5 treats from Under 21 European Championship

Since 24 March, the Under-21 European Championships have been taking place in some stadiums in Slovenia and Hungary, to which all the best teams on the continent have qualified. Italy, Spain, England, France, Portugal and Germany are challenging each other in 4 different groups along with Croatia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The final is scheduled for June 5 in Ljubljana, in the new Stožice Stadium. 

Italy started their journey in Group B with two draws against the Czech Republic and Spain (and three expulsions), but also for The Azzurri fans, this tournament is an opportunity to inquire and look at the talents of the future of European football. As much as there are great players on the pitch from top clubs (Puig and Mingueza from Barcelona, Smith-Rowe from Arsenal, Szoboszlai from Leipzig), the most interesting are perhaps the niche players, young and very young who have not yet been included in great European football. But through these matches, they can build a nice showcase. 

Isak Bergmann Johannesson (Iceland)

The big teams followed him throughout 2020. Isak Bergmann Johannesson is a central Icelandic midfielder for IFK Norrkoping, Sweden's top national tournament. Johanneson is a 2002-class attacking midfielder, and at the European Championship, so far, he has played three games and closed an assist. Iceland's new football talent - after Guðjohnsen, son of the former Barcelona striker - has a very precise left-hander; it also moves in amplitude over the entire space of the trequarti, with a good dribble and a great physique that favor it in head contrasts. In addition to his good performance in the Swedish league (albeit with the team in the middle of the table) he is also said to have attracted observers from all over Europe: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool and even Atalanta. 

Youssef Moukoko (Germany)

He was the youngest goalscorer and the youngest rookie in Bundesliga history. Moukoko is one of the most hyped players of the whole under-21 tournament, thanks not only to his young biography, but also to the qualities he showed. Very fast, predatory instinct inside the penalty area. As much as the myth of the young enfant prodige is growing, moukoko is actually really very strong, even beyond rhetoric. It represents not only a reference on the ground, but also a resole on the social situation in Germany. Like many who preceded him, Moukoko is a third-generation German, the son of an advanced integration and who has always seen him protagonist of the national youth teams. At the age of 16 with Borussia Dortmund he has already scored 3 goals (in 14 games): if he were to set fire to the European Championship, would an auction already be unleashed for a 2004?

Brian Brobbey (Netherlands)

If Leipzig have invested in Brian Brobbey the reasons to believe that he is one of the best talents in European football there are all. Physical, speed and above all 79 goals in 94 in the youth teams of Ajax, a club with which he played before moving to the Bundesliga. Brobbey is a 2022 and is considered in the Netherlands the future of the Dutch national team, a figure around which to build a technical project. According to many, due to the physical structure and instinct of the goal, it is considered by many to be the new Lukaku, and perhaps he will prove it both in recent weeks at the European Championship (where he has not yet scored) and next season with Leipzig, who bought him from Ajax thanks to a blow from his prosecutor. Mino Raiola.  

Japhet Tanganga (England)

To those who have seen All Or Nothing, Tanganga's name is not new. The Tottenham central defender has appeared in Amazon's docuserie about Spurs, and his popularity, should he continue with the performances of the youth teams, will continue to grow. Central 1.84 tall, he is skilled in marking and also in dribbling. You know how to detach well and it is in general a modern central, which with the Inghlterra under 21 - therefore with more space and confidence in playing - you allow a lot of throws and ball outs to the foot. Of the national team coached by Boothroyd he is one of the most promising along with his well-known colleagues Callum Hodson-Odoi and Emil Smith-Rowe.  

Adrien Truffert (France)

Born in Belgium but of National French, Adrien Truffert is a full-back who will be talked about. In France under 21 (with a Transfermarkt value of 462 million euros) Truffert could almost go unnoticed alongside his fellow millionaires (Konaté, Edouard, Camavinga). But in terms of substance, his performance is no lower than that of his most famous companions. It is a 2001 and he plays for Rennes, starting as a left-back and with good reviews from the French media. With several Champions League appearances, Truffert has distinguished himself in the coverage phase thanks to a great speed with which he manages to recover immediately after the offensive tears: in fact, he is also a great crosser and is, from a good modern side, very active in the finishing phase. It's not impressive physically, but speed and good technique make him one of the most attentive on the French.