Analysing some of the top under-22 forwards and wingers from the 2025/26 season

A handful of them have started strongly this season and have been attracting interest from top clubs, including Liverpool

As we wait to welcome club football back after an extended period, with no international break for nearly four months, it is essential to reflect on the campaign so far. There have been at least ten league games across the countries in the European circuit, which provides a decent sample size of minutes played to assess a player’s start to the season.

Among the forwards and wingers, the established names are performing well: Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Julián Álvarez and Erling Haaland. Mohamed Salah has found it harder to hit form, and Alexander Isak still appears to be in pre-season mode.

While all that is good, it is handy to look at which players, aged 22 and under, have made strong starts to the season and what sort of campaign they may be heading towards. A number of them have already been linked with top clubs, if they are not playing for one already.

This article analyses six sets of metrics, using data visualisations to assess forwards and wingers, aged 22 and under, from the top-five European leagues during the 2025/26 season so far (who have played a minimum of 500 league minutes).

The players performing well in each category will be discussed, and the standout names will be highlighted at the end as those to keep a close eye on in the coming weeks and months.

Goal contributions

We begin with the basics by looking at the non-penalty goals and expected goal contributions from the players so far this season.

While Lamine Yamal is a prominent name, and would be regardless of the age bracket considered, the likes of Yan Diomandé (RB Leipzig), Santiago Castro (Bologna), Karl Etta Eyong (Angers), Matías Fernández‑Pardo (Lille), Álvaro Rodríguez (Elche), Prosper Peter (Angers) and Mert Kömür (Augsburg) have made strong starts to the campaign, placing them above average in both metrics shown in the chart above.

Yamal leads in non-penalty goals + assists per 90, with Diomandé, Castro and Etta Eyong close behind, the latter topping the non-penalty expected goals contribution metric.

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