★ Moneyball Original · Scouting
The 15 best teenagers in world football right now, ranked by the numbers
By Moneyball Editorial · published · updated
A teenager who plays regularly in a professional first team is already unusual. A teenager who is one of the better players in his league is rare enough that the same few names are known everywhere.
This list starts from the other end. It takes every player aged 19 or under with at least 450 minutes this season in 16 leagues, and scores them all the same way. The famous names are here. So are a few that are not famous yet.
How to read this, in plain words. The Moneyball Score is a number from 0 to 100. It asks one question: compared with every player in the same position, how much does this player do of the things his position is there to do, for every 90 minutes he plays? Around 50 is an average regular. Above 70 is a starter for a club in European competition. Above 85 is among the best in the world. Potential is where the score is expected to go as he ages, from the way players in his position usually develop. Moneyball Value is a fair transfer fee worked out from his score, age, position, league and minutes. A young player with few minutes is deliberately scored with caution: the model would rather be late than fooled.
The list
| # | Player | Age | Club | League | Minutes | Moneyball Score | Potential | Moneyball Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamine Yamal | 19 | FC Barcelona | La Liga | 1355 | 92 | 100 | €145.4M |
| 2 | Rio Ngumoha | 18 | Liverpool | Premier League | 488 | 73 | 100 | €54.5M |
| 3 | Franco Mastantuono | 19 | Fiorentina | Serie A | 880 | 71 | 100 | €64.3M |
| 4 | Rodrigo Mora | 19 | Roma | Serie A | 601 | 69 | 100 | €34.3M |
| 5 | Luka Vuskovic | 19 | Brighton & Hove Albion | Premier League | 999 | 67 | 95 | €51.2M |
| 6 | Xavi Espart | 19 | FC Barcelona | La Liga | 724 | 67 | 100 | €32.3M |
| 7 | Ryan Augusto Tavares da Silva | 19 | Bragantino | Brasileirão | 767 | 67 | 97 | €9.3M |
| 8 | Ethan Mbappé | 19 | LOSC Lille | Ligue 1 | 623 | 64 | 97 | €25.7M |
| 9 | Djibril Ouziad | 17 | Le Havre | Ligue 1 | 670 | 63 | 100 | €21.3M |
| 10 | Charalampos Kostoulas | 19 | Brighton & Hove Albion | Premier League | 731 | 62 | 90 | €59.7M |
| 11 | Kacper Potulski | 19 | FSV Mainz 05 | Bundesliga | 710 | 61 | 91 | €26.8M |
| 12 | Marc Bernal | 19 | FC Barcelona | La Liga | 574 | 61 | 88 | €38.5M |
| 13 | Darryl Bakola | 18 | Sassuolo | Serie A | 657 | 60 | 96 | €27.2M |
| 14 | Trey Nyoni | 19 | Liverpool | Premier League | 475 | 59 | 88 | €33.5M |
| 15 | Lennart Karl | 18 | FC Bayern München | Bundesliga | 472 | 59 | 87 | €26.5M |
The rule: aged 19 or under, in any of the 16 leagues Moneyball follows, with at least 450 minutes this season. Minutes are this season's, in the league and the European cups. "Potential" is the highest score the age curve gives him in the next four years. "Moneyball Value" is a fair fee, not a quoted price.
The top 8, one by one
1. Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona)
Lamine Yamal, 19, plays as a winger for FC Barcelona in La Liga. Strongest for his role in expected assists (est.) and shots. Weakest in dispossessed. His Moneyball Score is 92, and the age curve takes him to about 100. This season: 13 goals and 12 assists in 1355 minutes. Moneyball Value: €145.4M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
2. Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool)
Rio Ngumoha, 18, plays as a winger for Liverpool in the Premier League. Strongest for his role in successful dribbles and fouls won. Weakest in dispossessed. His Moneyball Score is 73, and the age curve takes him to about 100. This season: 0 goals and 2 assists in 488 minutes. Moneyball Value: €54.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
3. Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina)
Franco Mastantuono, 19, plays as a winger for Fiorentina in Serie A. Strongest for his role in shots and expected goals. Weakest in dispossessed. His Moneyball Score is 71, and the age curve takes him to about 100. This season: 4 goals and 0 assists in 880 minutes. Moneyball Value: €64.3M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
4. Rodrigo Mora (Roma)
Rodrigo Mora, 19, plays as an attacking midfielder for Roma in Serie A. Strongest for his role in big chances created and expected assists (est.). Weakest in fouls won. His Moneyball Score is 69, and the age curve takes him to about 100. This season: 4 goals and 3 assists in 601 minutes. Moneyball Value: €34.3M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
5. Luka Vuskovic (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Luka Vuskovic, 19, plays as a centre-back for Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League. Strongest for his role in aerial duels won and clearances. Weakest in tackles. His Moneyball Score is 67, and the age curve takes him to about 95. This season: 1 goal and 1 assist in 999 minutes. Moneyball Value: €51.2M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
6. Xavi Espart (FC Barcelona)
Xavi Espart, 19, plays as a full-back for FC Barcelona in La Liga. Strongest for his role in tackles and passes. Weakest in accurate crosses. His Moneyball Score is 67, and the age curve takes him to about 100. This season: 2 goals and 2 assists in 724 minutes. Moneyball Value: €32.3M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
