Ballers Abroad

Young English players playing abroad in the other 4 big leagues of Europe has been relatively unknown this century, but in this post we will discuss four rising talents who have taken that plunge and are really setting a trend for youngsters to go abroad in order to find more game time.

When discussing this topic Jadon Sancho is the obvious name to talk about. Rising to fame when we left Man City for Dortmund the summer of 2017 and has gone on to light up the Bundesliga, filling the void left by Ousmane Dembele.

Lets get into the young English winger's background before we start discussing his time at Dortmund. Born 25th of March in 2000, he's a London boy, who was discovered by a footballing coach named Sayce Holmes-Lewis, whilst Jadon was playing football with other local lads, Reiss Nelson & Ian Carlo Povedo. This coach approached the youngsters, talked to them about footballing skills and even decided to use his own footballing connections to get them opportunities in football. A real destiny kind of moment.

Jadon then went on to join Watford Academy at the age of 7, due to the help of Holmes-Lewis. This coach went on to have Jadon and his friends to play for his under 11's team of south London's best young players at this age group. They went on to win an under 11's tournament at a London youth football event. It was soon after this that Jadon started to show his real talent for Watford and as the years went on more and more Premier league scouts started watching Jadon play.

It was in 2015 that Jadon joined Man City at the age of 14. He continued to impress for the Manchester youth setup, winning youth awards and started to make a name for himself. However, it was in 2017 when Jadon decided he was to leave Man City and join German Giants Borussia Dortmund, in fact it was only hours before their Us tour that Jadon informed the world of his decision to leave the Northern side. His reasoning was lack of playing time for the first team and not seeing a route to the senior side, which is a concern for many young English players looking to make their debuts for their own clubs.

Now looking at his time at Dortmund, it is easy to see why young upcoming players are more inclined to go overseas to play football and seek out opportunities. It is easy to see why Jadon chose Dortmund of all clubs to sign for, a club who have a history of giving youngsters opportunities and having relatively young sides all together. It was even reported that in the contract Jadon signed, there was a clause to say he would be immediately involved in the first team set-up, quite the incentive for a youngster. It didn't take long for Jadon to get his debut for the club, coming on late in the game for injured Maximilian Phillip against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 2-2 draw. This was just 4 days after impressing for Dortmund the U-19's 2-0 win in the UEFA Youth League against APOEL, a game he also scored in. This quick debut for the club made the young Englishmen the youngest player to feature in the Bundesliga that season and showed how much Dortmund believe in him, something that every youngster wants from his club. Even though his debut was against Frankfurt, he was on the bench on the 30th of September against Augsburg, such early on faith from the club goes a long way for a youngster and you can see why Jadon has gone on to become a superstar. Following on from this it did take Jadon time to properly set in to the setup and get his first start for the German club, but this is very understandable with Jadon only being 17, not speaking German and adapting to his new clubs style of play. Furthermore, he missed matches for the Germans through international duty, especially with the U-17's world cup, in which Jadon missed the knockout stages, but helped his fellow young lions top their group and was given a winners medal for this part he played in the world cup win for the youngsters. His first 6 months he got a total of 16 minutes for the club coming off the bench, although one game he came on against the Bundesliga Champions in a 2-1 win for ten minutes, a massive milestone for the youngster. however in the second half of the season is where Jadon really started to hit his stride.

Aided by the arrival of a new manager, Peter Stöger in December in 2017, who seemed to be a real fan of Jadon Sancho, "Jadon is a very, very talented lad, a real live-wire,", hearing quotes like this from your new manager as such a young player would be a huge boost and would give him all the confidence he needs to push on from a slow start at the club. Following on from this, new manager Peter Stöger handed the youngster his first start for the club against Wolfsburg in a 0-0 draw on January 14th, a game he clearly impressed in, shown by the fact he started in the next two games against Hertha Berlin & Freiburg. In the Hertha game especially in continued to excite people, getting his first assist for the club, which we know now would not be the last one for the club, being nicknamed "the assist king". He went on to come off the bench in the next game against Cologne in the 72nd minute, but unfortunately was forced off with a ligament injury which kept the youngster out for several weeks, missing 5 games. It was soon after this that Jadon Announced himself on the scene with a start against Bayer Leverkusen, scoring his first goal for the club & 2 assists, a brilliant performance for the young winger and a real statement of intent. In total 2017/18 season Jadon scored 1 goal and got 4 assists, which for a 17 year old in a new country, league and club, was a good return for me and set him up for a very promising season to follow.

