FourFourTwo's 100 best young players in 2001 list resurfaces and makes for incredible reading
FourFourTwo's list of the 100 best young players in the world back in 2001 has re-emerged nearly 25 years on.
The football landscape around the turn of the century was significantly different to now when it came to the top five European leagues, with Deportivo La Coruna lifting a shock La Liga title and Lazio winning Serie A.
Manchester United were reigning champions in English football - with Sir Alex Ferguson's dominant side surely not predicting they would be 15th in the division 25 years later.
In terms of the top players a year later in 2001, Luis Figo was the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, while Zinedine Zidane secured a move from Juventus to Real Madrid. David Beckham, Michael Owen and Ronaldo were just three of the world stars that would join him at the Bernabeu in the years to come.
Advert
Lionel Messi had only just become a teenager, while a 2000-born Erling Haaland would have uttered his first word at some stage during the calendar year.
FourFourTwo decided to have a go at naming their 100 best young players of 2001 - with quite significant success.
The list started off on a strong note, with future Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, then of Stuttgart, kicking things off.
In 99th place was Nottingham Forest midfielder David Prutton, who fans now know as one of the faces of Sky Sports' EFL coverage but regularly featured across the top three divisions of English football as a player.
Future Ballon d'Or winner Kaka was placed 95th, with Celtic's Shaun Maloney in 93th.
You then need to climb up to number 82 to find Bayer Leverkusen starlet Dimitar Berbatov, while future Chelsea icon Michael Essien was ranked 76th while playing for French side Bastia.
Juventus midfielder - and future FIFA 03 highest-rated player - Matteo Brighi is in 70th place.
San Jose Earthquakes striker Landon Donovan - one of the greatest American players in history - is up in 56th position, while ex-QPR and Tottenham star (and favourite of Harry Redknapp) Nico Kranjcar is in 45th.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic begins the top 35, one place ahead of Crewe forward and future West Ham star Dean Ashton.
Jermain Defoe (30th), Arjen Robben (27th) and Ricardo Quaresma (24th) feature prominently, before Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is in 20th position.
FourFourTwo didn't rank Iniesta higher than Liverpool youngster John Welsh (14th), who had a successful EFL career with numerous clubs but didn't quite have the same impact on world football.
In ninth place is Liverpool striker Anthony Le Tallec, with Ajax starlet Rafael van der Vaart up in sixth.
Highly-rated wonderkid Jermaine Pennant earned the number five spot after his promising displays for Arsenal, while Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres is up in fifth.
Third place belonged to Vitoria's Leandro Bonfim, who would move to PSV in 2002 and to Porto in 2005 but had little notable success.
River Plate midfielder Andres D'Alessandro, once of Portsmouth, would take second place. He spent most of his career with Brazilian side Internacional and played 25 times for Argentina.
FourFourTwo's best young player of 2001 award went to Djibril Cisse.
Cisse scored 70 goals in 128 appearances for French side Auxerre, whom he was playing for at the time, before moving to Liverpool in 2004.
He was a part of the Reds' Champions League-winning squad, before going on to enjoy successful spells at Marseille, Panathinaikos and QPR.
The France striker retired in 2017 after a spell with Swiss side Yverdon-Sport, before briefly returning to football in 2021.
The full list can be seen below.
