Eastern Europe remains one of the true hotbeds of football development from a talent perspective. Throughout the years this region has given us some of the most technically talented players that the game has seen with the likes of Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria and Gheorghe Hagi of Romania standing out. Now, we have the evergreen Croatian midfielder Luka Modrić and the Georgian international Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who is lighting up Serie A and the Champions League.

While the financial evolution of European football has slowed the progress in European competition for most clubs from the Eastern side of the continent, that has not led to a pause in the talent development conveyor belt. Teams that are smart in terms of their recruitment will already be tracking the latest young players in the region who are playing regular first-team minutes and beginning to put together outputs to match their potential. For the most part, these clubs will either have consultants or agents on the ground to advise which of these players are breaking through but the more sensible way to work is to combine this with the use of data to identify players of interest.

Every month I run code that generates an emerging talent sheet with bespoke metrics that cover attacking, ball progression and defending. Since I use Wyscout data this provides an extremely extensive list of young players across World football. In this scout report, I will use the latest of these outputs to provide tactical analysis of some of the most interesting young players who are currently breaking through in Eastern Europe. I should state at this point that this article is not intended to surface the ‘best’ or even the ‘best known’ but instead to give some insight into players who are beginning to show that they are capable of playing at a higher level.

Here you can see a snapshot of part of the emerging talent spreadsheet which has been filtered to show leagues in Eastern Europe and then ranked by goal contributions per 90. The usage column on the sheet is arguably one of the most important factors in using data in this way as it shows the percentage of available minutes that the player has played for their team. Obviously, this means that when we look at the rankings and see that three out of the top-four ranked players have less than 35% usage we have to take this into account when using this as a recruitment tool.

Now though we can move on to look at the first of the five players that I have picked out to provide an analysis on.

Octavian Popescu, 20 years old, winger, FCSB and Romania

Octavian Popescu is arguably the player that we will cover in this article that is most ready to make a move to a top-five European league. As you can see from his pizza chart his output so far this season, where he has 1913 league minutes, he has been excellent across the attacking and ball progression metrics.

Popescu has already made his full international debut for Romania and he has five caps to his name. He did not come through the youth system at FCSB but instead developed at AS Metropolitan before moving to FCSB in 2020. Now, at 20 years old, the left-sided winger is ready to take the next step in his career.

So far this season, he is in the 73rd percentile for goal contributions (goals and assists) and the 67th percentile for expected goal contributions as well as sitting in the 78th percentile for shots per 90. All of these point to a player who carries a regular and consistent threat on goal. Popescu, however, also impresses in terms of his passing and ball progression. He is a volume passer who is in the 96th percentile for passes per 90 but also a dangerous passer of the ball who is in the 95th percentile for dangerous passes (passes to the final third and penalty area) and the 90th percentile for progressive passes.

While Popescu is ‘only’ in the 62nd percentile for carries per 90 his ability to carry the ball from the left-flank or the left-sided half-space into dangerous areas and to penetrate the opposition penalty area is one of his biggest strengths. He will access the penalty area and then look for opportunities to shift the ball to an angle to shoot or he will find a way to combine and create a goalscoring opportunity for a teammate. You can see from the chart showing his penetrating carries just how dangerous and effective he has been from these positions and this analysis provides greater insight into the player.

At the end of this season, it is likely that Octavian Popescu will move on from Romania. A move to Serie A, where Romanian players have a history of being productive, would make sense at this point.

Nikolay Zlatev, 18 years old, Winger, Cherno More and Bulgaria

Next up, we will go to Bulgaria where the 18-year-old right-winger Nikolay Zlatev is impressing with Cherno More. So far this season, the young attacking player has played 873 minutes in the Bulgarian top flight and he is a very good example of early identification of young players using data as an early indicator or scout report.

As you can see from his pizza chart, he has not started to really pop in terms of his outputs but there are enough indicators within the data to suggest that he is more than worth following. The young winger, who is a product of the youth system at Cherno More has been capped by Bulgaria twice so far at U21 level, but I would expect this number to increase quickly.

Interestingly, he is comfortably outperforming his expected goal contributions output at the moment as he is in the 62nd percentile for goal contributions but only the 37th percentile for expected goal contributions. What is clear from his data so far this season, however, we can see that he is aggressive in his approach when in possession as he is in the 88th percentile for dribbles, the 87th percentile for dangerous passes and the 66th percentile for progressive passes. Whenever he is on the ball he looks to move his team forward.

As with Popescu, we can look at the chart for penetrating carries for Zlatev and you can again see that he provides significant threat when taking possession of the ball wide on the right or in the half-space and then driving inside to break into the opposition penalty area. This is, again, in keeping with the fact that the data tells us that he is very aggressive and forward-thinking when in possession of the ball.

