BreakoutstarsDonyellMalen
(Borussia Dortmund)XaviSimons
(ParisSaint-Germain)TeenageDutch midfielder who,ina year
ortwo,could be a nameon everyone’slips.
Enticedoutofthe Barcelonanesttwoyears
ago,heisanamalgamofnaturalelegance
onthe ball,vision,speedoff themarkand
a willingnesstomixitphysically.MatiasSoule
(Juventus)The 1 8-year-old Argentineisanabsolute
footballnatural,sublimeinhisclosecontrol
andmovementwithaleftfoottodiefor.Having
joinedJuvefromArgentineclubVelezSarsfield
inearly 2020 , he couldbereadyforfirst-team
footballafter turningonthe styleinpre-season.JurrienTimber
(Ajax)A youngDutch defenderofconsiderablepoise
andmaturity. Despiteonlyonefullseason in the
Ajaxfirst-team,hewas includedinNetherlands’
Euro 2020 squad,playingthree games(one
start andtwooffthe bench).Histwinbrother
Quintenalsoplaysinthe Eredivisie,atUtrecht.MohamedSimakan
(RBLeipzig)ExceptionalMarseille-born centre-back,
whorecentlymovedto Leipzigina€ 15 million
movefromStrasbourg.Suffereda nastyknee
injuryinJanuary,fromwhichhehasnowfully
recovered.A formerFrench Under-20
international,hechoseRBover Milan.MartinSatriano
(Internazionale)Notso long ago, themanagementat
Internazionalewerefinalisingplanstosend
the 2 0-year-oldUruguayanfront-manouton
loanthisseason. Thencamepre-season,with
theyoungster scoringfortheItalianchampions
inindustrialquantities.A No.9withthe
awarenessandtouchofa playmaker.T
hemouth-wateringprospectof a
regulardietofChampionsLeague
footballwouldhavebeena key
factorwhenthehighly-promising
Dutch attacker, 22,opted thissummertoswap
Eindhoven forwhathehopes will be an uplifting
five-yeartourofduty in theheart of theRuhr.
MalenhaslittleexperienceinEurope’selite
competition,onlyappearingfleetinglyinone
campaignin 2018 -19.HescoredagainstBATE
inthe play-offstosealPSV’s place in a group
featuring Barcelona,TottenhamHotspurand
Internazionale.A movetoDortmund, whohave
qualifiedfor theChampionsLeagueknockout
stage in eachofthepastthreeyears,gives
himthe opportunitytolifthiscareerto
a new, elevated plane.
Donyell,whobagged19 Eredivisiegoalsfor
PSVlastseason,willundoubtedlyfeelthathe
hasapointtoprove with theSchwarz-Gelben.TherecentEuropeanChampionshipswere
somethingofananti-climaxforhim,starting
justtwooftheNetherlands’fourgames and
missinga gilt-edgedchanceintheshock
round-of- 1 6 defeatto theCzechRepublic.
Dortmund,whosebill forhisservices should
cometoa hefty€ 34 millionincludingadd-ons,
havenever paid more fora playerandthey
clearly believeheisworth theoutlay.They
lovehisextremepace,comfortin high-tempo
situations,flairfor spectaculardribblingand
theconsiderablegoalthreatheposes.
TheDutchman,whoseformativeyearswere
spentintheAjaxandArsenalacademies,will
havea vitalpart to playin theDortmundreset.
Lastseason’s third-placedteamhavea hole
tofillintheirsideafterthedepartureofJadon
Sancho,andwill hopethatMalencanreplace
theEnglandman’sgoals,assistsand abilityto
conjuresomemagicwiththeball at hisfeet.WRLDSCCER 41