2019-03-01 World Soccer

Jorge MOLINA

(Getafe)

The journeyman striker is enjoying a fine

season – at the ripe old age of 36.

Jerdy Schouten

(Excelsior)

The midfielder has been one of the

revelations of the Dutch season and a

summer move from Rotterdam to one

of Holland’s big three is on the cards.

Nicolas PEPE

(Lille)

The Ivorian attacker is in spectacular

goalscoring form in Ligue 1 and is likely

to attract heavyweight bids this year.

Jean BUTEZ

(Mouscron)

The 23-year-old is probably the best

goalkeeper in Belgium at the moment.

Nicolo ZANIOLO

(Roma)

The 19-year-old, who was called into

the Italy squad before he had played in

Serie A, scored both goals in Roma’s 2-

Champions League victory over Porto.

Davy KLAASSEN

(Werder Bremen)

After a frustrating spell at Everton,

the Dutchman is enjoying a revival

in the Bundesliga.

“We were awful, had no mental

strength, it was a humiliation and

the main person responsible is me”

Nacional coach Costinha takes full responsibility for his

side’s 10-0 thrashing in the Portuguese league by Benfica

THE WORLD THIS MONTH

The 19-year-old attacking midfielder

has been a revelation in recent weeks.

He was the subject of a €60million offer

from an unnamed Premier League side in

January, a move that prompted Benfica

to raise his release clause to €120m.

Having made his debut for the club

in August, his big opportunity came in

January when they

parted company

with coach Rui

Vitoria. His

successor, Bruno

Lage, had coached

Felix in the club’s

B side and the

youngster, who

can play as a winger

or striker, quickly

became a key part

of his 4-4-

system, alongside

Swiss centre-

forward Haris Seferovic.

A cooly-taken goal against Sporting

in the Lisbon derby was watched by

Cristiano Ronaldo, prompting inevitable

comparisons, but Felix already has better

stats than the Juventus star at the same

stage, having notched eight goals and

three assists in his first 1000 minutes as

a senior player.

Born in the central Portuguese town

of Viseu, he spent his early days in

the youth ranks at nearby Porto but was

released as the club considered him too

lightweight. It was a decision which, given

the growing interest among Europe’s elite

clubs, looks certain to come back to

haunt them.

Joao FELIX

(Benfica)