presents... 20152015 FOREWORDandrew gibney for every Premier League star, there was an Abdoulaye Diallo and a Maxime Bourgeois. Interesting that there are a number of players from the first edition - Jean-Christophe Bahebeck and Lenny Nangis - who also appear this year. Some players can blossom early; some can make it later, with players even waiting till their mid-twenties before really showing what they are capable of. Youth football is a wonderful thing. You have coaches trying to teach Now in its fourth edition, the Le50 net has been cast high and wide. discipline while harnessing the different attributes of their squad. Players, Players are voted in via a panel of some trusted and respected Ligue no matter the age, want to win. You can’t tell them about development and 1 writers and experts…the hope is we will get fewer and fewer wrong. progression, they just want to score goals and pick up points. It is organic, Luckily, you won’t be able to tell for a few seasons yet. so unpredictable yet so rewarding. The country is packed with talented young players and it would be Whenever I am asked why I watch Ligue 1, youth is always the first reason I easy to fill all 50 places with names from within Ligue 1, but just as give. No other league can boast a constant conveyor belt similar to that of Leicester City did successfully with Anthony Knockaert and Riyad France’s top league. It’s easy to get bogged down in the disappointment of Mahrez, you have to delve into Ligue 2 too. Perhaps one day both young players moving on, but you will always find another prospect picking leagues will have their own edition. up where they left off. Every year, not long after we release the 50 names I look at all those If any club encompasses that more than the others, it’s Lille. Yohan Cabaye who will no longer be included in next year’s list. It becomes nostalgic, was breaking his way into Claude Puel’s team when I became a fan of Les you are attached to names that you have watched learn and grow. Dogues. I remember seeing Eden Hazard’s debut against Nancy, and when Then around Christmas you are listing new names and you realise how he sparked a comeback 3-2 win against Auxerre in his first huge moment at exciting the next batch can be. the Stade Lille Metropole. It is no coincidence that scouts from across Europe flock to watch both Watching Lille’s second team, Lucas Digne instantly stood out from the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. At every level there is someone who will get you crowd, and it was a pleasure seeing him make an impact in the first team off your feet. If you are looking in the right place at the right time, you and star in this publication a few years later. may just discover what you are looking for. Initially Le50 was just a way of collecting together the names of some of Everyone is always looking for the next big thing. In France it is the Ligue 1’s exceptional talent and having it recorded somewhere that we next Hazard or the emerging new Raphael Varane; he may not yet be rated these 50 players higher than others. in the next 100 pages, but we can guarantee that if he is, we will do our best to pick him out and tell you all about him. Back in 2012 we kicked off with 24 pages featuring Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma, Newcastle United’s Remy Cabella and Liverpool’s Mamadou Sakho, but gibneyAndrew Gibney - Editor of French Football Weekly the list Abdoulaye Doucoure Nabil Fekir Cedric Hountondji Morgan Sanson Florian Thauvin Lucas Digne Antoine Conte Wylan Cyprien Uros Spajic Clinton N Jie Chris Philipps Georges-Kevin N’Koudou Tiago Ilori Mario Lemina Jordan Amavi Mouez Hassen Alphonse Areola Yannick Ferreira Carrasco Lenny Nangis Adrien Rabiot Jordan Veretout SoFIane Boufal Marquinhos Divock Origi Maxime Dupe Michy Batshuayi Paul Nardi Jean-Philippe Gbamin Alassane Plea Fabinho Valentin Lavigne Corentin Jean Diego Rolan Samuel Umtiti Lucas Ocampos Anthony Martial Alexy Bosetti Sanjin Prcic Benjamin Mendy Rony Lopes Geoffrey Kondogbia Raphael Guerreiro Corentin Tolisso Arnaud Lusamba Jean-Christophe Bahebeck Thomas Toure Bernardo Silva Allan Saint-Maximin Benjamin Bourigeaud Tiemoue50 Bakayoko le all players were born on or after 01.01.1993 abdoulayedoucoure Sidelined until the very last game of 2013, Doucoure came back strongly and contributed six goals and two assists in Rennes’ Club: stade rennais relegation fight, earning an increasing amount of game time in the process. Such a response to a relapse of such a serious injury Position: midfield is testimony to his incredible strength of