In brief
In 2012, Bleacher Report selected 50 young football players they thought would go on to accomplish great things.
Neymar was one of the guys on their list that went on to have amazing careers and reach their full potential.
Others, such as Stephan El Shaarawy and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, were unsuccessful because of injuries, inconsistent play, or other factors.
As football fans, there’s something about promising young players making their debuts and projecting their future paths that we all find fascinating.
Everyone enjoys speculating on the future prospects of some of the game’s most promising young players, whether in person or online. Bleacher Report did just that in 2012. The list of the top 50 young talents in the world, which focusses on players under the age of 21, is rather fascinating to read.
While some of the names were spot on and went on to become well-known because of their skill on the pitch, others found it difficult to live up to the high standards that had been set for them from a young age. Let’s examine the top 15 in particular because they are an intriguing group and see what transpired in the years that followed. These are the top 15 young athletes Bleacher Report predicted will have a significant impact in 2012, along with the paths their careers went.
15. Chamberlain, Alex Oxlade
Presently, Besiktas is the club
Even though Oxlade-Chamberlain was a young winger with promise when he first appeared on this list, his career at Arsenal never quite lived up to the expectations of many. He was unable to play consistently in the first team due to injuries, and he quickly left for Liverpool. After spending much of his playing career as a center-mid for the team, the move saw him drop down the middle of the pitch, but once more, injuries severely limited his potential.
In the summer of 2023, after six years at Anfield, he transferred to Besiktas, having already made 235 Premier League games and scored 20 goals in the top division. His fitness problems have returned to Turkey, where he is currently employed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former manager of Manchester United.
14
Stegen, Marc-Andre ter
Barcelona is the current club.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen is currently one of the best goalkeepers in the world. The goalie has more than lived up to the intense anticipation that surrounded him in 2012. The German moved to Barcelona in 2014 after rising through the ranks at Borussia Monchengladbach, and he has been the team’s top player ever since.
He has made over 400 appearances for the club throughout the years in all competitions and has maintained his status as a highlight despite some difficult periods. The club captain has missed the majority of the 2024–25 season due to injuries, and he might not play again until the following season.
13 Julian Draxler
Club as of right now: Al Ahli
It’s hardly surprising to find Julian Draxler here, given he was considered one of the world’s most intriguing young forwards in 2012 when the list was created, having just been on the scene for a year.
He also had signs of being a truly elite player the following season, scoring 13 goals for Schalke 04 in that season. Following a number of poor seasons, however, he left the club and spent 18 months with VfL Wolfsburg before being signed by Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
He never really felt like a star during his six seasons at PSG, where he made 198 appearances and scored 26 goals. He spent the previous season on loan at Benfica. After that, he went back to France before joining Al Ahli of the Qatar Stars League in 2023. A good career, but not as successful as we all thought it would be.
Twelve
Phil Jones
Present club: retired
Phil Jones. Many people, including the renowned Sir Alex Ferguson, thought he would be among the greatest centre backs in English history. The defender was hailed for great things after making his debut at Blackburn Rovers, and his 2011 transfer to Manchester United actually started out well.
In his debut season at Old Trafford, he was a vital element of the team, and it was inevitable that he would rank among the world’s top centre backs. Nevertheless, the Englishman’s career rapidly suffered a nosedive due to injuries. He made over 20 league appearances in a single season over the final eight years of his time at Old Trafford. In the summer of 2023, United released him. He is currently 33 years old and works at Old Trafford’s youth facility.
11Xherdan Shaqiri
Current club: FC Basel
In 2012, Xherdan Shaqiri was one of the world’s most promising prospects, and it appeared certain that he would become one of the greatest and most influential forwards of all time. He joined Bayern Munich in the summer of 2012, when this list was made public, and it seemed like the logical next step in his ascent to the top. However, things didn’t work out in Germany, and the Swiss player left the Allianz Arena for England after three years there, including a loan stint at Inter Milan. and came to Stoke City.
