Best young player at the World Cup 2022
By Charlie Dyke
As we enter the 2022 world cup I have a look at some of the most exciting young talents who will be playing their first world cup. There is a lot of new talent that will be hoping to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage of football.
Name: Aurelien Tchouameni
Team: France
Age: 22
Position CDM
Number: 8
There was a great deal of interest in Aurelien Tchouameni during this summer transfer window. The reigning champions league winners Real Madrid signed him after two impressive years at Monaco. To secure the 6ft 2 defensive midfielder, Los Blancos paid a hefty price. The price was reportedly around £70 million pounds, but it could rise to over £100 million. During his youth career, Tchouameni played for FC Girondins Bordeaux Youth team and then got called up to the under-17 teams of Bordeaux. Finally, he made his senior debut in a UEFA Europa League win over Latvian side Ventspils. After leaving Bordeaux, he joined Monaco, where he played 74 times and scored 5 goals.
Upon arriving at Real Madrid, he already had big shoes to fill after Casemiro left in the same transfer window. In a press conference, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said this about Tchouameni arrival “In terms of arrivals with the signing of Tchouaméni and we never thought about signing other players.” Since joining the side, he has made 11 starts and gotten two assists. All year long, Didier Deschamps has praised Aurelien Tchouameni by saying, “Aurelien has everything, even if he’s still young. Beyond everything, he’s capable of doing on the pitch, in his head, he is made for that too”. It is Tchouameni's ambition to help his country retain its title as the best nation in the world.
Name: Jude Bellingham
Team: England
Age: 19
Position: Midfielder
Number: 22
Jude Bellingham will be one of the most sought-after players entering the 2022 transfer window. Having scored four goals in four Champions League matches for Borussia Dortmund so far this season, Bellingham is off to a strong start in 2022. He began playing football for Stourbridge Football Club, a team located in the Southern League Premier Division Central. He joined Birmingham's youth team when he was 8 years old where he excelled and improved greatly. At 14, he played for the under 18s, and at 15, he made his debut for the under 23s. The 16-year-old Bellingham went on to become the youngest first-team player in league history at the age of 16 and 38 days, breaking the previous record by 101 days.
It was not long before big European clubs wanted him in their team, and eventually, he joined Dortmund for around £20 million. This is the record transfer fee for a 17-year-old and played 46 times for the club in his debut season. In his debate session for the germen side, he set the record for the youngest player to score a goal. Since the start of the season, he has started all 15 games for Dortmund and has been their captain. He made four appearances for his country in the qualification process for the world cup, bringing his total appearance for his country to 17. At the world cup, he will be hoping to play a much bigger role for England than he did at the Euros.