The 2020 European Championships have been postponed for one year. The tournament will now take place in the summer of 2021 and although this is a huge disappointment it potentially opens the door for younger players to come through and perform.
There is a lot of exciting young talent in Europe but if the tournament had taken place this year it may have come a little too early for some players. So, which young players could shine at Euro 2021?
Norway are yet to book their place at the European Championship and must face the playoffs. However, should they progress they have one of the leading young strikers in the game, Erling Braut Håland. He made the move from RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund having scored plenty of goals for the Austrian club. Håland has continued his tremendous goalscoring form in Dortmund but has only made two appearances for the Norwegian national team. That is sure to change once football resumes and if Norway qualify Håland will be one of the young players to watch.
Moving on to nations who have already booked their place at the event and we come to Spain. Ansu Fati is a left winger who plays for Barcelona. Despite being born in Guinea-Bissau, he represents Spain internationally but has yet to make a senior appearance for the country. Fati has played twice for the Spanish under 21 team and the 17 year old will be hoping that another year will give him the perfect opportunity to push for a place in the Spain squad for Euro 2021.
Sweden have been drawn in a group along with Spain, Poland and a nation from the playoffs. It will not be easy but they will be able to call upon the talents of Dejan Kulusevski. The 19 year old attacking midfielder currently plays on loan for Parma in the Italian Serie A but has signed a big deal to join Juventus. Should Kulusevski continue his fine development in Serie A over the next 12 months he is sure to add to his one appearance for the Swedish national team and could become a star at Euro 2021.
The Dutch have always had a good reputation for developing young players, especially at Ajax. The next rising star coming through the ranks at the club is Ryan Gravenberch. The 17 year old has already been compared to Paul Pogba and he is the youngest player to ever represent Ajax. Gravenberch has already scored 2 goals in five appearances for Ajax and represented his country at under 16, 17 and 18 level.
Finally, we come to England and Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood. The delay to the 2020 European Championship could see both Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford return from injury and make the England squad but there are places in the squad for another striker. At the age of 18, Greenwood already has 5 goals to his name for Manchester United and has 4 goals for England under 21’s. His natural progression will see him develop into a major contender for a place in the England squad for Euro 2021.