Whether you think it is justified or not, Jose Mourinho doesn't particularly have the best reputation for youth integration at the clubs he has presided over throughout the course of his career.
In the Portuguese's post-Porto career, you can really only point towards John Terry, Mario Balotelli and Raphael Varane as young players that Mourinho successfully integrated into the first teams at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan respectively but given Manchester United's proud history of introducing young players to the starting XI, we suspect that Mourinho's ability to do this will be one of the measuring sticks on which he is judged by the Old Trafford hierarchy.
The good news for Mourinho is that, according to a new study, he has the world's best under-21 player in his dressing room.
As per Soccerex.com, French youngster Anthony Martial has been named as the most valuable player under the age of 21 in world football using a method to calculate potential value and performance on the pitch, as devised by Prime Time Sport's Football Value Index.
The 20-year-old bagged 17 goals in his debut season at United after his €43 million move from Monaco and it looks as though his value has increased since even then. The study takes into account a player's age, position, club, minutes per game, goals scored, market value perception (among other factors) to calculate his worth.
When you run these numbers for Martial, he's apparently now worth a reported €47.15 million. Admittedly, it's not a massive jump from the price the paid for his but, from Mourinho's perspective at least, it shows that he is developing in the right direction.
Schalke's Leroy Sane is second in the list at €37.13 million while Renato Sanches, who starred at the Euros for Portugal in their unlikely trip to the title, comes in third place at €34.55 million.
Here is the Top 20 in full:
20. Gianluigi Donnarumma - GK - AC Milan - €13.75m
19. Gabriel Barbosa - ST - Santos - €13.89m
18. Ousmane Dembele - RW - Borussia Dortmund - €14.05m
17. Rueben Neves - CM - Porto - €14.09m
16. Giovani Lo Celso - CAM - Rosario Central - €14.32m
15. Mahmoud Dahoud - CM - Borussia Monchengladbach - €15.03m
14. Niklas Sule - CB - Hoffenheim - €16.65m
13. Richedly Bazoer - CM - Ajax - €19.15m
12. Youri Tielemans - CM - Anderlecht - €19.33m
11. Gabriel Jesus - ST - Palmeiras - €19.82
10. Julian Weigl - CDM - Borussia Dortmund - €19.82m
9. Kelechi Iheanacho - ST - Man City - €20.07m
8. Max Meyer - CAM - Schalke 04 - €21.64m
7. Marcus Rashford - ST - Man United - €22.51m
6. Breel Embolo - ST - Schalke 04 - €25.44m
5. Kingsley Coman - RW - Bayern Munich - €30.69m
4. Dele Alli - CAM - Tottenham Hotspur - €34.14m
3. Renato Sanches - CM - Bayern Munich - €34.55m
2. Leroy Sane - RW - Schalke 04 - €37.12m
1. Anthony Martial - LW - Man United - €47.15m
It doubles as a hit-list for Football Manager 2017, and also shows what fees would be discussed if transfer fees were not staggeringly high in the current climate.
Interestingly for Manchester United, where it could be argued that their youth policy has let them down in recent seasons, Marcus Rashford also makes the top ten.
It's hard to deny that the future is looking bright at Old Trafford. Along with Martial and Rashford, there is the likes of Tim Fosu-Mensah, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard and, if he delivers on his potential, Adnan Januzaj.
[via Soccerex.com]
