Here by popular demand, we’ve a pretty simple seven for you today, as we take a look at seven players who have had breakout campaigns this season. To make things clear, a breakout season doesn’t necessarily have to be the first season in which a player breaks into a teams first team squad in our opinions.
It can be the first season in which they go from a bit-part player to a regular fixture, or even just a season in which they go from being relatively under the radar to being a real star man. Naturally, most of the players in this seven are pretty young, but there’s no reason why a player couldn’t have a breakout season at say – 25.
These are probably the seven players who have increased their reputation by the greatest magnitude and made the biggest impression upon me this season, you may of course leave your own suggestions in the comments.
Here are our 7 breakout stars this season:
7. Lebo Mothiba
Seventh place takes us to the Alsace region of France and Strasbourg star Lebo Mothiba. Signed by Strasbourg in the summer, Mothiba had shown hints of his talents at both Lille and on-loan in Ligue 2 in the 2017-18 season, but we’d say his current campaign qualifies as a breakout season given his performances in the top flight of French football.
The 23-year-old South African international, who has bagged 4 goals from 7 caps for Bafana Bafana since March 2018, has been one of the star men in a mid table Strasbourg side. He had a particularly impressive start to the season, bagging 6 goals in 8 games around October-time, and he’s scored 10 in 31 over the course of the entire campaign.
Physical, hard working and a powerful header of a ball, Mothiba looks to have been a brilliant piece of business by Strasbourg, having been signed for just €4 million from a cash-strapped Lille side. However, all is not quite as it seems, since Lille inserted both a buy-back clause and a 50% sell-on fee should Mothiba make a big money move elsewhere.
6. Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Aaron Wan-Bissaka of Crystal Palace looks on during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and AFC Bournemouth at Selhurst Park on May 12, 2019 in London, United Kingdom.
I’ve talked about Aaron Wan-Bissaka – and a few of the players in this seven actually – a lot this season, and he deserves all the praise that has been coming his way. Having broken into the Crystal Palace side in February of last year, he made just 7 appearances in the 17-18 campaign. Coming into this season, it wasn’t clear whether Roy Hodgson would go with Wan-Bissaka or Joel Ward as his starting right-back, but Wan-Bissaka has really made the position his own this season.
Quick, alert and brilliant in the tackle, although Wan-Bissaka played as a winger in youth team football, it’s his defensive credentials that have really stamped him out this season. His athleticism and solidity is perfect in a Palace side that rarely dominates possession, and the only question mark over Wan-Bissaka is probably with regards to his touch, technique and talents with a ball at his feet.
That may be why Gareth Southgate hasn’t yet given the youngster a shot in a possession-based England side, along with the fact that England have a plethora of options in the right-back position. Either way, as a purely defensive right-back, Wan-Bissaka may have been the best in the Premier League this season, so he has to make this seven.
5. Declan Rice
Staying in the Premier League with another young player who has made a real impression at a mid table side this season, and another player we have talked an awful lot about this season, it is West Ham star Declan Rice. Rice actually made his Premier League debut in the 2016-17 season, and registered 31 appearances in all competitions in 2017-18. Some may say he had already broken out then, but in truth, he played largely as a utility player in the season before the one just gone, playing the majority of his football in defence.
That had been considered Rice’s strongest position prior to the 18-19 campaign, where he has now stamped down his authority as an automatic selection at the base of West Ham’s midfield under Manuel Pellegrini. Really consistent and intelligent for a 20-year-old, Rice has only really had two or three ‘off-days’ this season, and his reading of the game and smart decisions in possession haven’t gone unnoticed this season.
Having previously won 3 caps for the Republic of Ireland, Rice switched his allegiances to England this season. If he can build upon a fantastic breakout campaign next season, he could be the answer to some of Gareth Southgate’s selection headaches in holding midfield.
4. Luka Jovic
Luka Jovic of Eintracht Frankfurt during the UEFA Europa League Semi Final Second Leg match between Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge on May 9, 2019 in London, England.
One of the first names I thought of when I kept seeing this video idea suggested in the comments, Luka Jovic had never hit double figures at any level in any season prior to the one just gone. The 21-year-old did bag 9 goals in 27 games for Eintracht Frankfurt on-loan in 2017-18, which was enough to convince the Bundesliga outfit that they should sign Jovic, but not enough to capture the imagination of the rest of Europe.
