Eredivisie
Four Eredivisie talents shine in Guardian's list of 60 world stars
One of the most enjoyable side stories in football is following the future stars, and has recently published a list of sixty worldwide talents that includes four players from the Eredivisie. The British newspaper uses one criterion: born in 2009, so they will celebrate their seventeenth birthday this calendar year.
The four Dutch names
The Eredivisie representation consists of Mikkel Bro Hansen (PSV), Abdellah Ouazane (Ajax), Mohamed Abdalla (Ajax) and Jerayno Schaken (Feyenoord). Ouazane is praised as a ‘Rolls‑Royce‑midfielder’ with exceptional composure and both feet, and is already being compared to Jude Bellingham. Abdalla received praise for a stormy start: he scored on his debut and is mentioned alongside legends such as Johan Cruijff and Marco van Basten.
Personal stories and ambitions
Schaken, the young striker of Feyenoord, showed in a TV interview enormous confidence and declared three days before an important match against Barcelona at Camp Nou that Real Madrid is his dream destination, while he previously claimed to be “one hundred percent better” than his father. The list also shows that France provides the most talents (four), followed by Spain, Brazil, Germany and Turkey with three each.
Guardian praises two Dutch talents from Ajax and Feyenoord, plus a PSV player
There are no players from Premier‑League‑clubs on the Guardian list, while the newspaper has compiled a separate selection of forty footballers for its own competition, including Arsenal‑prodigy Max Dowman.
The publication underscores how the discovery of new talent makes many football hearts beat faster, and shows that the Dutch league plays an important role in worldwide talent development.