In today’s football, it seems “easier” to know in advance when a young footballer has the potential to stand out at the highest level, and that is only possible thanks to the analysis of data and statistics, the so-called big data, which entities like the CIES Football Observatory use for their studies and reports.
Recently, this educational entity conducted a study in which they managed to rank some of the most promising footballers in the world, and in the case of defenders, a Brazilian stood out: Lucas Beraldo, a gem developed at São Paulo who is currently shining at PSG.
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Lucas Beraldo, the eighth most promising under-21 center-back
According to this ranking, the promising 20-year-old defender from Paris Saint-Germain is the eighth most promising central defender in the world. This season, Beraldo was involved in a millionaire transfer to the Ligue 1 side initially as a rotation player, but injuries made room for the young center-back and he seized the chances.
With a projection index of x2.03, Beraldo is on par with other gems of European football such as Yasin Ozcan or Zeno Debast.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, the ranking of talents was achieved by assigning them an index based on the minutes these footballers have played over the last 365 days, in addition to determining the importance of those minutes and their contributions.
The top 10 under-21 center-backs with the most potential
- Jorrel Hato (Ajax – NED): x2.28
- Leny Yoro (LOSC Lille – FRA): x2.26
- Ousmane Diomandé (Sporting CP – POR): x2.15
- António Silva (Benfica – POR): x2.11
- Jorne Spileers (Club Brugge – BEL): x2.08
- Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta – ITA): x2.06
- Yasin Ozcan (Kasimpasa SK – TUR): x2.04
- Lucas Beraldo (PSG – FRA): x2.03
- Zeno Debast (Anderlecht – BEL): x1.94
- Tobias Slotsager (Odense BK – DEN): x1.90