It was his 2018/19 season where everyone knew his name and he declared himself as a superstar. Signing for the club for a rumoured 8 million euros and following his season last year he is now valued at around 100 million euros, a real step up for the youngster. When we look at the stats, you can see why his value has sky rocketed...

43 games

- 34 in Bundesliga

- 7 in Champions league

- 2 in DFB-Pokal

31 started

- 26 in Bundesliga

- 5 in Champions league

13 goals

- 228 minutes per goal

- 12 in Bundesliga

- 1 in Champions league

16 assists

- 14 in Bundesliga

- 1 in Champions league

- 1 in DFB-Pokal

Comparing this to last season you can see a massive difference in the numbers and an obvious reason for his huge increase in value. What we can see with these numbers is, Jadon added end product to his game, taking in knowledge and learning from his fellow players to improve his game and then bring that in the following season, with the numbers he put up is astonishing for someone of his age. He was also one of the many reasons why Dortmund came so close to stealing the German title away from the Bavarian Giants, his assists & goals gave them another outlet and won them many games. Along with his goals & assists, Jadon also completed the most successful dribbles of any player, 113 to be exact, 42 more than the next player (Thorgan Hazard). It was a brilliant year for the young winger, fully establishing himself as one of the best, if not the best, upcoming young player in the world and fully expect him to continue his upwards trajectory into the next season. Another thing to note about this season for Jadon was his champions league debut, in the first round of games of the champions league, becoming the 7th English player to play in the champions league for a non-British team. As we can see from above, He played 7 out of 8 games in the champions league games for Dortmund and gained vital experience in the European Cup.

It is obvious that Jadon Sancho is a real baller and will have a very bright future ahead of him, but what i like a lot about him is that he stayed at Dortmund this year, when there were many other clubs interested in him, some arguably bigger than Dortmund. This suggests that he takes his career very seriously, wants game time and opportunities over a big money move, which i respect him immensely for.

Reiss Nelson is a close friend to Jadon Sancho, so it is obvious why he chose to join Hoffenhiem on loan from Arsenal last summer and follow in the footsteps of his friend. He is another winger who showed his talent in the Bundesliga, proving a point to his owner club, Arsenal, that he is ready for more chances in the senior setup.

We will look into his background before moving onto his time at Hoffenhiem. He joined Arsenal at the age of 9, where he constantly impressed and worked his way up the ranks of the youth system, it was when he started playing for the U-23's that he started to get really noticed by the club, scoring 17 goals & 11 assists in 38 games for the young gunners, great return for a winger at any level. It was also during this time in December 2016, Reiss signed his first professional contract with arsenal when he was just 17. The talent this kid possessed was obvious but the step up from youth teams to senior isn't always so easy. In the season of 2017/18, current manager at the time, Arsene Wenger brought Reiss on their preseason tour and gave him his first senior appearance for the club in a friendly in the International Champions Cup against Bayern Munich... quite the team to make your first senior appearance too. He went on to make 16 appearances for the Arsenal first team that season, making his debut in the Community Shield against Chelsea as a substitute. Played games in every competition for the gunners that season, most of them coming in the Europa league (8 games), making his European debut against FC Köln on September 14th, again as a substitute. His first start for the club came a week after in the League cup against Doncaster Rovers, but the big milestone of the season was his Premier League debut on April 8th, in a 3-2 win against Crystal Palace, a young English players dream. It was a season of milestones for the youngster and he finished it off in style, winning the PL2 player of the year award and signing a new long term contract with Arsenal in May 2018.

