Wonderkid Watch: Goalkeepers Under Age 20
Eastern Europe features prominently in our ranking of young goalkeepers...
We started our Wonderkid Watchlist with a striker ranking. So for our second iteration, let’s move to the opposite end of the pitch and look at goalkeepers!
As before, ground rules apply. Note that we made an exception this time for players from Premiership teams who are out on loan. Otherwise, it’s the same deal as before. So don’t go looking for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen. The Dutch youth international (capped at the U21 level) has established himself as Brighton’s number one after arriving from Anderlecht this summer. But alas, he’s already 21. So too are Villareal’s Filip Joergensen, Freiburg’s Noah Abudolu, Lille’s Lucas Chevalier, and probably several others.
Top Goalkeepers Under Age 20
This list was admittedly tougher to put together than the strikers one. For one, strikers are far more prominent and receive far more media attention. So for youth strikers, especially ones with wonderkid potential, there is likely a large body of work in local and international press. Not so much with goalkeepers. We had to read a lot of reports in various languages and mine a lot of data to come up with this list. Also there are weirdly no transfer rumors about any of these players. Perhaps because goalkeepers take longer to develop? Either way, in the end we are quite satisfied with this ranking.
Let’s get the honorable mentions out of the way first (in no particular order):
James Beadle, age 19, English, Oxford United (on loan from Brighton);
Chris Brady, 19, American, Chicago Fire;
Theo Sander, 18, Danish, FC Copenhagen;
Xavier Dziekonski, 19, Polish, Korona Kielce (on loan from Rakow);
Dimitrije Stevanovic, 19, Serbian, Radnicki Nis;
Jasper Silva Torkildsen, 19, Norwegian, Start;
Muhamed Sahinovic, 19, Bosnian, FK Sarajevo.
5. Filip Sidklev
Born: 2005
Nationality: Swedish
Most Senior Caps: Two for U18
Current Club: IF Brommapojkarna
Youth Club: Brommapojkarna
Sidlev appears to have re-established himself at the starter for his club in the Swedish top flight. He first took over the role when the first choice goalkeeper went down injured this spring, then lost it for a period of about six weeks. The last two games have seen him between the sticks again. Unfortunately the club whose name nobody outside of Scandinavia can even attempt to say (much less spell), continue to struggle, sitting 13th, just one point clear of the relegation spots. Sidlev shows safe hands and crucially seems comfortable with the ball at his feet. He may need some work on crosses. As such, it may be another year or two before he moves to a bigger club.
4. Gabriel Slonina
Born: 2004
Nationalities: American, Polish
Most Senior Caps: One (for the US)
Current Club: KAS Eupen (on loan from Chelsea)
Youth Club: Chicago Fire
Goalkeeper is one position where the US consistently produces top talent. The only one, sadly, but hey. Slonina appears to be the next big name to emerge, moving to Chelsea in 2022 but not getting any playing time. He’s since been capped at the senior level for the US and is now getting much-needed regular time as the first-team starter at Eupen. His 6.7 FotMob rating is nothing to write home about, but Eupen find themselves in the lower levels of the Belgian top flight. There’s no telling when Slonina might see first team action for Chelsea as Blues have a bit of a logjam at that position. Mauricio Pochettino is certainly saying the right things, but talk as they say, is cheap. Right now Slonina is probably fourth on the USMNT depth chart, behind Matt Turner, Evan Horvath, and Drake Callendar.
3. Aleksander Bobek
Born: 2004
Nationality: Polish
Most Senior Caps: Named to U21 team but didn’t get into the game.
Current Club: LKS Lodz
Youth Club: Lodz
Bobek has started all games for LKS Lodz this season, with an average FotMob rating of 7.04. He hasn’t done much internationally yet, due in no small part to the depth of talent Poland have at the goalkeeper position: Besides the aforementioned Dziekonski, Kacper Tobiasz (aged 20) starts for Legia Warsaw, Kewin Komar (20) is established at Puszcza Niepolomice in Poland’s top flight, and Kapser Bieszczad (21) is another name on the depth chart. Bobek is almost 2 meters (6’6”) tall but gets to ground quick and likes to be aggressive in the penalty area. Would expect him to move to a bigger club soon if he keeps this up.
2. Guillaume Restes
Born: 2005
Nationality: French, Ivory Coast
Most Senior Caps: Two at U21s
Current Club: Toulouse
Youth Club: Toulouse
Restes has established himself as the starter in Toulouse and for France’s U-21s this season. His 6.26 FotMob rating doesn’t reflect his appearance in the team of the week for the first Ligue Un matchday of the season and various other glowing reports in the French press. Restes is probably already a world-class shot stopper but he is also terrific with his feet. Once he sorts out how to deal with crosses there’s no telling where his ceiling will be. It will be interesting to see how long he stays in Toulouse. Les Violets could be in a relegation battle this year (currently 15th, with just 6 points from their first 6 games).
1. Plamen Andreev
Born: 2004
Nationality: Bulgarian
Most Senior Caps: Called into senior national team, didn’t get into game. Previously capped at U21, U19, and U17.
Current Club: Levski Sofia
Youth Club: Levski Sofia
Interested Clubs: Nothing reported yet, surprisingly enough.
Andreev is already in his second full season as Levski’s starting goalkeeper and captains the side at the ripe age of 18. Several accolades from the internets: GiveMeSport.com has him as the starter of their most promising Under-20 XI. Football Talent Factory calls him the most promising goalkeeper of modern times. Andreev plays his position extremely well and shows safe hands and a commanding presence in the penalty area. He’s the rare keeper that inspires confidence in his defenders. The only concern, if it can be called one, is that his dribbling and passing are perhaps not quite at the level required of modern goalkeepers. But there are some highlight clips that do show his promise in this area. Unfortunately Levski narrowly missed out on the European Conference League (losing the final qualifier to Eintracht Frankfurt) so we don’t get to see Andreev in Europe this season. You can expect that to change soon. Perhaps he’ll even move in January with the way things are going.