Seyi Ojo may have potential to be a star but ultimately clubs aim to buy youngsters so they don’t have to pay big, risky transfer fees in the future; isn’t paying two million for a boy that young a risk? Only about half of all the supposed young stars fulfil their potential, and it is particularly hard to judge whether or not they will when they are quite as young as Ojo is. So why has this happened? When did we arrive at this point and is it worth it?

Precedent and market inflation

Obviously the two major factors are that market prices have been inflated as a result of City, Chelsea and others and also the precedent for large fees for young players set by teams like Arsenal. Obviously with so much foreign money in English football, prices across the board have been inflated meaning that not only the price of youngsters will rise accordingly but also that the demand for younger players will increase as top stars become unaffordable. Secondly as soon as clubs like Arsenal or Tottenham pay huge fees for players such as Bale, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain then every other small club will raise the prices for their academy graduates.

So the scene has been set for the rise in prices but that still doesn’t explain why Liverpool and Chelsea are willing to pay that much for such a young footballer? However Liverpool’s recent transfer tactics do suggest the route that they intend on taking in the market.

Damien Comolli

Liverpool’s director of football has a brilliant record of identifying young talent for whatever club he has worked for, and in the past has unearthed talent such as Kolo Toure, Eboue, Clichy, Taarabt, Bale, Modric, Assou-Ekotto and others. Whilst at Liverpool there seems to have been a particular focus on not just young talent but young English talent such as Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing and he added these players to Liverpool’s then recent additions of Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton) and Raheem Sterling (QPR) who is supposed to be one of the brightest talents in English football. In fact they paid just under two million for Sterling when he was just fifteen. So, what all this tells us is that Liverpool are so desperate to build a base of young English talent that they are willing to pay large amounts of money for young players, even if they are a risk.

FIFA’s financial fair play rules

Another deciding factor in clubs’ recent attraction to younger and younger players is a result of FIFA’s financial fair play regulations that will soon be coming in to effect and so the appeal of younger cheaper players is much greater even if the prices are inflated, for the clubs it is far less of a risk.

Is this the right way to go?

Well, how can we be sure? Is it any more risky for Liverpool or Chelsea to pay two million pounds for a fourteen year old than it was for Chelsea to pay fifty million for Torres or Liverpool to pay thirty five million for Carroll? Some may see people paying millions for boys who haven’t even take their GCSEs as ridiculous but frankly I would rather have Ojo for his price tag than Carroll for his.

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Name: Diego Renan
Age: 21
Position: Full back
Club: Cruzerio

Given his rise to prominence and Premier League clubs such as Arsenal and Liverpool’s need for quality full-backs, Diego Renan may well be on his way to Europe sooner than most pundits would have thought. What high praise indeed for the new star of Brazilian football. To be compared to a legend of Cruzerio like Raimundo Nonato da Silva shows just what the club and his fans think of him. He is part of the new generation of Brazilian full backs – technically gifted with a great sense of adventure but highly responsible defenders. Since Diego Renan’s début in 2009, his fledgling career has been much talked about; reportedly on the radar of some of Europe’s top clubs. Although Brazil have some very talented options at full back, there is nothing to suggest he wont break into the national team sooner rather than later.

Diego Rena brings a balance of technical ability, speed and attack intent to his Cruzerio side. He has an excellent delivery; a delivery that most wingers would be proud of. His ability to both overlap his winger as well as beat his man in the opposition third make him such a danger to the opposition. Top European teams are now starting to use more dynamic full backs and Diego Renan’s attributes make him an ideal target. Expect European clubs to be knocking on Cruzerio’s door as Diego Renan gains more experience. A definite green light, expect this full back to be lighting up La Liga or the Premier League before too long.

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Name: Manuel Lanzini

After spending the last couple of weeks examining the emerging talents coming out of Brazil, ThisisFutbol’s South American Watch returns to Argentina and to to one of the most celebrated academies in the world, River Plate. The River Plate academy is famous across the globe for producing some of the worlds great players. Esteban Cambiasso, Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola and Ariel Ortega have all come from through the academy, into the River Plate first team and onto Europe for vast sums of money. Nicknamed la joya, (the jewel) Manuel Lanzini is set to join those names and leave for Europe for a big money fee.