He has also played a number of games for England's youth teams, starting with U-16's and moving all the way up to the U-21's, playing 31 games and scoring 18 goals for his country. If he continues his rise, I'm sure that we will be seeing the name Reiss Nelson being called up for the senior side by our beloved waist coat wearing Gareth Southgate.

Now for his time at Hoffenheim with young manager Julian Nagelsmann, who i believe would of been a compelling factor in Reiss's decision to join the German side, as he is a manager who shows a great deal of faith in his young players. This is aided by a quote from Reiss to the FA's website .. "Julian's a great manager and he's got belief in young players so it's a good place for me to go and play. He's very young, he's only 31 and I think it's important to go to a team and a coach who believes in you, so he was the main reason, because he is willing to play us." Reiss believed in the coach and vice versa. I think this was a good move for both parties, bringing in Reiss emphasised everything Naglesmann wants to do in football and also replaced Serge Gnabry, and signing for Naglesmann gave Reiss the chance he always wanted, to show he can do it on the main stage.

It didn't take long for Reiss to get his debut for the club, coming off the bench on September 15th against Fortuna Düsseldorf, the blues lost 2-1 but bright spark Reiss scored in the 88th minute almost gaining Hoffenheim a draw if it wasn't for late 90th minute winner by Dodi Lukebakio. We also have a quote from him after this game, " Getting the experience under Julian [Nagelsmann], under new players, playing the game and getting new tactics from everyone and involved and hopefully then to push on to make the first team and show what I can do, score goals, create goals and just be a great player for the team.". The kid just wants to play and show what he can do, an desire for many young English players.

Reiss continued this good start to life in Germany with his Champions league debut against Shaktar Donetsk 4 days after his league debut for the German side. The youngster came on in the 77th minute, being the first sub of the game for Hoffenheim, came on to change the game, but unfortunately they went on to lose to an late goal from the Ukrainian side, but none the less, valued experience in the Champions league. He continued to impress for the German side, winning rookie of the month for his efforts and 6 goals from 7 appearances (only 4 being starts) for Hoffenheim, becoming their top goal scorer so far that season and certainly making a name for himself.

Reiss went on to play 28 games for the club, 23 in the league and 5 in the Champions league, scoring 7 goals and 1 assist all in the league, not bad return for a winger at 18 years of age. These games were prominently from the bench but still good experience and playing time for the youngster.

Also have to touch on the fact that there were some discipline issues along his loan spell, turning up to training late a couple times, meaning being dropped by the manager for a game, not something that you like to see, but its a learning curve for the youngster and he will come out of it better.

Words from Reiss after he was dropped against Nurnburg"I was late to training, I was 20 minutes late, and that’s something I need to learn from."

"You can make mistakes but it’s your job and you shouldn’t be late." clearly learned from the mistake and won't let it happen again in his career.

He also had injury issues on this loan spell, which is another reason he didn't play as much games as the youngster would of liked, suffering a back injury in January, his early flourish in the German league was faulted by injuries and discipline. It is safe to say though, that this was a successful loan spell for Reiss Nelson and proved to many people in England that he has the potential and skill to go on and play for top clubs. The youngster is now with Arsenal on their preseason tour but could well end up on loan again to another club, and if he does I see no reason why he wouldn't look to going back to Germany or maybe another top league among Europe. The baller has real potential to be a top player some day, he just needs the game time to develop and personally i hope he goes overseas again to seek out that opportunity.

Keanan Bennetts is a relatively unknown player who made the switch to the Bundesliga summer of 2018, moving from Tottenham Hotspur to Borussia Mönchengladbach. The youngster was born in London, 09/03/1999. He signed for the German club on a 4 year contract for a fee of around £2 million. The youngster is a very pacey winger with strength, ability to beat a man, eye for goal and a wicked set piece.

