Teenage Tyros: Six of the best Under-20s starlets making a name for themselves around the globe

Analysis

Leagues around the world are getting younger.

For example, the Premier League is younger than it's ever been.

Last season, the average age of starting XIs in the league was 26 years and 217 days, breaking the record set in 2007-08 by three days. By early October, this season's average had dropped below 26 years old.

A big reason for those average numbers is the amount of teenagers that are playing top-flight football these days, and we've picked out six youngsters making waves from spots around the globe.

Vasilije Adzic (Juventus)

Although not yet an automatic first-choice for the Bianconeri, the 19-year-old Montenegro midfielder - who's already a senior international having progressed through the various youth levels - is knocking hard at the door, his hopes of a permanent slot rendered all the more realistic by the late match-winning screamer he struck home recently in a 4-3 Serie A win over Internazionale.

Comfortable in any number of positions - in central box-to-box mode, as a number ten or wide on the left - he is in his second season in Turin, brought in for just €2 million from Buducnost Podgorica. A technically flawless individual blessed with a maturity beyond his years, above-average football IQ and second helpings of stamina and drive.

Marc Bernal (Barcelona)

After missing almost all of last season with a torn ACL, the outstanding defensive midfielder, still only 18, is at long last fit again, a return to duty which should put a smile on the faces of both the Blaugrana faithful and coach Hansi Flick.

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Having idolised Sergio Busquets growing up, Bernal has all the tools to be a full Spain international in the not-too-distant future: the height, presence and physicality; magnificent left-footed passing skills; innate awareness of everything going on around him; grace under pressure and perhaps most important of all, the ease with which he glides into advanced areas of the field. No wonder the club have tied him down to a new deal until the summer of 2029.

George Ilenikhena (Monaco)

The Monegasque powers-that-be wisely decided not to succumb to big-money offers from Germany, Spain and Italy for their 19-year-old striker this summer. Since swapping Belgian club Antwerp for Monte Carlo at the start of last season, the young front-man - born in Nigeria but raised in the Paris suburbs - has experienced some tough times at the Stade Louis II: long stints on the subs' bench, as well as suffering a nasty adductor injury early this year.

But he undoubtedly has huge potential, an enticing skill-set of speed, physical potency, directness and a punishing left-footed shot. A runaway train on getting into his stride and a fine poacher in the box.

Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich)

At a time when the Bavarians are coming under heavy fire in the local media for not putting sufficient faith in homegrown youth talent, this outrageously-gifted attacking midfielder or wide-man might just turn out to be the one academy graduate that the club simply dare not ignore.

Technically outstanding, dynamic, a wonderful dribbler and one-on-one finisher, and full of commitment, the diminutive 17-year-old only made his senior competitive debut at this summer's FIFA Club World Cup and enjoyed his first Bundesliga start in September, featuring in a 4-1 away victory at Hoffenheim.

The one attribute the Germany Under-17 schemer lacks at the moment is robustness, but that should come with age.

Rodrigo Mora (Porto)

Recruitment chiefs the length and breadth of Europe will have noted with barely-concealed excitement that this generational playmaker doesn't appear to be a first-choice pick for new Porto boss Francesco Farioli. A fresh-faced kid, 18, he has that all-too-rare ability to make the extraordinary look an everyday occurrence.

Instead of regularly deploying Mora, Farioli has preferred to bestow the number ten role on the recently-acquired Spaniard Gabri Veiga who, it has to be said, has settled in excellently since arriving from the Saudi Pro League. It is a decision that has surprised many pundits given Mora became the centrepiece around which Porto's offensive game was based last season, scoring ten league goals in an impressive debut campaign.

Rayan (Vasca da Gama)

On the radar of the likes of PSG, Milan and Porto, the dexterous, powerful and mobile frontrunner is not likely to remain at the famous Rio outfit for long.

His greatest strength might be his versatility, equally impressive as a roving right-winger or as a stealthy second striker. A South American champion with Brazil's U17s and U20s, the 19-year-old has been on Vasco's books since the age of six, gravitating to the club where his father Valkmar once played and coached. Goals are in his blood; in five years with Vasco's schoolboy side, he amassed 292.

Words by Nick Bidwell.