Update April 2024: In April 2022, we scouted twelve U21 players with our algorithm in this article. In two years, the 8 million market value of the players has become 134 million (+126). Forget #Bitcoin
Marketvalue April 2022 vs April 2024
Our footballytics Data U21 Dreamteam
Young talents who cost little are very demanded on the transfer market.
It's all about discovering them as quickly as possible, because only with two three goals more the market value will explode.
The whole scouting world is hunting for the new and young top talents and dreams of discovering the still unknown and affordable future superstar. Like the popular dream when arriving in Vegas.
Today we take on a special challenge. We scout our U21 pure data selected an data driven Dreamteam .
Framework: Pure data analysis Maximum 21 years old At least 800 minutes of play Region Western Europe Maximum 1Mio current market value on apr 21th 2022 (Source:Transfermarkt)
The 1M limit is a tricky one. More than you think at the beginning. Because with talented and young players the market value explodes quickly. Vinícius Júnior (21y,100Mio), J. Sancho (21y,85 Mio), Pedri (19y, 80 Mio) & Co send their regards.
Of course, we do not want to select only the best players. Because if we select the right players, we will benefit from successfull results and in the medium term also from the hopefully large and positive market value development. In the future, we will keep a close eye on the market value development of our data dream team.
When scouting young players, it is a challenge not only to fall for the obvious talent. But also to see skills that promote the player's further development in the long term, or at least do not stand in the way of it.
Hard #work is a highway lane. #Talent is an additional lane. But #Development is the fast lane
We've set ourselves an ambitious challenge, but it's not hard at all with a smart view of the data. We scout our eleven purely with data without having watched a second of video.
With data driven scouting, you create an initial pre-scouting list or long-list purely based on data. Then you analyze the players on video and continually shorten the list.
Here is our blog about data driven scouting
Process:
We bundle the individual metrics (over 100) into different core competencies.
In doing so, we weight each metric according to what we want.
We have thus developed our own view, our own logic, our own algorithm on the data.
The individual and intelligent weighting is an extremely important point. For example, a central defender at Manchester City needs more passing & playmaking qualities than a dedicated defensive team.
Analyzing the game DNA of your own team is an important starting point in scouting data analysis. Data scouting is about identifying the best players based on performance data.
But the best players are not simply the best players, but the best possible players who also fit your team, your culture and your idea of the game.
With the various data providers you can often find a list of the best players per position. The best center backs, full backs, etc. How this ranking is arrived at and with what metrics and weightings is completely opaque to the clubs. And they can't influence it either.
We have now selected the most important metrics per position according to our taste and weighted them individually per position.
We will also deliberately select very young and talented players. If they make the breakthrough, the market value will develop exponentially.
Now it's time to fill out the footballytics match sheet and announce our selection.
Goalkeeper (GK)
Requirements: Strong reflexes, good penalty area presence, good passing game.
Stefano Turati (20) Reggina Calcio, market value 0,6 Mio
The 188cm tall goalkeeper was trained at Inter and Sassuolo and was loaned to Reggina in Serie B for this season. He played in 21 games and had 8 clean sheets. He has great reflexes and a good save rate with 75%. In addition, he can trigger the play structure excellently. He is in the U21 squad of Italy.
Center Backs (LCB, RCB).
Requirements: strength in defensive duels, Heading strength, Good anticipation and positional play, Few fouls, Good progressive passes, Playmaking qualities.
Lukas Wallner (18) FC Liefering, Market value: 0,35 Mio.
Lukas is 192cm tall and in every respect a top talent with remarkable qualities.
He has captained FC Liefering in the Austrian 2nd division for 17 games this season. He was trained in the Salzburg academy and this season led the U19 Bullen to the UEFA Youth League semi-final against Atletico (Today 22 April 18:00 in Nyon). In addition, he plays in the U21 of his country. No wonder he was given a contract until 2025. He is on the verge of making it to the pros. He has been outstanding defensively and offensively and we are excited to see his continued learning curve at the next level.
Urko González (21) Real Sociedad B, market value: 1 million.
The 189cm tall central defender has played 30 games in the Segunda Division this season. He is a youngster in his own right and was trained in the Real Sociedad academy. He is part of the squad of the Spanish U21. He is solid in defense but shows outstanding qualities especially in forward play. His absolute strengths include his technique on the ball, intelligent forward passing and dribbling forward.
Full Backs (LFB, LWB, RFB, RWB).
Requirements: defensive duels strength, Good passing and progressive passing, Passing into final third and penalty area, Touching the ball in the penalty area.
Marco Pasalic (21) Borussia Dortmund II, Market value: 0,35 Mio.
The 21-year-old wing-back was trained in Hoffenheim and Karlsruhe.
He has played 13 games in the current season with BVB II in the 3rd division, scoring 2 goals. Marco Pasalic is undoubtedly one of the most promising young talents at Borussia Dortmund and has already been able to show himself at the professional level. All the more amazing when you consider that in 2018 he was still working as a sub on the site.
He is an ideal fit as a wing-back, as his qualities lie mainly in the offense. His dribbling is excellent and his progressive runs are impressive. He has unfortunately suffered major injury and is also injured at the moment. If he can recover 100%
we can look forward to attacking football with Marco. Maybe soon with the professionals,
Ian Maatsen (20) Coventry City, market value: 1 Mio.