Manuel Lanzini was first spotted by the famous Ramon Madoni; responsible for Juan Roman Riqueleme, Fernando Gago and Carlos Tevez but declined the chance to join Boca and moved to Los Millonarios. He hasn’t looked back. Lanzini has made it look easy, climbing through the youth ranks and has become one of River Plate’s most important players – at just 18. Lanzini shot to prominence in only his second game for the senior side, putting in a masterful display against Independiente. He replaced Ariel Ortega and was instrumental in helping River to a 3-2 victory. Not only did Argentina sit up and take notice but those in Europe also started to keep tabs on la joya.

Lanzini is a typical Argentine number 10. Like Aimar, Ortega and Riquelme he plays off the striker and he’s a classic Argentine playmaker. La joya has incredible control, a superb range of passing and shows great flair in his game. He is fast becoming one of the most creative and forward thinking players in the Argentine league. As well as his control, he is able to beat players and shows a superb turn of pace. Although he is small, he has the physical attributes to make it (in Europe’s top leagues) where other Argentinians have failed. His versatility gives him the edge over other players. Something managers are taking into consideration more and more in modern football. Manuel Lanzini’s days in Argentina look numbered with reported interest coming from Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus.

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Read more of Tom’s articles at ‘This is Futbol‘

I’ve always wanted a cool nickname but the best my friends could come up with was ‘Dan’, hardly on the same level as Niño Maravilla, so called due to his stylish play, a nickname he earned when breaking the Copa Libertadores record for the youngest player to debut in the South American Club Championship, at the age of just 16. Obviously a cool nickname and an age-related record doesn’t earn you a $3 million move to Udinese, so I’m assuming it was the six goals in twelve games in the Chilean league in only his second season.

Sanchez was signed by the Italian outfit for the future, and was instantly loaned out to Chilean side Colo-Colo and then to Argentinian team River Plate; after successful season-long loans with both clubs, Sanchez finally made his break at Udinese in 2008 and after a few promising performances over the seasons, it was this year that the versatile attacker put himself on the footballing map. A regular fixture in the exciting Chilean side in the 2010 World Cup, Sanchez used the world’s biggest stage to showcase his talents and carried this on into the current Serie A campaign, forming a formidable partnership with Antonio Di Natalie, scoring 35 goals between them, just five shy of the Del Piero and Trezeguet record in the 2007-08 season, and with a few games still to play.

Sanchez’ proposed arrival to the Motherland, whoever it may be with, is no doubt be an exciting proposition for the Premier League.

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The Norwegian international has been playing for Rosenborg since 2009, and by the beginning of 2010 Henriksen was a first team regular, despite only being 17 years of age at the time. The midfielder is a box-to-box player and can be utilised in numerous positions within the middle of the park; this, coupled with precise passing, a powerful shot and an understanding of the game that belies his years, with excellent positional sense and mature decision-making, makes him a very handy asset for Rosenborg.

Scouts from all over Europe have been making numerous trips to the Lerkendal Stadion this season and have been reporting back very positively on the young Norwegian, with Werder Bremen, AC Milan and Real Madrid reportedly paying close attention to the young starlet. Whether Henriksen moves onto one of Europe’s elite or continues to ply his trade in Norway, one thing is for certain, the teenager will get to the very top.

If all this wasn’t enough for you, then on Football Manager 2011 my Assistant Manger says, “he has the potential to become a leading Premier Midfielder and I believe with right training he could become a top midfielder for any European team.” Surely a sign of things to come?

Yet to play for Sao Paulo, Piazon is currently with the Brazil Under-17 side at the South American Championship in Ecuador, like many promising youngsters from the Samba region, the Brazilian media wasted no time in bestowing Piazon with the title of ‘one of the hottest prospects around’, but when comparisons are drawn with fellow countryman Kaka, these statements begin to carry some substance. Like Kaka, Lucas Piazon will have come through the Sao Paulo ranks before heading to Europe, yet unlike Real Madrid’s midfield maestro, Piazon can only be described as an ‘out and out striker’, especially when you see stats that saw him finish top scorer in the Under 15’s South American Championships with 10 goals, double that of his nearest rival.