character. DOB: 01.01.93 “He has an excellent attitude and that’s something which, as a coach, you always appreciate,” Rennes current head coach Nat: french Philippe Montanier confirmed. “He often does the right thing and will grow in terms of his efficiency. Regarding his volume of Capped: france U21 play, he can do no more because his contribution is already huge. In terms of kilometres he runs, he is approaching Champions League level.” However, there was one reservation: “There is still room for improvement in terms of his technique and finishing.” Certainly, for a player who so frequently gets into useful scoring positions, his contribution has been a little disappointing to this point in his career, particularly when it is taken into account how well he has combined with Ntep. Going into the last quarter of the current campaign, Doucoure had provided five decisive passes – all of which resulted in the winger scoring. While Paul-Georges Ntep gathers much of the limelight as the rising star of Rennes, he has “We have rediscovered our affinity,” Ntep admitted after scoring the only goal in a 1-0 a partner in crime well worthy of mention in the form of Abdoulaye Doucoure. His powerful victory against Metz, which came after he had been sidelined for several weeks. “I know presence in the centre of the field gives the Breton side a formidable forward thrust. where to place myself when Abdoulaye has the ball and we are on a counter-attack.” Having inherited some of the explosiveness and power that allowed cousin Ladji Doucoure Comparisons have been drawn with Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, and while the to become a 110-metre hurdles world champion in 2005, the 22-year-old is also renowned Ivory Coast star undoubtedly resides at a higher echelon than Doucoure currently, there are for his tireless performances. These attributes have helped to define the embryonic career certainly strong echoes of the former Monaco man’s game in his. of the box-to-box midfielder. It is from the wily Etienne Didot that he has drawn inspiration closer to home. Now with Born in Île-de-France, Doucoure has featured for Rennes at various levels since 2007, Toulouse, the 31-year-old spent over a decade at Rennes when Doucoure was developing, when he signed for them as a 14-year-old. Four years later, despite missing the bulk of one and his positional sense in a deep midfield role is something that his successor has tried to campaign due to a ruptured tendon in his knee, he would pen his first professional contract, learn from. and debuted for the first team in 2013. “I try to make the team more solid by helping win the ball, and then when we have the ball Doucoure made an immediate impression by turning in a sterling display in a 2-0 win over I look to get forward and get into positions from where I can score goals and set them up,” Brest. Not only did he score the opening goal, he was also named the game’s outstanding Doucoure said last year. player. It was a vibrant curtain-raiser to his life as a professional and after a couple of strong displays subsequently he was in a prime position to establish himself in then coach Frederic Such attributes have reportedly caught the eye of Chelsea, and even if overlooked by the Antonetti’s plans. That was until his knee gave out again three quarters of the way through a Blues, a big future surely awaits the France under-21 international – assuming he can stay match against Ajaccio. healthy. doucoure Florianthauvin On the other hand, when Marseille slow down, and results fluctuate, so does Thauvin’s performance. Aside from a solitary Club: olympique de marseille (but beautifully struck) goal in the derby with Nice, Thauvin has failed to score or create a goal in 2015. In an unremarkable first Position: forward three months of the year for OM, the 22-year-old has already been booed off the field by his home crowd. DOB: 26.01.93 Despite underachieving at times, there have been moments Nat: french when Thauvin has shown just what he is capable of for Les Phocéens. Against Nantes in November, the winger had probably Capped: france U21 his best game of the season, scoring one and setting up the second in a 2-0 win. The first showed great imagination and invention as he converted a Payet cross with the outside of his right foot. Then it was his left foot that swung in a free-kick, met by the head of Rod Fanni. Just two occasions, but a glimpse of how busy and influential he can be when in the right mood. Thauvin has the ability to terrorise his opponents with superb pace, and scintillating dribbling ability.