7. Ryan Augusto Tavares da Silva (Bragantino)
Ryan Augusto Tavares da Silva, 19, plays as a wing-back for Bragantino in the Brasileirão. Strongest for his role in key passes and successful dribbles. Weakest in interceptions. His Moneyball Score is 67, and the age curve takes him to about 97. He has played 767 minutes this season. Moneyball Value: €9.3M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
8. Ethan Mbappé (LOSC Lille)
Ethan Mbappé, 19, plays as a winger for LOSC Lille in Ligue 1. Strongest for his role in big chances created and expected assists (est.). Weakest in shots. His Moneyball Score is 64, and the age curve takes him to about 97. This season: 2 goals and 1 assist in 623 minutes. Moneyball Value: €25.7M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
What the list tells us
Teenagers get minutes for two reasons: because they are very good, or because their club is short of players. The Moneyball Score separates the two. It does not reward a player for being on the pitch; it rewards what he does there, against grown men in his own position. That is why some well-known teenagers are lower than you expect and some unknown ones are higher.
FC Barcelona have 3 names on the list, Liverpool have 2. More than one name from the same club is rarely a coincidence: it usually means a coach who gives minutes and a recruitment team that knows what it is looking for. By league, the Premier League leads with 4 of the 15.
The youngest name is Djibril Ouziad, 17. The biggest gap between today and the age curve belongs to Djibril Ouziad: 63 now, about 100 at his best in the next four years. And the lowest fair fee on the list is Ryan Augusto Tavares da Silva's, at €9.3M, which is where a club with a small budget should look first.
A warning that belongs on every list like this one. A score is a summary of what a player has done, not a promise of what he will do. Injuries, a change of coach, a move to a stronger league and plain luck all move careers in ways no number sees coming. Use the list the way a scout would: as the place to start watching, not the place to stop thinking.
How the list is made
Every player in the leagues Moneyball follows is scored the same way. His figures are divided by his minutes, adjusted for the strength of his league, pulled toward the average of his position when he has played little, blended with last season, and then ranked against the players in his own position. Nothing is typed in by hand, and nobody at Moneyball chooses who goes on the list. That is also why some names will surprise you: the model has never seen a highlight clip and does not know which clubs are famous.
- Per 90 minutes: every figure divided by minutes played, so a substitute and a starter can be compared fairly.
- League-strength adjustment: Moneyball Scout weighs a season in Ligue 1 at 0.90 of the same season in the Premier League (Serie A 0.95, La Liga 0.96, Bundesliga 0.94).
- Bayesian shrinkage: with few minutes a figure is pulled toward the average of his position, so three good matches are not mistaken for a great player.
- Last season at 70% weight: last season's figures are blended in, a little lighter than this season's.
- Percentiles within his position: a centre-back is ranked against centre-backs, a winger against wingers. The 90th percentile means better than 90 of every 100.
- Role templates: each position is judged on what it is there to do; a striker on chances and goals, a full-back on defending and crossing.
- Position familiarity: where else he could play, from where he has played.
- Win-rate impact: the points he adds to a club over a season, by replaying its matches with and without him through the Dixon-Coles model.
- Expected goals (xG): the quality of every chance, so a team is judged on what it created and allowed, not only on what went in.
- Expected points: each match's xG run through a Dixon-Coles score matrix (the Poisson model with the low-score correction the Match Board uses) to give the points a performance usually earns.
- Age curve: how players of his position usually develop year by year, used for his potential.
- Moneyball Value: a fair fee from his score, age, position, league and minutes.
Analysis by Moneyball Editorial. The list is worked out from the Sportmonks data at each update; names move up and down as the season goes on. Moneyball Value is an estimate, not a quoted price.
Open Scouting Players Research Lamine Yamal in the Stats Centre
Questions
- Who is the best teenager in world football in 2026/27?
- On Moneyball Score today it is Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona (92 out of 100), ahead of Rio Ngumoha and Franco Mastantuono. The list is worked out again at every update.
- What is the Moneyball Score?
- A number from 0 to 100 for how much a player does of what his position is there to do, per 90 minutes, against every player in the same position, adjusted for the strength of his league and for how many minutes he has played.
- Why is a well-known name missing from the list?
- The list only reads players with 450 minutes or more this season who fit the rule in the title. A player who is injured, outside the age limit or short of minutes is not on it.