What happened to The Guardian's first Next Generation picks from 2014
Back in 2014, British outlet The Guardian selected 40 young footballers as the best of the next generation. So, over 11 years on, where are they now, and who has fared best from the group?
When The Guardian named the 40 starlets in the autumn of 2014, Real Madrid were the Champions League holders after breaking Atlético Madrid’s hearts in the 2013/14 final.
Manchester City were the champions of England, while Arsenal had won their 11th FA Cup crown with a dramatic victory over Hull City.
Meanwhile, several prospects were just beginning their journeys into professional football and were tipped to achieve great things. However, while some have gone on to enjoy success, others have not lived up to expectations.
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Among the names on the list was Youri Tielemans, who at the time was plying his trade in his native Belgium with Anderlecht. The midfielder later secured a move to Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2017 before moving to the Premier League, joining Leicester City on loan in 2019. He went on to score the winner in the 2020/21 FA Cup final before transferring to his current club, Aston Villa.
Portugal midfielder Rúben Neves also made the list while playing for Porto. I
In 2017, the playmaker moved to Wolves and helped the Midlands club win the 2017/18 Championship title. Neves went on to make 253 appearances for the Old Gold before moving to Saudi club Al Hilal in 2023. The 29-year-old has earned 63 caps for Portugal.
Current Bournemouth forward Enes Ünal was tipped for great things back in 2014 while at Bursaspor. However, after signing for Manchester City in 2015, the Turkish international struggled for minutes in England before embarking on loan spells at Genk, NAC Breda and Twente, where he scored 19 goals in 33 games. He later secured a move to La Liga side Villarreal in 2017. Ünal eventually found form at Getafe before earning a move to the Cherries in 2024 and is now a squad player under Andoni Iraola.
Dominic Solanke was also named by The Guardian and has gone on to have a successful career in the Premier League.
At the time, the England international was at Chelsea but struggled for minutes before joining Liverpool in 2017. The forward again struggled to nail down a first-team place under Jürgen Klopp before finally finding form at Bournemouth after joining the south-coast club in 2019. Solanke scored 77 times in 216 appearances for the Cherries before signing for Spurs in a £65 million deal in 2024.
The standout name on the list is Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembélé, who at the time was playing for Rennes in France.
After impressing in Ligue 1, he signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2016. And by 2017, the France international was a Barcelona player but arguably failed to realise his full potential in Catalonia, despite winning two Copa del Rey titles and three La Liga crowns.
Dembélé returned to France, signing for PSG in 2023, and has since gone from strength to strength. The 28-year-old played a starring role in Paris Saint-Germain winning their maiden Champions League crown in 2024/25, which in turn helped him win the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
The Guardian’s Next Generation 2014 list in full:
Guido Vadalá
Daniel De Silva
Youri Tielemans
Malcom
Gerson
Bozhidar Kraev
Li Zhongyi
Alveiro Sánchez
Ante Ćorić
Nikola Vlašić
Mikkel Duelund
Dominic Solanke
Ryan Ledson
Ousmane Dembélé
Jean-Kévin Augustin
Maxime Lopez
Benjamin Henrichs
Benedikt Gimber
Lazaros Lamprou
Federico Bonazzoli
Daisuke Sakai
Erick Aguirre
Abdelhak Nouri
Jari Schuurman
Sander Svendsen
Dawid Kownacki
Rúben Neves
Cristian Manea
Timur Zhamaletdinov
Luka Jović
Irfan Fandi
Fagrie Lakay
Seo Jung-hyun
Adrián Marín
Julen Arellano
Ferran Sarsanedas
Erik Andersson
Enes Ünal
Erik Palmer-Brown
Phan Thanh Hậu
Topics: Football
Luke Davies