Unconsciously, we have entered 2022, time has flown by, and the world football world is constantly changing, both the farewell of generations of veterans and the birth of a batch of geniuses
Let's turn the clock back to 2016, when the major media selected a lineup of the world's strongest under-18 players that year, commonly known as U18. Now that six years have passed, have these 11 players developed to meet expectations?
Goalkeeper: Donnarumma (AC Milan Paris Saint-Germain)
As the best of the young goalkeepers, Donnarumma has a bad reputation, but his strength is absolutely unquestionable. In 2016, at the age of 17, Donnarumma was already the main goalkeeper in AC Milan, and it was also in that season that Donnarumma won the Italian Super Cup with the team; now, after breaking up with Milan, Donnarumma landed in Ligue 1 as a European Cup champion and joined Paris, and it is not surprising that it is only a matter of time before Donnarumma becomes the world's first goalkeeper in the future
Defence: Tierney (Celtic Arsenal) & Oxford (West Ham United Augsburg) & Joe Gomez (Liverpool Liverpool) & Mania (Real Muskron Elite Cluge)
For defenders, there are not many young celebrities, and unlike midfielders, players in the defensive line need to have enough game experience to grow into top defenders
Among the above four, the current left-back Tierney is a player whose growth and development are more in line with expectations, becoming famous in the Celtics, being selected for the Scottish national team at the age of 18, and after joining Arsenal for 27 million euros in 2019, he has gradually become the team's most trusted left-sided defender
In contrast, Oxford and Gomez are not so "contentious", the two were originally pinned on high hopes, and once hailed as England's main centre-back partner in the next decade, and now, Oxford has been sold to Augsburg, Gomez has become a substitute in Liverpool, although the strength of the two is still there, but there is a gap with the outside world
As for right-back Mania, the future star who has been selected for the Romanian national team of all ages as a main defender and has been regarded by a number of European powerhouses, including Roma, is still far away from the five major leagues, and his value is only 2.7 million euros
Midfielder: Renato Sanchez (Bayern Lille) & Ruben Neves (Porto Wolves) & Tillermans (Anderlecht Leicester City)
To say that the hottest young player in 2016, there is no doubt that the Portuguese rising star Renato Sanchez, as the main midfielder to help Portugal win, won the annual Golden Boy Award, 20 million high price to land on Bayern, it may be because of such a smooth start that Sanchez gradually lost, there were not many opportunities in the Bayern period and did not play well, but now Sanchez, who has switched to Lille, has gradually found his former aura and become an excellent midfielder in football again
Neves and Tillermans are similar, both young and famous, but they are also young, and both have even become captains of Porto and Anderlecht at a young age. Now in the Premier League, Neves' value has risen to 40 million euros, and Tillermans's value has reached 55 million euros, and both are likely to land in the giants this summer
Striker: Kylian Mbappe (Paris, Monaco) & Sorank (Wittes Bournemouth) & Erdegaard (Real Arsenal)
Needless to say, as the top star of today's first value, Mbappe has been regarded as the leader of the future football, in 2016, Mbappe in Monaco came out, scoring 26 goals in a single season to shock the world, after which Mbappe has won a series of honors such as the Golden Boy Award, the Kopa Award, the Ligue 1 Golden Boot, the Ligue 1 championship, the European League championship, the World Cup champion, etc., and the future is unlimited
In the youth team, Sorank can be described as a big killer, invincible in all competitions, countless goals, Chelsea and Liverpool two giants attach great importance to it, but the reality is that Solank's growth rate is too slow, but this season at Bournemouth Solanque has scored 27 goals so far, is currently the most outstanding striker in the Championship
Erdegaard was once a very optimistic top demon star, and he regarded it as the new owner of the future Bernabeu, but his development was really lower than Real Madrid's expectations, and in the summer window last year, Arsenal signed Erdegaard for 35 million euros, where the Norwegian genius wearing the number 8 gradually caught up with himself who had been pinned high hopes