Thanks to our partnership with Impect, the CIES Football Observatory has developed a methodology to rank footballers according to their performance on the pitch. The 561st Weekly Post highlights outfield players who have not yet turned 21 having performed best relative to their teammates across 65 competitions worldwide (>450').

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Editors:
Raffaele Poli
Roger Besson
Loïc Ravenel
Arnaud Bertrand

The best relative performance index was recorded for Switzerland's Lutfi Dalipi (x1.96), who is on loan at FC Vaduz from Young Boys. Although he already plays for a top-flight club, Gianluca Prestianni comes second. The Benfica winger is well and truly ready to join an even stronger side. The same can be said of the third highest-ranked player: wide back Jorge Salinas (Racing Santander).

Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina, on loan from Real Madrid) and Gessime Yassine (RC Strasbourg) round off the top five. The youngest players in the top 100 are the American prodigy Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union, but already signed by Manchester City), as well as two other 17-year-olds playing in Austria: the Hungarian Noel Polonkai (Austria Wien) and the Slovenian Miha Matjašec (FC Liefering).

Top U21 outperformers (vs teammates)

At least 450 minutes, current season, 65 domestic leagues worldwide

ADAir defence / GDGround defence / BUBuild up / OROrchestration / TKTake on / CCChance creation / SHFinishing / AAAir attack