The forward joined the Potters in a puzzling decision that caused some people to take notice at the time, but he never felt like he fit the pattern of a normal Stoke player. He only played for the team for three seasons before they were demoted, and he soon moved to Liverpool.
Similar to Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri was assigned to a centre midfield position for the Reds. Although he had a respectable debut season at Anfield, he soon lost his form and struggled to play for the next two years. After that, he moved to the United States and joined the MLS team Chicago Fire before rejoining his first team, FC Basel, after spending a year at Lyon alone. It’s safe to argue that he never exactly lived up to his promise, given that he hasn’t even completely torn that league apart, but he has consistently performed well for Switzerland.
10 Currently, Thiago Alcantara is retired.
Early in his career, Thiago Alcantara was a sensation and appeared to be among the world’s top midfielders for a spell. He made his breakthrough at Barcelona, earned a transfer to Bayern Munich in 2013, and played a significant role in the team’s success in the 2010s.
In what was viewed as a significant move for Jurgen Klopp’s team, he joined Liverpool after seven years and 235 games. Sadly, following a strong start, injuries quickly started to pile up. Despite all of his fitness problems, the star finally made the decision to hang up his boots in July 2024 after failing to sustain the early form he shown at Anfield. He was outstanding on his day and definitely lived up to the excitement that around him in 2012.
9 Stefan El Shaarawy Currently plays for Roma
Everyone seems to think highly of Stephan El Shaarawy in 2012. Fans and commentators alike believed the star will achieve great things because of his efforts on the pitch and his outrageous skill moves in the Fifa video games. With 19 goals for AC Milan in the 2012–13 season, he seemed great at first, but his form quickly declined.
After stints with Shanghai Shenhua, Monaco, and AS Roma, the attacker returned to Rome in 2021 and has been a consistent starter ever since. Even though he didn’t develop into the top attacker that many had anticipated, he still had a respectable career overall and was selected to play for Italy at Euro 2024.
8. Danny Welbeck
Brighton is the current club.
It’s important to remember that Danny Welbeck has a very high rating. In fact, Bleacher Report and many others predicted in 2012 that he would eventually rank among the best strikers in the league. He was coming off a successful season at Manchester United, where he scored 12 goals for the team, but he never again achieved similar stats.
His growth was ruined by injuries, and he had mediocre stints with Arsenal and Watford after leaving United. However, he had a career comeback in 2020 when he joined Brighton & Hove Albion. Surprisingly, the striker has recently had a comeback and has had one of his greatest seasons in the Premier League.
7Oscar
Current club: Sao Paulo
Oscar was a remarkable talent at an early age and appeared destined to become a tremendous sensation throughout the years, making him one of the most notable examples of what could have been. He appeared to be headed for the top after joining Chelsea in the summer when this list was made public. Before deciding to join Shanghai Port in China, he had four successful years in London and was also consistently good for the Blues.
The Brazilian, who joined the team in 2016, was only 26 years old and appeared to be in his prime when he departed England. His decision was puzzling and has caused him to virtually vanish from the public eye. He spent eight years in China before coming back to his own country to join Sao Paulo in 2025, but his time at the top of football never came back.
Even though his career helped him become extremely wealthy, it’s difficult to see it as anything other than a huge disappointment given how young he was when he left the Premier League and the fact that Oscar hasn’t played for the Brazil national team since the move.
6. Andre Schurrle
Present club: retired
Andre Schurrle’s 2012 stints at Mainz 05 and Bayer Leverkusen made the world take note of his skills, therefore it was expected that he would join Chelsea the following year. Even though the German had a fantastic first season at Stamford Bridge, his second season in England was a complete bust, and he was sold barely eighteen months after joining the team.
Following two years at VfL Wolfsburg, the winger failed to find a place. He then spent two years at Borussia Dortmund before being loaned to Fulham and Spartak Moscow in later years. The fact that Schurrle lost interest in football and retired at the age of 29 is evidence of how unsatisfactory things went.
