Breaking through
Nathan Ake
(Manchester City)
Flexibility is a key chapter in the football instruction manual of Pep Guardiola, which is partly why he wanted the 25-year-old Dutchman. As well as excelling at centre-back, don’t be surprised to see the £40 million man deliver in a holding midfield role or at left-back.
Faustino Anjorin
(Chelsea)
The Dorset-born attacking midfielder could well be the next luxury model off the Chelsea academy production line. A sight for sore eyes in the technical department, he does not just run with the ball, he glides. Made his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup last season.
Marcos Antonio
(Shakhtar Donetsk)
Talented up-and-coming Brazilian midfielder, 20, with lots of strings to his bow. Disciplined and energetic in a deep-lying enforcer role, an accurate passer and a maker of timely late runs into the opposition box. Previously with Athletico Paranaense and Portuguese outfit Estoril.
Luis Alberto
(Lazio)
When Lazio begin their 2020-21 Champions League campaign, their first appearance in the European showpiece competition in 13 years, no player will be more motivated to make an impact than their elegant Spanish playmaker. Incredibly for someone of his class, he has never set foot on a Champions League pitch and, having just turned 28, he must realise he is approaching now or never territory.
Prior to joining Lazio in 2016, the Luis Alberto story was one of near misses. Despite excelling in a loan spell with Barcelona B in 2012-13, racking up numerous goals and assists in the Segunda Division, the Nou Camp club inexplicably did not trigger the option to buy they had agreed with Sevilla. In three seasons on Liverpool’s books he made little headway, only making a dozen appearances before being handed temporary assignments with Malaga and Deportivo.
Now a Spain international and one of the most cultured performers in Serie A - only five players assisted more goals in Europe’s top five leagues last season - he himself admits that he let himself down in the early part of his career, that he lacked work ethic and concentration.
A key factor in his belated coming of age is his close relationship with sports psychologist Juan Campillo, who encourages him to banish all negative thoughts.
Mitchel Bakker
(Paris Saint-Germain)
While the 20-year-old Dutch left-back is an unknown among a galaxy of stars at the Parc des Princes, it did not stop him from featuring in PSG’s French Cup final victory over Saint-Etienne over the summer. The French treble winners signed him from Ajax in 2019.