Before Chelsea moved to finalise the deal, the Brazilian had been heavily linked with Serie A’s fallen giants Juventus; and fellow English sides Manchester United and Arsenal were also showing signs of interest after their respective scouts were impressed with Piazon in a recent Nike Youth Cup in Manchester, where he was voted Player of the Tournament. Still, with a strong Brazilian contingency of David Luiz, Alex and Ramires at Stamford Bridge already, Piazon was swayed to sign for the West London titans.

The fee is believed to be in the region of £8-10 million, a resounding figure for someone so young, but one that doesn’t seem so outlandish when you think of Theo Walcott’s transfer to Arsenal and the sums of money being speculated that it will cost the Premier League ‘big boys’ to prize away the likes of Connor Wickham and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Ipswich and Southampton respectively.

Should Piazon progress along the same road to victory as former Sao Paulo players Juninho, Juliano Belletti and Kaka it will mean that not only are Chelsea fans in for a treat, but so to is the world of football.

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The 18 year old has represented the England youth setup on various levels and led the national side to their first ever European U-17s Championship as captain in 2010.

Coady isn’t exactly known for goal-getting and is more comfortable playing either a defensive or central midfield role. He has recently become a more regular fixture of the Liverpool reserve team having captained the U-18s for the past few seasons.

Coady is a strong tackler and plays with plenty of menace and determination. He is comfortable in possession and has the capacity to hit the occasional shot from range too. Many see him as a natural born leader and a potential future successor to the Liverpool captaincy.

The Merseyside-born player was also one of the few young players chosen by Kenny Dalglish to make the trip to Prague earlier this season during the Reds Europa League campaign and he even made the bench. He is still yet to make his full first team debut, but if he continues progressing at the current level, it will only be a matter of time.

Check out Coady yourself in this short video below!

Dubbed ‘the new Ashley Young’, Morrison may promise to have a bright future and he hit headlines recently with a fantastic double to book United’s youth team a place in the FA Youth Cup semi-finals in a 3-2 win over Liverpool.

However, Morrison’s off the pitch exploits had previously surrounded him in controversy after he narrowly avoided a prison sentence in 2009 following an alleged mugging incident. He was promised that he would certainly face jail time if he was to appear in court again any time in the near future.

The youngster has made one appearance for the first team as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung in a League Cup tie against Wolves and should he keep up his good form, you may be seeing him strutting his stuff around Old Trafford once again in the near future.

So what are you waiting for? Check out Ravel’s best bits in the video below.

The Japanese superstar is renowned for his free kick taking abilities, but his creative flair has also caught the eye of many football fans across the globe.

The 24-year-old joined CSKA Moscow from VVV-Venio having helped the Dutch outfit gain promotion to the Eredivise. Honda had joined VVV from Japanese club Gampus Eight, famed over in the U.K for once employing Match of the Day presenter and Walkers crisp enthusiast Gary Lineker.

Honda shot to worldwide fame following a hugely impressive set of performances in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Not only did he stand out as one of the better performers in the Japanese squad, he also belted in an absolute scorcher against Denmark in an impressive 3-1 victory.

Transfer speculation surrounding Honda has been rife since last summer’s tournament, with Arsenal and Liverpool at the front of the apparent queue for the CSKA midfielder’s services. Time will tell, but in the mean time, sit back, relax and watch some of his greatest moments.

Signed from Fluminense for £3.5million in December 2009, Wellington officially joined the Gunners on January 6th when he turned 18. Still unable to get a work permit to play in England, the young Brazilian is currently on loan with Levante in Spain to get some match practice before returning to the Emirates Stadium at the end of the season.

The 18-year-old striker is still creating much excitement amongst Arsenal fans though, and they’re looking forward to the day that he does finally play for the north London club. Watch the video below to see why…