If we look at his time with Spurs, before we move onto his time in the German League. There isn't much knowledge on his early career with Spurs, but he clearly has worked his way up the ranks from a young age, all the way to the U-23's, playing in the Premier league 2 the season before he signed for the German side. The left winger played 32 games in the PL2, UFEA Youth League and the EFL Trophy, scoring 9 goals and supplying 8 assists, fairly impressive return for a young winger and obviously caught the eye of the staff at Borussia Mönchengladbach. A notable game from this season was against Chelsea, were Keanan scored 2 free kicks in one game and securing safety for the young spurs side in the PL2. Few words from the U-23's coach about the youngster after this game, " Both of Keanan’s free-kicks were well-executed. He scored a free-kick against Arsenal as well, so technically he’s very good. He has this ability to make the ball get up and over the wall quickly so I’m pleased for him.", obviously a talented free kick taker, a valuable skill to have for a young forward. He also shone in the EFL trophy game against AFC Wimbledon, playing against senior players, and setting up two goals during the game. Obviously a talented youngster but not getting the game time for the senior team with Spurs, so you can understand why he sort out a move from the London club. It is also well note worthy that Spurs were very shocked by this move, and said to be very disappointed in his decision, not wanting to lose the youngster.

Now for his time with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Keanan hasnt played a game for the German senior side yet but has used this time to settle in and adapt to his new surroundings. He's been playing all his games for Mönchengladbach "B side/reserves" in the Regionalliga West, getting up to speed with life and style of German football. Notably young Keanan scored on his on his debut for the B side in July against VFB Stuttgart in his first two minutes, a good start to his time in Germany. However, after this early flourish, he went on to play another 20 games for the B side without scoring another goal, a dry spell for the youngster. It is obvious that Keanan will take time to adapt to life in Germany and the football culture, but with a manager who has faith in him and gives him a long term contract with club, maybe Keanan can live up to his potential after all. His new manager had a few words on the youngster, "Keanan can play a variety of attacking roles. We back him to make the step up to the Bundesliga. We're delighted he's chosen to sign for Borussia." giving Keanan a well earned boost and confidence that his manager has faith in him and that he will make the step up to senior football soon enough. The young baller might take longer than his fellow Englishmen Jadon & Reiss but his time will come, Germany is the perfect league for young aspiring talent.

Josh Maja is a different one for us to discuss, as unlike the players above him, Josh came from the league one side Sunderland and chose to join the French league side Bordeaux. The youngster was born in London, 27/12/1998, making him 20 years of age, the oldest of the four we have discussed. However, Josh Maja is also the most experienced before his move abroad having played 49 games for the Sunderland senior side, at a lower level it must be noted but senior game time is important at every level.

Josh joined the Black cats in 2015 and played among their youth teams until his efforts were noticed in 2017 by manager Simon Grayson who brought him along on their preseason tour, where Josh thoroughly impressed, ending the tour top goalscorer on 4, but also injured, as the youngster got was forced off in their last game against Bradford city and was ruled out for 4 months. It was on his return that he made his debut for the club in late December against Fulham, a game he scored the only goal and secured Sunderland's first home win of the season and calendar year. Unfortunately for Josh by this time Sunderland's fate seemed already certain for relegation, he went on to play another 16 games for the club but failed to score in any, which proved to be a season to forget for Sunderland, but a learning period for the young forward. It was his next season in League one that was his breakout season, playing 26 games, 2 of which were in the EFL Trophy, scoring 16 goals and supplying 2 assists in the first half of the season. It was this first 6 months that saw Bordeaux interested in the youngster and ended in him signing for the French side in the January transfer window for a rumoured fee of 1.7 million euros.

Now for his first 6 months at Bordeaux. The young forward made his debut just 22 days after signing for the club, starting and playing 67 minutes on February 17th in a 2-1 win over Toulouse, which is a derby for Bordeaux (Derby de la Garonne). He went on to play another 6 games for the club, scoring his first goal on April 20th, but the celebrations were short lived with the youngster suffering a knee injury late on in the first half, and thus ending his season. Tough break for the young Englishmen, but to get his first start and goal for a new club just a few months in is a great start for Josh and I'm sure he will come back stronger and continue his good work in this new venture of his.

All these ballers are proving that youngsters don't have to always make it in the English leagues, life overseas is just as good or even better, opportunities can come quicker and development could be better suited for them overseas, in leagues such as the Bundesliga or Ligue 1. I'm sure that other young talents in England will use these players as examples, and follow in their footsteps.