3' min
Youth, talent, and future. The Olympic football tournament at Paris 2024 will serve as an important showcase for up-and-coming young talents. There are several players to watch closely at the Olympic Games in the French capital. Some are already known, while others are yet to be discovered, and perhaps, they will soon explode onto the biggest stages of European football.
Let's start our review of the 10 talents to watch, beginning with Thierry Henry's France U23 team, the host nation. Let's focus our attention particularly on the attacking midfielders, where, in addition to the well-known overage player Alexandre Lacazette, Michael Olise and Enzo Millot operate.
Olise, born in 2001, has already been snapped up by Bayern Munich, who paid 53 million euros to sign him from Crystal Palace. Olise had an extraordinary season in the Premier League, scoring 10 goals and providing 6 assists in just 19 league appearances, 14 of which were starts. With Olise, France has an extra gear to achieve the dream of an Olympic Gold medal. Enzo Millot, born in 2002, scored 5 goals and provided 4 assists in 31 Bundesliga appearances with Stuttgart. He is an interesting player with good numbers and one to watch.
Moving on to Spain's Olympic team under Santi Denia, they boast a series of young talents that would make anyone envious. Among these, we highlight two players from Barcelona who, despite their young age, have already played on important stages. Pau Cubarsi, a 2007-born defender, stood out this year with 19 appearances in La Liga and 3 in the Champions League. At 17 years old, Cubarsi earned a starting spot in Barcelona's defense, a significant achievement. Although he wasn't called up by Luis de La Fuente for Euro 2024, he will have the opportunity to shine in Paris. His teammate at Barcelona is Fermin Lopez, an offensive midfielder born in 2003 who scored 8 goals in La Liga in 31 appearances, plus two goals in the Champions League. He struggles to find a place in the national team due to the abundance of talent, but in Paris, he could become the absolute star of La Rojita.
The number 10 for Argentina is Thiago Almada, a talented attacking midfielder born in 2001 who, surprisingly, left MLS (where he played for Atlanta United) to join Botafogo in Brazil. He has 4 caps and one goal with the senior national team. Paraguay relies on the genius and talent of Julio Enciso, a 2004-born attacking midfielder from Brighton (17 caps and one goal with the senior national team), who made a name for himself at the end of the 2022/2023 season.
Watch out for Americans Kevin Paredes, a 2003-born midfielder from Wolfsburg, and Gianluca Busio, a 22-year-old midfielder from Venezia, whom we have already seen in action in both Serie A and Serie B. In Morocco, there is 2004-born attacking midfielder Bilal El Khannouss from Genk (3 goals and 6 assists in the last Belgian championship), a profile being monitored by Lazio and Fiorentina in the transfer market.
We conclude with the striker and captain of the Ukrainian Olympic team, Danylo Sikan. This 2001-born forward, who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk, scored 10 goals and provided 2 assists in 30 league matches. In the Champions League, Sikan netted 4 goals in 6 matches. If any team is looking for a young striker ready to explode, the 23-year-old Ukrainian is the right choice.