At just 18 years old Zlatev has not yet established himself as a regular first-team player. It is entirely possible that he may spend one more season in Bulgaria to achieve this, although equally, I could see a club in the Eredivise, Poland or Belgium looking to move him earlier in order to capitalise on his potential.

Szymon Włodarczyk, 20 years old, Striker, Górnik Zabrze and Poland

Next up, we move to Poland where there is a 20-year-old striker at Górnik Zabrze who is impressing. Szymon Włodarczyk could represent one of the signings of the season having initially started his career with Legia Warsaw. In July 2022, he made the move to join Górnik Zabrze for a fee that is reported to be in the region of £15K and he has quickly established himself as a regular in the first-team and a regular goalscorer. So far this season, he has played 1228 minutes in the Polish top flight.

So far this season, Włodarczyk is in the 48th percentile for goal contributions (although he has scored eight goals in all competitions) and the 69th percentile for expected goal contributions. This suggests that there can be growth in his output and this is further shown by the fact that he is in the 66th percentile for shots per 90 and the 64th percentile for touches in the opposition area per 90.

What has also stood out from Włodarczyk, however, has been his defensive output as he is in the 73rd percentile for defensive duels per 90 and the 71st percentile for aerial duels per 90.

As you can see from Włodarczyk’s xG map, he has scored five league goals from an xG in the league of 5.03 and from 32 shots. All but one of his goals so far have been scored inside the penalty area and he typically takes shots from good positions. This is a result of his understanding of movement to create separation in the penalty area and his tendency to take shots from areas that yield a relatively high xG.

It is unlikely at this point that Włodarczyk, who has been capped twice at U21 level, will be at his current club for long and a move to the Bundesliga or Serie A feels like it could be a sensible next step in his career.

Michal Ševčík, 20 years old, Midfielder, Zbrojovka Brno and Czechia

Next, we go to Czechia where the 20-year-old central midfielder Michal Ševčík has been impressing for Zbrojovka Brno. Playing as an ‘8’, although capable of playing more advanced as a ‘10’, Ševčík has impressed with his attacking drive from the centre of the park.

Ševčík is a product at the youth academy at Zbrojovka Brno although even with a contract that runs until the summer of 2024 it is unlikely that he will still be in Czechia at that point.

The pizza chart for Ševčík is quite instructive in terms of what kind of player he is from the midfield. He is in the 66th percentile for goal contributions and the 59th percentile for expected goal contributions as well as the 66th percentile for shots per 90. He is a midfielder that likes to break forward to attack space and to break into the penalty area.

In possession, he is aggressive in terms of looking to move the ball forward and put his team on the attack. He is in the 72nd percentile for dangerous passes and the 49th percentile for progressive passes.

In the final third, Ševčík is very aggressive in his approach. This pass map shows the progressive passes that the young midfielder plays and you can see that in the final third, he is capable of not only accessing the wide areas but of playing more difficult passes that access the penalty area in the central spaces.

While Ševčík is under contract for another 18 months in Czechia, this is unlikely to prove much of a barrier in terms of him moving this summer. He has the player profile that appears ready-made for a move to a German side at the middle or lower end of the Bundesliga table.

Balint Katona, 20 years old, midfielder, Kecskeméti and Hungary

Our final player is the 20-year-old Hungarian midfielder, Balint Katona. The young midfielder is actually contracted to Ferencvárosi although he is on loan for this season with Kecskeméti. He is a central midfielder who tends to play as the ‘8’ in more advanced areas. At the time of writing, he has been capped three times by Hungary at U21 level, with more caps likely to follow.

Kecskeméti are performing above expectations so far this season and at the time of writing they sit in second place in the table. A large part of this is down to the performances in the centre of the pitch from Katona. He has impressed with his attacking output in particular and is in the 47th percentile for goal contributions and the 49th percentile for expected goal contributions. His underlying attacking performances have also been good — he is in the 68th percentile for shots, the 73rd percentile for dribbles and the 84th percentile for touches in the opposition area.

When in possession of the ball he is an accurate passer (94th percentile for passing accuracy) with good volume (84th percentile for passes per 90) but he still needs to show more in terms of line-breaking or progressive passing.

The pass map for Katona in the league this season shows a player who is active across the width and depth of the pitch. He links the play well going into the final third and gives good angles to teammates when they are in possession of the ball. The young midfielder has the ability to identify and drop into pockets of space to receive the ball and this allows his team to effectively progress the ball.

Going forward, the first step for Katona will be to return from his loan spell and establish himself as a first-team player at Ferencvárosi. If he can do that, then there is every chance that he will be the next Hungarian player to try his luck in a more competitive league.

Conclusion

Eastern Europe continues to be a market that develops and surfaces interesting young players from a variety of positions. The five players identified in this article are just the tip of the iceberg and the region is one that scouts and analysts need to be aware of and check on a regular basis.