The world is full of young football talents. They grow up in the streets of São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Abuja or Belgrade, and the world is literally to their feet, so to speak.
These lads are on a mission to become the stars we will watch tomorrow. The next Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or João Felix.
At the same time, there are beautiful projects that focus on these players, from the Guardian’s top 60 young footballers yearly plan, the unique and high-quality Scouted Football, among others.
We are not going to compete with them. However, in our work and research in BabaGol, we discover many players that don’t get the focus or the chance to showcase what they can produce.
With that in mind, we have decided to share snippets of our source of knowledge. Our shadow scout, Juan Gafas, will pop-up weekly and will put the spotlight on one player that is worth your attention. This can be viewed as a tip for all BabaGolers to meet the next Jamie Vardy and Dado Pršo, or maybe the next Gary Medel or Jorge Valdivia, a moment (or a few years) before they become famous.
Off to Finland this week, as we take a look at another talent from the country that is preparing for its first European Championship.
Lucas Lingman
Age: 21
Club: HJK Helsinki (Finland)
Position: Attacking/Central Midfielder
Nationality: Finnish
Market Value: €200,000 (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? A potential top-class passer, with excellent vision and the ability to execute sharp and clever passes to break the opponent's defence and create chances.
Lingman is a player with very good ball control and vision, who needs just enough space and time to easily and elegantly break opponent's defence. He plays the Number 10 role quite well, but with slight improving in his defensive game he will be a very good deep lying midfielder or even a box to box midfielder if his physicality will improve too. When he receives the ball, his teammates know they should make a forward run, as he will most likely look to deliver it behind the back line. He has the skills to complete difficult through balls, setting his teammates in scoring chances situations, but he also overdoes it more often than not and can be neutralized and bullied of the ball when not given enough space.
His good season with RoPS earned him a contract in HJK once again, and I believe this year should be his real breakthrough. If only he can be more consistent with his decision making and add pace and power to his play, he will undoubtedly succeed. If he fails, he will still be an enjoyable player to watch, suitable for any top local side.