From that list it would be Thiago Alcantara. The kid is something special. I watched him this summer and in the games he has played this pre-season and early season for Barca. He was a monster in the U-21s against the Swiss. His range of passing and ability to beat players on his own makes him more complete than any of those other guys.

From the players that I have seen often on that list, I would rank it as Thiago, Hazard, Wilshere, Goetze. The rest still feel very much like projects, particularly the exciting kids Canaels and Eriksen. Won't comment on Shaqiri.

i agree that eriksen likely has a ways to go before he can dominate matches at the highest level. looked pretty ordinary for denmark when i saw him last year.

Wilshere and thiago

Goetze.

But if I could sign anyone, though strictly not a teenager, it would be Ozil.

Messi if I could sign anyone

Midfield playmaker?

Yeah he'd still be awesome there

Thiago definitely, one of the best young players I have seen and I still believe by the end of this year he would be a big name all around.

I do think Shaqiri can be potentially a great player as well, potential to be a new Iniesta. All of the names mentioned would be great for us though, not much differences around.

Wilshere is the best player under 21 in the world, so he's the best player on that list by default.

After him, I'd love to see Eriksen at the club. What a talent. Not convinced by Ganso yet. Thiago looks pretty good but he's played far too few games to be considered better than many on that list.

Jack Wilshere. If I could pick a playmaker outside the list I'd take Özil or Kagawa though and just pair them with Jack in midfield.

Then again I suspect that I'll be thrilled with Ramsey in five-six months.

We are so damned fortunate to have jack Aaron and Alex

Based on what they've acheived (and from what I've seen), Wilshere, Hazard and Gotze are my top 3 from that list. Thiago has an unfair advantage in playing alongside players who are ridiculously good, while Jack, Hazard and Gotze are key figures in their respective sides.

otfgoon wrote:

Thiago has an unfair advantage in playing alongside players who are ridiculously good, while Jack, Hazard and Gotze are key figures in their respective sides.

He's allowed to play alongside those ridiculously talented players because he is also talented. Probbaly the least talented player on the Barca side is someone like Pedro, and I would happily take him to come and partner van Persie in attack. Watch his summer international games to see just how remarkable a player he is.
I'm also glad that we brought in Arteta and Benayoun to take away some of the pressure from Jack and Aaron. Those kids have the potential to be great, but we cannot overplay them (as we did Jack last year), and they are better off learning from Arteta than Song or Diaby.

Did you really just site U21 football as a barometer for a player?

Not saying otherwise Cal, but Wilshere and Gotze are also good enough to play with those players so that point is moot.

Point I'm making is how good would he fair as a key player in a side that isn't amazing? He may be as good or better, but we can't really know.

Captain wrote:

Did you really just site U21 football as a barometer for a player?

Yes I did. I can watch U21 and see when a player is playing well. Thiago was just miles ahead of the other players around him, and dictated the offense for his team. Likewise, I can look the recent England games and say someone like Ox-Cham has a lot of promise. Just because you are playing with younger players doesn't mean that as a footballer you need to dumb down or pass less crisply. There are fundamentals that can be judged independently of the quality of the opposition

How then does Wenger do his scouting?

Can I just say that pedro is awesome