The 173cm tall and agile outside defender enters 38 game in the Championship season, scoring 3 goals. He was trained in various academies in Holland until Chelsea brought him to the U19 in 2019. Chelsea plans to use him in the U23 next summer for further development. His speed means he can hold his own defensively and offensively. His He can set the scene well offensively and is a danger on the wing with his agility. In addition, he can bring himself well into the conclusion.
Central Midfielders (DM, ZM).
Requirements: Defensive duels strength, many interceptions, Good passing and progressive passing, Playmaking skills, Passes into final third, Dribbling, Assists and finishes goals.
Emil Breivik Molde FK (21), market value 0,8 Mio
This was not a difficult choice for us. He is one of the great talents from Scandinavia. He belongs to Molde who have loaned him in the penultimate season in the 2.Liga. Since last season he back and shows impressive performances. Also the U21 of Norway counts on his services.
Emil has remarkable qualities throughout from back to front. He is strong in tackling, strong in positioning and anticipation, strong in progressive play up front. Once up front he dominates his teammates with intelligent and creative passes into the end or comes to finish himself. Absolute player to watch.
Mats Wieffer (22) Excelsior Rotterdam, market value 0.3 million.
The young defensive midfielder was trained at Twente and moved to Excelsior in the Dutch second division in the summer of 2020. There he has developed magnificently and now shines with top scores in defense and offense. In 33 games he was able to score 4 goals and 5 assists. Tough in duels and in intercepting balls, good dribbler and excellent space winner. Can make excellent use of his teammates.
Another talent to watch.
Note: Mats Wieffer was bought these days from Feyenoord
Exception: central midfield is the only position where we nominate a substitute. Because the CM expressions are very different depending on the game system and from the def/off alignment. That's why we add a talented offensive youngster.
Florent da Silva (19) Villefranche-Beaujolais, market value 0,5 Mio.
The youngster was trained by Olympique Lyon and is now on loan to the 3rd division.
There he has not scored any goals in 10 games, but shows strong values. He is in the squad of the Tricolore U19. Especially his offensive values raise eyebrows. He is among the very best in his league in terms of passing, creativity and offensive threat. We have rarely seen such a consistently strong profile. Lyon will have a lot of fun with him.
Wingers (OW, AM)
Requirements: Dribbling, creative passing, assisting and goal scoring.
Sebastian Jørgensen (21) Silkeborg Market value: 1 million.
The Danish winger and Silkeborg homegrown scored 9 goals in 22 games last Superligaen season. He was recently called up to his country's U21 squad for the European Championship qualifiers. He is a technically skilled and creative winger with strong offensive skills. One of his absolute strengths is making slot passes and getting himself into good finishing positions.
Johan Bakayoko (19) PSV Eindhoven II Market value 0,5 Mio.
The second wing is occupied by a young Belgian talent. He started in his youth with Mechelen and Anderlecht until he moved to the U17 of the PSV academy in the summer of 2020. Johan managed to score 16 goals and 11 assists in 29 games for PSV II in the second division (xA 0.18 p90, xG 0.24 p90). He also scored 3 goals in 9 games with the Belgian U19s. He is a really strong winger who can handle all facets to break through.
Forwards (FW)
Requirements: Get in good shoot position, efficiency in front of goal, set pieces for teammates, heading power, good ball retention.
Thijs Dallinga (21) Excelsior Rotterdam, Market value: 1 Mio.
The 21-year-old Dutch striker has scored 31 goals in 35 games for Excelsior in the second division (xA 0.15 p90, xG 0.7 p90). Dallinga was trained at Emmen and found his way to Excelsior via Groningen. He is also in the Oranje U19 squad. He has all the skills a modern striker must have. He comes with intelligent runs very often and well into the conclusion and shows a strong efficiency. In addition, he can bring his teammates with smart passes well into the conclusion. Defensively he is above average for a center forward. He has all the skills to be successful in the Eredivisie and maybe in a top league.
Dorgeles Nene (19) SV Ried, market value 1 Mio.
The 19-year-old is not particularly tall at 174cm, but can be used very variably in attack. Where he is exceptionally strong as an enforcer or also as a setter. He was discovered by RB Salzburg in Mali and went through the Salzburg academy. He was then loaned out to SV Ried for one season. As of next summer, the loan will end. This season he scored 8 goals and 7 assists in 16 games for Ried (xA 0.24 p90, xG 0.35 p90). Recently he was allowed to make his debut with the national team of Mail. He is on the verge of a breakthrough and has a great future ahead of him.
Summary footballytics U21 data dream team April 21, 2022:
Age average: 20,2
Total market value 8,4 Mio (0.7 Mio. average)
footballytics U21 Data Dreamteam
We are looking forward to seeing how our chosen youngsters develop and whether we will soon be able to see them at an even higher level. The data is promising in any case. All of these players undoubtedly have what it takes to play an important role in top teams in the future.
The advantage of a logic or algorithm based data analysis is that each player gets an individual value depending on his performance and you can compare them directly with each other. This also makes it possible to find players who are undervalued by the market and cost little compared to the others.
We are also curious about the market value development. Because the identification of talents, the further development in the own club and finally the transfer with profit, is the superior strategy of the vast majority of clubs.
Every future has its harbingers, which are visible for a short time in the present. Good scouting means to recognize the harbingers of the future. Also in the data!
Yes, our algorithm would have already found Kaoru Mitoma in the 2020 Kawasaki Frontale in the J1 League
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