What happened to the 50 wonderkids UEFA tipped to be the 'future of football' in 2018

UEFA tipped 50 wonderkids to be the 'future of football' in 2018. Here's what happened to them.

In 2018, UEFA's team of reporters across Europe picked out some of the rising stars of the 2017/18 season.

Some of the players who were backed have since become household names, winning the Champions League and Ballon d'Or while earning themselves big-money transfers.

But others have failed to reach the heights they were predicted to enjoy.

So, almost seven years on - what happened to them? Well, SPORTbible took a look at the players included in the list.

50 wonderkids who were backed to be the 'future of football' in 2018:

Ethan Ampadu - Leeds United

Houssem Aouar - Al Ittihad

Jan-Fiete Arp - Holstein Kiel

Kepa Arrizabalaga - Chelsea (on loan at Bournemouth)

Leon Bailey - Aston Villa

Bailey secured a huge move to the Premier League in the shape of Aston Villa after making a name for himself in Germany's Bundesliga.

Nicolo Barella - Inter Milan

Barella, who was compared to Marco Verratti in the original report, is a hugely important figure in the Inter Milan set-up.

Sander Berge - Fulham

Fedor Chalov - PAOK

Federico Chiesa - Liverpool

Chiesa starred at Euro 2020, inspiring to Italy to glory over England. But his career has somewhat stalled despite signing for the likes of Juventus and Liverpool.

Federico Chiesa celebrates scoring a goal for Italy. Image: Getty

Ante Coric - Varazdin

Frenkie de Jong - Barcelona

Dubbed as 'the next Johan Cruyff', De Jong made his name at Ajax before securing himself a big move to Barca.

Matthijs de Ligt - Manchester United

Just like De Jong, De Ligt came through the ranks at Ajax and played in the same first-team as his fellow countryman. He's played for Juventus and Bayern Munich. The 25-year-old signed for Man United last summer.

Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis - Blackburn Rovers

Mikkel Duelund - AGF

Phil Foden - Manchester City

Foden has become a regular for club and country. He shone in Man City's treble-winning campaign and enjoyed a prolific season in the 2023/24 campaign, scoring an impressive 27 goals across all competitions for the Blues.

Phil Foden in action for Manchester City. Image: Getty

Martin Graiciar - York United

The Czech forward's career hasn't quite panned out how many expected. He enjoyed loans spells away from Fiorentina before signing for Canada's York United, who compete in the Canadian Premier League.

Amine Gouiri - Marseille

David Hancko - Feyenoord

Amine Harit - Marseille

Ivan Ignatyev - JS Kabylie

Luka Jovic - AC Milan

Kirill Kirilenko - Arsenal Dzerzhinsk

Justin Kluivert - Bournemouth

He's having the best goal-scoring season of his career and is finally realising his potential.

Hirving Lozano - San Diego FC

Malcom - Al Hilal

Dennis Man - Parma

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Al Hilal

David Neres - Napoli

Pedro Neto - Chelsea

Benjamin Pavard - Inter Milan

Rodri - Manchester City

The focal point of Pep Guardiola's Man City team. He helped the club to Champions League glory and won the 2024 Ballon d'Or. He was ruled out of the 2024/25 season last September.

Rodri holds aloft the Ballon d'Or. Image: Getty

Abel Ruiz - Braga

Roland Sallai - Galatasaray

Jadon Sancho - Manchester United (on loan at Chelsea)

Sancho has failed to kick on after impressing at Borussia Dortmund. He moved to Man United for £73 million but was unable to replicate his form in Germany to the Premier League.

Malang Sarr - Lens

Ryan Sessegnon - Fulham

Volodymyr Shepelev - Dynamo Kiev

Milan Skriniar - Fenerbahce

Manor Solomon - Tottenham (on loan at Leeds)

Mile Svilar - AS Roma

Martin Terrier - Bayer Leverkusen

Kieran Tierney - Arsenal

Lucas Torreira - Galatasaray

Ferran Torres - Barcelona

Torres joined Man City from Valencia after impressing in Spain. In the summer of 2021, he returned to Spain by signing for Barca.

Viktor Tsyhankov - Girona

Felix Uduokhai - Besiktas

Dayot Upamecano - Bayern Munich

"Expect big things," wrote UEFA. Upamecano swapped Bundesliga allegiances by leaving Red Bull Leipzig for Bayern.

Hannes Wolf - New York City

Yusuf Yazici - Olympiacos

Szymon Zurkowski - Spezia (on loan at Empoli)