Ranking the ten best young players of 2023, including Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham.
If the end of 2022 was Lionel Messi's peak, the ascension of his final mountain, then 2023 was a wind-down year for the all-time great.
Both Messi and supreme contemporary rival Cristiano Ronaldo have continued to dominate on less significant shores, away from the European limelight. Their respective career trajectories depicts the gradual decline of an era that we may never see again.
In their place, French superstar Kylian Mbappe and Nordic machine Erling Haaland have been touted as the second coming of the two aforementioned greats. While contrasting in style, those have been regarded as the two best their generation has to offer.
But 2023 bore witness to a fresh litany of young talent attempting to thrust themselves into conversations alongside Mbappe and Haaland in a post-Messi/Ronaldo Europe.
Here are the ten best young players - 'young' being 21 or younger at some point in the calendar year - of 2023.
Alejandro Balde has cemented himself as Barcelona's starting left-back / Eric Alonso/GettyImages
Teenager Lamine Yamal broke a whole host of records in 2023 / Eric Alonso/GettyImages
Bakayoko rejected a move to the Premier League in the summer / BSR Agency/GettyImages
Simons is starring for RB Leipzig after impressing at PSV last season / Luciano Lima/GettyImages
Zaire-Emery is set to become the cornerstone of France's midfield / FRANCK FIFE/GettyImages
Harry Kane's brilliance has taken some shine of Musiala's genius / Sebastian El-Saqqa - firo sportphoto/GettyImages
Gavi had enjoyed a stellar 2023 before he sustained a devastating knee injury / Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/GettyImages
Saka almost fired Arsenal to the Premier League title last season / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
Wirtz is leading Leverkusen's quest to dethrone Bayern in the Bundesliga / Ralf Ibing - firo sportphoto/GettyImages
Real Madrid sensation Bellingham won the 2023 Golden Boy Award / Denis Doyle/GettyImages
