The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

| Next | Section Menu | Main Menu | Previous |
Football
Rising stars: 10 players to watch in 2017
Gabriel Jesus, about to join Manchester City, and Liverpool’s youngest goalscorer, Ben Woodburn,
are among the game’s best prospects
From left to right: Alexander Isak of AIK, Juventus’s Moise Kean, Gabriel Jesus, who is leaving
Palmeiras, and Liverpool’s Ben Woodburn Composite: Ombrello/Getty Images, NurPhoto/Getty
Images, Reuters, Rex/Shutterstock
Nick Ames and Nick Miller
Wednesday 28 December 2016 13.59 GMT Last modified on Wednesday 28 December 2016
17.43 GMT
Naby Keïta (RB Leipzig, 21)
Keïta was relatively unheralded outside Austria when he left RB Salzburg – to all intents a sister club
to Leipzig – in the summer after a two-year stay but he had already been named the country’s player of
the year and cannot be a million miles from a similar honour in Germany. Four years ago he was
playing for Horoya in his native Guinea, getting his breakthrough in Europe with the French secondtier
club Istres; Europe’s biggest names have been interested for some time and it is not hard to see
why. A dynamic, box-to-box central midfielder, he has drawn comparisons with N’Golo Kanté but
distributes the ball with a range and accuracy that has evoked parallels with Deco. That is a potent
enough mix without a keen eye for goal: Keïta was on the scoresheet a dozen times for Salzburg last
season and there have been four more in the Bundesliga this season – including an opening-day
winner against Borussia Dortmund and a cracker in the victory at Mainz. Keïta is fundamental to the
high-intensity pressing game taught by Ralph Hasenhüttl and characterises the fresh, positive feel
behind the entire Leipzig team; they must hope their achievements match up to their prize asset’s
potential in the seasons to come. Nick Ames
Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City, 19)