FourFourTwo 100 best young players 2001
- 100. Alexander Hleb (VfB Stuttgart)
- 99. David Prutton (Nottingham Forest)
- 98. Erdal Kilicaslan (Bayern Munich)
- 97. Daniyel Cimen (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- 96. Benjamin Auer (Borussia Monchengladbach)
- 95. Kaka (Sao Paulo)
- 94. Azar Karadas (SK Brann)
- 93. Shaun Maloney (Celtic)
- 92. Leonardo Santiago (Feyenoord)
- 91. Kieran Richardson (Manchester United)
- 90. Aldo Jara (Cerro Porteno)
- 89. Keith Kelly (Paris Saint-Germain)
- 88. Christoph Preuss (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- 87. Ramon Calliste (Manchester United)
- 86. Mika Vayrynen (Jokerit)
- 85. Michael Zepek (Bayer Leverkusen)
- 84. Labinot Harbuzi (Malmo)
- 83. Thijs Houwing (Twente)
- 82. Dimitar Berbatov (Bayer Leverkusen)
- 81. Tuomas Aho (Myllykosken Pallo −47)
- 80. Candido Costa (Porto)
- 79. Andres Oliveira (Perth Glory)
- 78. Michael Essien (Bastia)
- 77. Fernando Macedo Nano (Barcelona)
- 76. Dulee Johnson (BK Hacken)
- 75. Mauro Rosales (Newell’s Old Boys)
- 74. Derek Boateng (Panathinaikos)
- 73. Theo Janssen (Vitesse)
- 72. Hassan Ahamada (Nantes)
- 71. Cherno Samba (Millwall)
- 70. Matteo Brighi (Juventus)
- 69. Bojan Djordjic (Manchester United)
- 68. Andreas Hinkel (VfB Stuttgart)
- 67. Santino Quaranta (DC United)
- 66. Jhon van Beukering (Vitesse)
- 65. Eddie Johnson (FC Dallas)
- 64. Michael Chopra (Newcastle United)
- 63. Rubinho (Corinthians)
- 62. Mark Fotheringham (Celtic)
- 61. Johnnier Montano (Parma/Hellas Verona)
- 60. Serhat Akin (Fenerbahce)
- 59. Carlos Martins (Sporting CP)
- 58. Filip Trojan (Schalke 04)
- 57. Ricardo Costa (Porto)
- 56. Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes)
- 55. Alexander Ludwig (Werder Bremen)
- 54. Lourenco da Silva (Sporting CP)
- 53. Francesco Tarantino (Athletic Bilbao)
- 52. Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal)
- 51. Gatti Ribeiro (Blooming)
- 50. Massimo Donati (AC Milan)
- 49. Francesco Lodi (Empoli/Parma)
- 48. Gael Givet (Monaco)
- 47. Ewerthon (Borussia Dortmund)
- 46. Christian Petereit (Schalke 04)
- 45. Niko Kranjcar (Dinamo Zagreb)
- 44. Jay Lucas (Southampton)
- 43. Diego Ribas (Santos)
- 42. Joaquin Sanchez (Real Betis)
- 41. Ahmed ‘Mido’ Hossam (Ajax)
- 40. Helder Postiga (Porto)
- 39. Emiliano Dudar (Velez Sarsfield)
- 38. Chris Kirkland (Liverpool)
- 37. Ednilson (Benfica)
- 36. Dean Ashton (Crewe Alexandra)
- 35. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax)
- 34. Leandro Romagnoli (San Lorenzo)
- 33. Hassan Yebda (Auxerre)
- 32. Marat Izmailov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
- 31. Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
- 30. Jermain Defoe (West Ham United)
- 29. Gregory Vignal (Liverpool)
- 28. Julio Colombo (Montpellier)
- 27. Arjen Robben (Groningen/PSV Eindhoven)
- 26. Hugo Viana (Sporting CP)
- 25. Maicon (Cruzeiro)
- 24. Ricardo Quaresma (Sporting CP)
- 23. Fabricio Coloccini (AC Milan/Alaves)
- 22. Marius Niculae (Sporting CP)
- 21. Milan Baros (Liverpool)
- 20. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
- 19. Baldo di Gregorio (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- 18. Juan Andreu Melli (Real Betis)
- 17. Johnny Heitinga (Ajax)
- 16. Philippe Mexes (Auxerre)
- 15. Kim Kallstrom (BK Hacken)
- 14. John Welsh (Liverpool)
- 13. Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)
- 12. David Odonkor (Borussia Dortmund)
- 11. Pedro Mantorras (Benfica)
- 10. Mourad Meghni (Bologna)
- 9. Anthony Le Tallec (Le Havre/Liverpool)
- 8. Piotr Trochowski (Bayern Munich)
- 7. Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Le Havre/Liverpool)
- 6. Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax)
- 5. Jermaine Pennant (Arsenal)
- 4. Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid)
- 3. Leandro Bonfim (Vitoria/PSV Eindhoven)
- 2. Andres D'Alessandro (River Plate)
- 1. Djibril Cisse (AJ Auxerre)
Topics: Football, Premier League, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fernando Torres, Andres Iniesta, Dimitar Berbatov, Kaka, FC Barcelona, Man Utd
Ryan Smart