Man Utd ‘flop’ joins Cole Palmer and multi-club pioneer in top ten U21 goal contributors

No prizes for guessing who leads the way as the Under-21 with the most combined goals and assists in Europe’s top five leagues, but there’s a Premier League star on Jude Bellingham’s heels.

10) Fares Chaibi (Toulouse/Frankfurt) – G2 A10

Chaibi joined Frankfurt for £8.5m in the summer and has proven to be a smart acquisition. Four of his ten assists came in the Europa Conference League but we won’t hold that against a player who had caught Mikel Arteta’s eye before joining the Bundesliga side and has double the number of goal contributions as £67m Kai Havertz.

9) Matias Soule (Frosinone) – G10 A2

On loan from Juventus, Frosinone would be in the Serie A relegation zone were it not for Soule, who has been compared to Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona, because he’s Argentinian and newspapers like to jinx the careers of young players before they’ve even really started.

8) Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim) – G8 A5

Jurgen Klopp is reportedly a big fan, and Xabi Alonso probably is too. Beier spent the previous two seasons on loan at Hannover without pulling up any trees, but returned to his parent club in the summer and has proven his worth, which – without putting too fine a point on it – boils down to being sh*t quick.

7) Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United) – G11 A2

Quite a few of us tipped him to be the biggest flop of all and were feeling pretty smug at Christmas, but after five in five in the Premier League it looks as though Havertz or Sandro Tonali may have been better shouts. Hojlund might just prove to be a rare case of United paying a reasonable price for a footballer.

Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund celebrates

6) Savio (Girona) – G7 A7

A young, very talented footballer being the face of this multi-club ownership loophole is just one of many things wrong with it.

5) Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao) – G5 A10

He signed a three-year contract renewal in December in an apparent bid to show his ‘loyalty’ to Athletic, but a reported release clause of just £43m isn’t likely to dissuade anyone, and that’s presumably why Williams and his representative pushed for it. Arsenal are supposedly the Premier League side most interested, with Williams almost certainly a cheaper option to Pedro Neto.

4) Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig) – G7 A9

He got 21 goals and 12 assists for PSV Eindhoven last season having been allowed to leave Paris Saint-Germain for nothing, and reportedly came pretty close to joining Manchester United – among others – in the summer, only for PSG to take advantage of a £4m buy-back clause before sending him on loan to RB Leipzig. He’s now valued at £60m and the Ligue 1 side have been tipped to ‘make him the face of their post-Kylian Mbappe future’. No pressure.

3) Florian Wirtz (Bayern Leverkusen) – G8 A15

Images of the 20-year-old donning a red kit for the featured image of YouTube skills videos titled ‘Florian Wirtz: Welcome to Liverpool’ existed even before Jurgen Klopp announced his departure, but they’re now widespread with everyone assuming Alonso will be next in at Anfield and make the young playmaker his first summer signing. They could do worse.

2) Cole Palmer (Man City/Chelsea) – G14 A9

Manchester City possibly should have seen Palmer’s goals in the Community Shield and Super Cup as a sign not to allow him to leave for Chelsea, but then they’re doing alright without him. Conversely, Chelsea would have been entirely screwed had they not got their last deal of the summer over the line. ‘Do Chelsea really need to splash out more money on yet another forward?’ was the Evening Standard’s perfectly reasonable but now laughable take, shared by many at the time. He’s been their best winger, their best No.10 and best No.9 this season, and unquestionably the best signing of the Todd Boehly era.

1) Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) – G20 A8

Third behind Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane if we add the oldies into the mix, and although we were all well aware of the brilliance that led Real Madrid to spend £90m him, if anyone says they predicted Bellingham would be top scorer in his debut La Liga season they are a big fat liar. If he maintains his current level he will be the greatest English footballer of all time; if he continues to develop he will be among the greatest of any nationality.