Football Data | Administrator: @abelasano
Joined January 2025
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🇫🇮 Matias Siltanen (Djurgården, 19)
This top Nordic prospect's career is progressing smoothly. As his pass and duel success rates show, he plays solidly in both attack and defence, and he also actively looks to progress the ball through his passing.
Interestingly, by the numbers, his list of similar players features veteran MFs such as Parejo and Jorginho.
📊 U-21 AM & WG prospects in the Frontier Leagues
- 25/26 (calendar-year leagues: 2026; Nordic & South American seasons in progress)
- AMs & WGs with 900+ mins. Scored against all ages from 22/23 to 25/26 (n = 2,217); the tables show the top 25 of this season's 109 U-21s
These rankings score players on four role profiles. Roadrunner weighs carrying most, Inside Forward shooting and receiving, Touchline Winger crossing, and Wide Playmaker chance creation.
Kerim Alajbegović, who joined Juventus this summer after Leverkusen bought him back, tops the Roadrunner table. Here are a few others the same tables pick out.
🇸🇱 Momoh Kamara (Elfsborg, on loan from Minnesota United 2)
Among the U-21s he is 2nd for npxG and 3rd for xA, and he plays a lot of progressive passes. He shoots, creates and moves the ball forward; in shooting & creation he resembles Raphinha at Barcelona. Still a 1,257-min sample.
🇬🇭 Edmund Baidoo (Red Bull Salzburg)
His npxG and npxG per shot are both the highest among the U-21s. He takes little part in the build-up and gets his shots in the box. His shooting, receiving & carrying resemble Luis Díaz.
🇩🇰 Sofus Johannesen (Fredericia, on loan from Midtjylland)
He holds the ball under contact, and no Superliga AM or WG is fouled more. In a side with 44.5% possession he carries the ball and wins it back too. His mix of dribbling, carrying, press resistance & ball-winning is close to Betis's Ezzalzouli.
🇮🇶 Montader Madjed (Hammarby)
No Allsvenskan AM or WG dribbles or makes progressive runs more, and 80.6% of his non-back passes arrive: a dribbler who does not give the ball away. His defensive numbers are the lowest among the U-21s. A left-footer on the right flank, he overlaps with Antony at Betis.
🇩🇰 Charly Nouck (Viborg)
No U-21 has more touches in the box, and only one makes more progressive runs. He carries the ball into the box himself, and his pass accuracy is near the bottom. In build, shooting, creation & carrying he is close to Milan's Leão.
🇳🇴 Bo Hegland (Djurgården)
His xA is the highest among the U-21s, and he has 15 assists in 22 games. He takes the corners, so set pieces are part of it. A #10 who creates by passing rather than carrying; his creation & pass progression resemble Palmer up to 24/25.
🇯🇵 Yumeki Yokoyama (Cerezo Osaka)
In 923 mins in the J1 100 Year Vision League, no J1 AM or WG dribbled or made progressive runs more, and only one crossed more. His dribbling, carrying & receiving recall Madueke.
🇬🇭 Prince Amoako (Nordsjælland)
He is 2nd among the U-21s for both dribble attempts and touches in the box, across 2,492 mins at 18–19. His success rates are still low. In carrying, receiving & shot volume he is close to Nico Williams.
Top transfer values as per #CIES model 📊 #BocaJuniors & #RiverPlate players
🥇 #ThiagoAlmada €30.3m
🥈 #TobiasAndrada €26.9m
🥉 #MiltonDelgado €21.5m
#DiLollo #Rivero #Aranda #Moreno #Correa #Flores #Beltran
More valuations 👉 football-observatory.com/Too…
🇺🇸 Cade Cowell (New York Red Bulls, 22)
A winger who creates with right-footed crosses from the right flank. He ranks high for crosses, dribbles, carries & interceptions, and no MLS AM or WG crosses more. Closest in the 25/26 T5: Hoffenheim's Bazoumana Touré.
efStats retweeted
Getting free doesn't get you the ball. At least not at the 2022 World Cup.
I built a man-marking model from tracking data to find out:
napla-dev.github.io/2026/09/…
📊 Next 8 Leagues U-20 CB prospects, picked by ball retention
- 25/26 (calendar-year leagues: 2026, in progress)
- CBs with 1,350+ minutes (n = 434), U-20s highlighted
- Rates shrunk toward the league-season average
I plotted the two metrics I weigh most when rating a CB's ball retention. Pass distance team share % is his share of the passing distance his team completes, or how much of the build-up runs through him. Accurate non-back passes % is his pass accuracy without backward passes, so safe balls back do not pad it.
The same view puts Lucas Herrington, who joined Hull City this summer, in the top right. Here are a few others it picks out.
🇬🇭 Manu Duah (San Diego FC)
He does more than keep the ball: he is also press-resistant and wins it back. In build, pace and how he keeps the ball, he is close to van de Ven, though he is right-footed.
🇺🇸 Ethan Kohler (New England Revolution)
His non-back pass accuracy is the best in the pool. Secure on the ball, modest in progression and steady in defence, he resembles Konsa.
🇧🇪 Jorne Spileers (Club Brugge)
He is in the top 1% for ball retention and moves the ball forward too. Low defensive volume included, he resembles Saliba in 25/26, though Saliba wins far more of his duels.
🇳🇱 Marvin Young (Sparta Rotterdam)
He keeps the ball when challenged and steps out to defend, and he has improved sharply since 24/25. Combining press resistance with ground-duel strength, he overlaps with Atlético's Giménez.
🇧🇪 Nathan Ngoy circulates, then carries
A small but quick CB at 183 cm. Over half his passes go sideways, and he moves the ball forward by carrying it himself.
His defending is low-volume: 1.72 aerial duels per 90, among the fewest of any T5 league CB.
I've added a player card to my set of visuals. The detail stays with the pizza charts, plots and tables I already use; this one is there to give you the shape of a player in a single image.
I like the overall layout, but the Profile facets and the archetypes still need work — some of the names and abbreviations aren't standard ones.
I'd love to hear what you think.
A quick archetype read on Newcastle's CBs, using 25/26 data:
Thiaw profiles as a balanced all-rounder, while Botman comes out as an aggressive, physical type. Neither stands out for pace, but both are strong in the air.
Personally, I think how well they play (and, in Botman's case, how often he's actually available) will go a long way towards deciding where Newcastle finish this season.