5. Eriksen, Christian
Manchester United is the current club.
Bleacher Report was bang on on this one, it’s safe to say. During his prime, Christian Eriksen was consistently rated as one of the world’s top attacking midfielders and enjoyed a successful career at the pinnacle of football.
His move and tenure at Tottenham Hotspur elevated his game after he made his debut and made an impression at Ajax. Before joining Inter Milan, he enjoyed an amazing seven years at Spurs, but his time in Italy wasn’t as successful.
His career nearly ended due to his nearly fatal heart problems after he had a cardiac collapse while playing for Denmark in the Euro 2020 group stage. However, Brentford took a chance on him, and he quickly paid them back. During his brief tenure, he was a significant asset to the team. He later joined Manchester United, where he is today, and is a star for his country at Euro 2024. Even if he may not be as good as he once was, Eriksen was one of the world’s top attacking midfielders in his peak and performed enough to earn this position in retrospect.
4 Lucas Moura
Club as of right now: Sao Paulo
Lucas Moura, who was considered one of the world’s most promising players, signed with PSG shortly before this list was initially made public. He enjoyed a number of amazing years in Ligue 1, and the move was viewed as a major coup for the French team.
He joined Tottenham in the Premier League in 2018 after losing favour with PSG after 229 games and 46 goals. Who can forget his amazing performance against Ajax, which sent the north London team to their first-ever Champions League final? He was also a hit at Spurs.
However, things quickly soured, and in 2023, at the age of 31, he left the team for Sao Paulo, where he is currently.
3. Mario Gotze
Club as of right now: Eintracht Frankfurt
Mario Gotze’s career can be divided into two distinct parts. The German was in the middle of his career at Borussia Dortmund when he was listed on this list in 2012. He had made a spectacular debut and emerged as a remarkable young talent.
At the time, Gotze was one of the most captivating young players, and things only got better from there. After joining Bayern Munich in 2013, he had a few successful years there before scoring Germany’s World Cup winning goal in 2014.
Since everything was at an all-time high, the only way to go was down, and his career most definitely did that. He swiftly returned to Dortmund after his form collapsed, but he was unable to regain it. He went on to play for PSV Eindhoven and Eintracht Frankfurt, but he hasn’t been a top player for a while. It was disheartening to witness his decline in such a short period of time, given how amazing he was in his early career.
2 Santos is Neymar’s current club.
In retrospect, it’s inconceivable that Neymar was ranked lower than first here, but in 2012, he finished in second place.
It was unclear how he would adjust to playing for a top European team because he was still at Santos that year, but he soon joined Barcelona in 2013 and showed that he could perform anywhere.
He was frequently considered one of the best football players in the world, and he created one of the greatest front threes ever with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. When he joined PSG in 2017, following four insanely successful seasons in Spain, he became the most expensive player ever.
After six seasons with the team, Neymar left in 2023 to join Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League, where he was unable to make an impression because of physical problems. His tenure in France was marred by injuries, and the advent of Kylian Mbappe and Messi prevented Neymar from being the club’s main man. After that, he would bravely return to Santos, where he would be greeted with an amazing greeting.
One Eden Hazard cub is currently retired.
Given the way his Real Madrid career ended, it’s easy to forget how exceptional Eden Hazard once was, but in 2012, he was undoubtedly a monster of a talent. The world appeared to be interested in the Belgian when he made waves at Lille in Ligue 1, but he decided to go with Chelsea after the team won the Champions League earlier that summer.
Following this, Hazard had an amazing time at Stamford Bridge, scoring double digits in all but one of his Premier League seasons. He played a significant role in the club’s success and provided a glimmer of hope during its darkest hours.
For a number of years, it seemed inevitable that he would join Real Madrid, and in 2019 he did, but things did not work out. He had a terrible period at the club due to injuries and a reluctance to stay in shape, and he was fired in 2023. After shocking a lot of people, he soon retired.
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