There’s talent everywhere you look, with hidden football gems found on streets, parks, and everywhere the beautiful game is played.
The dream of every scout is to come across an undiscovered diamond in the rough with the potential to go on and achieve great things — players who can help win titles, grow their club’s profile and possibly be sold on for an enormous profit.
However, most clubs typically don’t have the resources to have scouts covering every area where talent may be present.
Players suffer as a result and may never be able to fulfil their ambitions of breaking into top-level football.
For many years, this has been a massive issue in Africa, with many of the world’s greatest players hailing from the continent — yet a lack of opportunities has deprived many potential future greats of the chance to play at the highest possible level.
The Danish company Eyeball has gone a long way toward changing this.
Founded in 2020, Eyeball is a platform that covers youth football from across the globe.
One of the most exciting elements of Eyeball is its coverage of Africa, particularly in the west of the continent; scouts from some of the biggest clubs around the world can now watch Africa’s best upcoming talent that could have previously gone undiscovered.
In this article, we will cover 11 young players who could well become the continent’s next big breakthrough stars.
Using Eyeball’s filtering system, we’ve selected players under 18 who have played at least 10 recorded games; this scout report will then create an 11-a-side team comprised entirely of some of Africa’s best young players.
Favour Aputaziem Scouting Report At Beyond Limits FA – 17 Years Old Goalkeeper From Nigeria
Favour Aputaziem is one of three representatives from the Nigerian youth academy Beyond Limits FA, which operates as an academy for Remo Stars.
The academy has played in several international tournaments, and Aputaziem has impressed, most notably in the Viareggio Cup, where he won the Golden Glove, keeping three clean sheets in seven games.
Aputaziem has all the makings of a modern goalkeeper.
His 85% forward passing percentage shows his ability to progress in play.
He does demonstrate many of the technical abilities required to be a top goalkeeper, most notably his ability to catch the ball — he has averaged three catches per 90, making the most of his great stature.
Standing at 194cm, his combination of height and athleticism allows him to make such a high number of catches.
Here, as a cross is lobbed over Aputaziem’s head, he backpedals quickly and produces an incredible leap to catch the ball, stopping a certain goal.
Oluwaseyi Ogunniyi Scouting Report At Beyond Limits FA – 17 Years Old Right Back From Nigeria
Oluwaseyi Ogunniyi is another shining light of Beyond Limits FA.
The full-back has several qualities that are sure to catch the eye of top clubs, including a win rate of 54% in defensive duels and an average of six crosses per 90.
However, it’s Ogunniyi’s ability to drive by players that are most impressive.
In this example, Ogunniyi has picked up the ball deep; he drives by a couple of opponents with ease, allowing his team to progress up the pitch.
His impressive take-on success rate of 78% highlights his consistency in driving beyond opponents.
Serigne Fallou Diouf Scouting Report At AS Génération Foot – 17 Years Old Centre-Back From Senegal
The commanding Senegalese centre-back Serigne Fallou Diouf plies his trade at one of Africa’s top talent producers—AS Génération Foot.
They have developed players such as Ismaïla Sarr and Sadio Mané, and Serigne Fallou Diouf looks destined to follow in their footsteps.
The Senegal U17 international loves to battle with opposition centre-forwards, and he boasts a defensive duel win rate of 68.95%.
His standout quality undoubtedly must be his ability to win balls in the air.
In this situation, a long ball is played forward.
Diouf rises above his opponent with an incredible leap and makes an excellent defensive header, easily beating him. This type of situation is not uncommon for Diouf, who has an aerial duel win percentage of 75%.
Tali Dia Scouting Report At United Académie – 16 Years Old Centre-Back From Senegal
Tali Dia plays for United Académie, which is based in Thies.
Like his compatriot Diouf, Dia has represented his country on the international stage — recently being called up to Les Lions’ U20 squad.
Dia is very defensively capable, as his position requires.
He has an unbelievable success rate of 84% when competing in the air and wins 62% of defensive duels per 90.
Dia also has all the makings of a modern-day centre-back.
Here, we see Dia driving out of defence with the ball.
Spotting an out-to-in run by his teammate, he plays an excellent threaded ball, putting the required pace to meet its intended target.
He has a forward pass success rate of 71%.
Godson Kumi Scouting Report At EurAfrica Academy – 17 Years Old Left-Back From Ghana
EurAfrica, based in Accra, is producing numerous players who are moving to clubs in nations such as Italy and Serbia.
This production line does not appear to be stopping anytime soon with the emergence of Godson Kumi.
The full-back averages 4.2 crosses per 90 and produces 1.8 key passes each game.
Despite these impressive attacking statistics, Kumi is, first and foremost, a great defender.
He’s commanding in the air, winning 71.1 per cent of his aerial duels, and his ability to defend 1v1 is also impressive.
In this situation, Kumi is tight to his opponent.
As the ball travels towards his direct opponent, he puts them under severe pressure.
As the opposition forward attempts to turn, Kumi steps in and wins the ball quickly.
Kumi has won 75% of his ground duels.
Olamilekan Adegboyega Scouting Report At Beyond Limits FA – 17 Years Old Right-Winger From Nigeria
Olamilekan Adegboyega usually plays as a traditional winger—he plays on the right flank, the same side as his preferred foot.