He’s certainly done that this season though, scoring 25 goals in 43 games, as arguably the star man in an excellent front three made up of himself, Sebastian Haller and Ante Rebic. Jovic is a really smart goal poacher of a centre-forward, who can strike a ball cleanly with either foot as well as being a constant threat in the air. He has all the tools to become a goal machine in the European game over the next decade, although there are few teams brave enough to go with a pure poacher of a striker these days.
Jovic only signed off on a reported €7 million permanent move to Frankfurt earlier this season, but he is already being linked with £40 and £50 million moves to the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid this summer.
3. Joao Felix
A former Benfica B teammate of Luka Jovic’s, Joao Felix’s future looks even brighter than the prolific Serbians. Felix is just 19 years old, but he has been one of the outstanding players in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, particularly in the latter stages of this season. Capable of playing anywhere in the forward line, Felix is a box of tricks with wonderful technique but more importantly heaps of end product.
He scored 19 goals and made 8 assists in 41 games this season, which is tremendous for a teenager who doesn’t even play as an out-and-out centre-forward. Prior to this season, Felix had never registered a first team appearance for Benfica, having scored 7 goals in 30 games for the club’s B team.
There can be few doubts about this being Felix’s breakout season then, and a pretty special one at that. He’s yet to win his first cap for Portugal but that can only be a matter of time, and there are already suggestions some clubs would even be willing to test the £103 million release clause in Felix’s current deal.
2. Krzysztof Piatek
Krzysztof Piatek of AC Milan in action during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Bologna FC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on May 6, 2019 in Milan, Italy.
Now, given that Krzysztof Piatek scored 21 goals in all competitions as a 22-year-old in the 2017-18 season, one could argue that was really his breakout season. However, scoring 21 goals in a season in Poland’s top flight and scoring 29 goals in Italian football’s top flight are altogether very different achievements.
The latter is exactly what Piatek has done this season, and that’s why we feel he deserves to be our runner-up here. Those 29 strikes have been split across two clubs, since Piatek started the season with Genoa but ended it with AC Milan. Genoa turned a €31 million profit on the Polish centre-forward in the space of six months, but Milan will still feel they got themselves a bargain if Piatek can maintain this seasons numbers in the future.
Like Jovic, Piatek is a pretty single-minded striker, always looking to get in behind or on the end of balls into the box and beat the goalkeeper. He possesses a wonderful right foot finish and is a real handful in the air. We think Piatek had to feature.
0. Honourable Mentions
There are plenty of players who could have made this seven but just missed out, but we’ll try to name the most unfortunate here, starting with Nicolo Zaniolo. One of the most talented teenagers in world football, Zaniolo had never made a top flight appearance prior to this season, yet he has been a regular fixture and earnt rave reviews at Roma in his 33 appearances this term.
Porto centre-back Eder Militao had previously broken out in Brazil, but he had an outstanding debut campaign in Europe with Porto, and has already signed off on a summer move to Real Madrid. Compatriot Arthur has enjoyed a similar fate at Barcelona, where he has had a breakout European season if not exactly a breakout season for himself.
Elsewhere, Ferran Torres has been much more impressive this season than he was in more of a cameo role last season, and Man City youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko deserves credit for a string of impressive performances playing out of position this season.
That’s it for our honourable mentions, as always, feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments, and here is your top spot…
1. Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund looks on during a training session at the Borussia Dortmund training center on May 12, 2019 in Dortmund, Germany.
The undisputed and obvious choice in top spot as far as we’re concerned, Jadon Sancho has been absolutely outstanding for Borussia Dortmund this season. Given his impressive performances and sky-high reputation in youth team football, Sancho’s rise to the top of the men’s game is no great surprise. The speed of it, however, still is.
The Englishman scored once and played just 12 games in his debut campaign in the Bundesliga, and whilst it seemed obvious his game time would increase this season, I don’t think many anticipated that he’d be one of the stars of the German and European game.
Quick, creative and unpredictable, Sancho has been among the most productive wide players in Europe this season. He leads the Bundesliga assist charts with 14, in addition to contributing 12 goals from the right flank. That’s a remarkable return for a man who only recently turned 19 in one of Europe’s top league’s, and there’s an awful lot for England fans to get excited about with Sancho.
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