breakout season at Braga. What a massive shame.

Chelsea sold Ishé Samuels-Smith to Strasbourg in July, only for Chelsea to re-sign Ishé Samuels-Smith from Strasbourg in September and loan him to Swansea. Very normal things are going on here. Move on.

Tonight, on Monday Night SCOUTED: 🌌 A crazy stat that links Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Julio Enciso 🌌 Matias Fernadez-Pardo turns on the afterburners and races to a personal best 🌌 Matìas Soulé drops one of this season's standout displays And much more...

Toulouse signed Jaydee Canvot from AS Bondy in Paris, developed him in their U-19 team for a couple of years, played him in their first time 20 times, and have now sold him to Crystal Palace for upwards of €23 million. The best bit? There's loads more Canvots to come.

At long last, 20-year-old Isaac Babadi makes his first step into senior football with a loan move to Royal Antwerp. He was stuck on the fringe at PSV Eindhoven for too long, caught in limbo between first and B teams. One of the most natural footballers you'll ever see. Watch him in Belgium.

Robin Roefs going to Sunderland for half the price Senne Lammens is going to Manchester United for is another indicator of how good a signing Robin Roefs is for Sunderland. Absolutely convinced it will be one of the consensus 'signings of the summer' come season's end.

Earlier this year, our Editor-in-Chief Tom Curren travelled to Saxony. There, he spent three days inside RB Leipzig, one of football's most pre-eminent football factories, learning about the methodologies that have developed exciting talent and generated huge profit. This is his 6,000 word story.

Newcastle-bound Nick Woltemade had an outstanding #U21EURO, and his superpowers showed in the datapoints. He ranked first for: ▫️ Ball Retentions under Pressure ▫️ Ball Retentions under High Pressure ▫️ Retention Ratio under Pressure What does that mean? Find out more on SCOUTED: bit.ly/3HUa1xL

Arsenal have now been linked to Caleb Yirenkyi...

Wolves are in for Tolu Arokodare. Who is he? Well, he is a great goalscorer who, paradoxically, is a bad finisher. At the same time, as a 6'6" target man, his non-scoring contribution poses immense value. Ashwin Raman wrote about the Nigerian striker's extraordinary skillset recently.

Breaking news reports of one club 'entering talks' about whether or not to 'enter talks' with another club about one of their players. The transfer window is a very weird world.

Mahamadou Doumbia is a name to watch out for in the last week of this transfer window. He's a 21-year-old Malian midfielder that changes the picture, with elusive dribbling and a rocket of a long shot his standout traits. Clubs will want to get ahead of his breakout season at Royal Antwerp.

2008-born Gilberto Mora is already the youngest debutant and the youngest goalscorer in Liga MX history. His recent brace against Guadalajara displayed a sense of anticipation and timing way beyond his years. But there was more to it than those two goals. Read more: scoutedftbl.com/teenagers-ar...

It’s official, teenagers are taking over. Max Dowman and Rio Ngumoha make headlines in the Premier League, French centre-backs wash over Europe, Gilberto Mora bags a brace, Can Uzun breaks out and Air Jon returns. Read about it all. It’s free:

What an incredible moment for 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha. Trusted to come on and win the game, and he does exactly that. Imagine that feeling of slamming the ball in to win it away at St. James' Park. When you talk about unforgettable moments, that is the epitome of one—for everyone.

If Kobbie Mainoo were to leave Manchester United, we would love to see him at Cesc Fàbregas’ Como.

When you think of Cesc Fàbregas’ Como side, you should think of Nico Paz. The Argentine playmaker is a blend of old and new: a top creative talent that presses and challenges, a luxury you needn't overcompensate for. Ashwin Raman deconstructs his brilliance, which is even better than appreciated.

RC Strasbourg beat FC Metz 1-0 in their opening match of the 2025/26 Ligue 1 season. Coached by 41-year-old Liam Rosenior, their starting XI was made up entirely of players born in 2000 or later, the first time that has ever happened in a Big Five League. Its average ag was 20.4 years old.

We were confident that Robin Roefs for £11.5 million was going to be one of the deals of the summer, and we're even more confident after watching his Premier League debut. He makes the difficult look easy, like the great goalkeepers do. Sunderland have got a very good one for present and future.