In terms of attacking output, he averages four crosses and 0.42 goals per 90.
Defensively, he also provides some contribution, winning 53.13% of his defensive duels.
His main strength, however, is his ability to dribble by players in 1v1 situations.
In this scenario, Adegboyega picks the ball up deep in the opponent’s half.
He almost loses the ball after cutting back, yet he shakes off a robust challenge, giving him space in front of him.
He then drives forward and shows off his incredible speed.
He is successful in 61% of his take-ons.
Mohamed Abdul Kader Koné Scouting Report At ASEC Mimosas – 17 Years Old Central Midfielder From Ivory Coast
Mohamed Abdul Kader Koné hails from one of Africa’s most famous clubs: ASEC Mimosas — Ivory Coast’s most successful side, with 29 league titles and a CAF Champions League triumph among the honours to their name.
The club is also synonymous with some of Ivory Coast’s most outstanding players; Solomon Kalou, Kolo Touré, and Yaya Touré have all come through the ranks of the Abidjan club.
Koné is similar to many former graduates in that he’s technically gifted, along with having real quality in possession.
He averages two shots and 3.5 tackles per 90.
However, his passing is his most excellent quality.
In this situation, Koné has the ball fired into his feet.
Prior to receiving the ball, he scans to check his surroundings before swiftly taking the ball on his back foot and playing forward.
He has a passing accuracy of 84%.
Bandama Gilbert Yao Scouting Report At Racing Club Abidjan – 18 Years Old Central Midfielder From Ivory Coast
Bandama Gilbert Yao, like Koné, plays for one of Ivory Coast’s Ligue 1 sides.
RC Abidjan has a fruitful partnership with Nice, which has seen many of its young players move to France to further their development.
If Yao makes a move, clubs across Europe will be interested in his elite-level capabilities.
Yao is not the most defensive-minded player, winning only 40.6% of his tackles.
On the ball, however, it’s a different story.
He averages 1.62 key passes per 90 minutes, showing his eye for creating for others.
The midfielder is also well able to create chances for himself.
Averaging 2.9 shots per 90, Yao is able to unlock defences by going past players in tight spaces and creating chances for himself.
In this example, he does just that.
Dribbling by one player, he fires the ball in from a distance, scoring an incredible goal.
Daniel Kwame Awuni Scouting Report At Accra Lions FC – 18 Years Old Left-Winger From Ghana
Daniel Kwane Awuni has impressively already made 35 appearances in the first team of Ghanian Premier League side Accra Lions.
The club has exported players worldwide, with alumni in nations such as the USA, Malaysia, and Georgia.
Awuni may be the next to depart.
The U20 international shows his versatility by being able to play both on the left and the right flank.
He lacks a goalscoring threat, only averaging 0.14 goals per 90.
Yet his standout features are his ability to go by players and create chances.
In this situation, Awuni progresses down the line.
He intelligently clips the ball to the back post, picking out his free teammate, who is able to head the ball back into danger.
Awuni averages 1.8 key passes 90; he also has a crossing accuracy of 40.7%.
Fode Camara Scouting Report At Académie des Etoiles du Mandé – 18 Years Old Centre-Forward From Mali
Fode Camara is the sole Malian representative in this Africa scouting report, which is currently being developed at Académie des Etoiles du Mandé, winners of the famous youth tournament, The Mediterranean Cup.
This achievement has caught the attention of many, and could see some of its products break into the European game — Camara will be one many will tip to do so.
Like every good striker, Camara has a particular clinical edge.
Scoring 0.84 goals per 90 minutes, the forward is a nightmare for defenders.
Averaging 3.9 shots per 90 minutes, Camara has proven to be a penalty box predator.
Here, as his team breaks forward, Camara does everything to get into a goalscoring position.
The ball is played into his path, allowing him to put it into the net.
Adeshina Ayodele Scouting Report At Beyond Limits FA – 18 Years Old Centre-Forward From Nigeria
Adeshina Ayodele from Beyond Limits FA has been monitored by many top clubs across Europe.
Having scored five goals at the Viareggio Cup, the Nigerian was keen to be acquired by Belgian and Dutch sides, in particular.
However, Lille have won the race to sign the deadly striker.
Ayodele will make the move at some point this summer.
The French club will have been impressed by his all-round game.
He has been successful in 82.05% of his take-ons and 47% of his defensive duels.
However, like every good centre forward, goals are his bread and butter.
In this scenario, Ayodele gets in between two defenders, which gives him the space to be picked out.
The ball finds the front man’s head, and Ayodele guides it beautifully over the goalkeeper.
He has averaged 1.03 goals per 90, which shows his ruthlessness in front of the goal.
Conclusion
From this article, two things are evident.
Firstly, Eyeball is quickly transforming clubs’ possibilities when searching for young, upcoming talent to recruit, and teams across the globe will be able to discover talent that previously they would have never had the capability to find.
Secondly, it’s clear that Africa is and always will be full of enormously talented players.
Teams worldwide would be wise to invest time and resources into recruiting within this fruitful region of football talent.
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