Player development in football follows many different paths. Some exceptional talents, such as Lamine Yamal and Estevao, make an impact at the highest level at a very young age. At the same time, countless players need more time before their qualities fully emerge.
Take Nick Woltemade, for example, who earned a big-money move to Newcastle after an excellent season with Stuttgart, or Emmanuel Emegha, the Dutch striker who will complete a high-profile transfer from Strasbourg to Chelsea next summer. Both players have previously featured inGOAL's 'Hidden Gems FC', as we aim to unearth late bloomers from around the world who have the potential to become superstars of the future.
With that in mind, here are 25 players who have enjoyed breakout years and are set to become household names over the next few years…
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Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco)
Maghnes Akliouche made his Monaco debut in October 2021 and developed steadily during his first few years around the first team. Over the last 18 months, however, he has exploded into one of the key players for the Ligue 1 outfit, and France coach Didier Deschamps is also now a big fan, having handed him four caps during World Cup qualifying. Akliouche paid his manager back in November by netting his first international goal against Azerbaijan.
Akliouche is a genuine playmaker who can excel both as a winger and as an attacking midfielder. He is a stylish player with a good dribbling ability and who is noted for his appreciation of his team-mates. Despite being just 23, he possesses a superb footballing brain, which helps him with both his excellent passing and how he works without the ball.
Having modelled his game on the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Andres Iniesta and Mesut Ozil, Akliouche now looks destined to follow his heroes to the very top.
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Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest)
Elliot Anderson joined Newcastle at the age of eight, and he would make his first-team debut for the Magpies 10 years later before spending time out on loan at Bristol Rovers in a bid to refine his game. Upon his return to St. James' Park, Anderson began to enjoy some eye-catching cameos for Eddie Howe's side, albeit while playing out wide or as an attacking midfielder.
Right when Anderson looked set to take the take the next step, Profit and Sustainability Rules forced Newcastle to sell their homegrown talent in the summer of 2024. Nottingham Forest's willingness to pay £40 million for a player without a Premier League goal in his 44 appearances raised eyebrows, but Anderson quickly set about silencing his doubters with some superb performances at the City Ground.
After shining for England Under-21s as they won the 2025 European Championship, Anderson has now graduated to the senior side, and the 23-year-old has established himself as a regular starter ahead of the World Cup despite only making his debut in September. The likes of Manchester United and Chelsea are now queuing up to sign a player Tuchel believes is "one of the best midfielders in the Premier League".
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Fisnik Asllani (Hoffenheim)
As war raged in Kosovo at the end of the 20th century, the father of Fisnik Asllani fled his homeland and settled in Berlin, where he retrained as electrician before welcoming his son in the early 2000s. Fisnik began to show considerable footballing talent, and was enrolled into Union Berlin's academy at the age of 14. Bayern Munich subsequently showed an interest in signing him, but the young striker instead joined Hoffenheim in 2020.
Asllani struggled with the transition, however, as he mostly played for the club's reserve side in the fourth tier of German football before an unsuccessful loan spell at Austria Vienna. Things changed in 2024-25, however, as Asllani enjoyed a breakout season on loan at second-division side SV Elversberg, for whom he scored 18 goals and provided nine assists in just 33 appearances. Back at Hoffenheim, he has carried that confidence into his first top-flight season, and already has six goals to his name as the campaign approaches its halfway point.
Bayern are again showing an interest in the 23-year-old as a result, and after treating his parents to a new car and an expensive watch upon his move to Hoffenheim, Asllani is hopeful that he will one day be able to buy them a new house as he plots the next move in his promising career.
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Lorenzo Bernasconi (Atalanta)
For Lorenzo Bernasconi, this has been a season that is difficult to put into words. Back in June, he was part of Atalanta's U23s that narrowly missed out on promotion to Serie B, meaning that another season in the third tier of Italian football beckoned for the 22-year-old. Bernasconi wouldn't have dared to dream that, less than five months later, he would be in the starting line up for the first team when they took on European champions, Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League.
Capable of playing at left-back or as a wide midfielder, Bernasconi is a technically skilled left-footer who plays with his socks rolled down to his ankles and shows fleet-footedness with the ball at his feet. He is still waiting to fully establish himself in the Atalanta line up, but whenever he does take to the field, he is able to make a positive impact.
