Euro Leagues – players to watch in 2025
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Hello and welcome to the very first EuroLeagues of 2025 from everyone here at EuroLeagues. We really hope you had an amazing Christmas. Happy New Year as well. You might even have had a chance to watch some football. So we're entering the new year. Time to start looking forward to what we're excited about in 2025 and who we are excited about as well. Certainly excited about this panel. Joining me to help mark your card for everything EuroLeague.

To keep across over the next 12 months, Guillaume Balaguet, Julien Lerons and Raphael Honigstein. Happy New Year to all of you. Happy New Year. So, New Year's resolutions, big thing in Germany, Raphael, you got anything that you're thinking of doing for the next year? Just wear more colourful shirts. That's my new resolution.

Good choice. Enough of this boring stuff, knitwear and, you know. He's already off the chocolate, isn't he, Jules? Because you had some chocolate in the studio. I couldn't resist. Rafa said no, though. So the New Year's resolution has already started. He's so good. He's very disciplined. Very impressive. Guillaume, any New Year's resolutions for you?

No more New Year's resolutions. That's the resolution. That's it. I'm in a good place. Happy place. Why change it? And Jules, what about you? Is it a big thing in France? No more chocolate, clearly. No more chocolate. Stop being so weak in front of chocolate. We've all got to follow Raphael Honigstein's example. Look at him.

Coming up, we are going to look at some players who we think will make a splash this year. Some of them you will know, some of them you may not know. But first, I'm going to start by getting us to look forward a little to the fixtures to come. Guillaume, let's start with you. What is your fixture to look out for in 2025? The playoffs.

finals of the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division. If Biggleshire United make it into the top five, we won't be first. Milton Keynes Irish have got more budgets and more points than

But if we make it, it'd be amazing. The playoffs have only been around for a couple of years. And to actually look forward to it, for a game that means so much, that would be... We're fifth, so you have to be top five. And so we are in a good place to get there.

I know we may not get there, but if we do, it'll be definitely already the highlight of my year. I'm sure most listeners will know this, but this is the club that you're the chairman of, Biggles Wade. He's the boss. You're the big boss. Tracy James, the secretary, is the boss. I'm the sub-boss. But in any case, yeah, that's the club I'm the chairman of in Bedfordshire and have been for 10 years this year, so...

Happily so too. Just quickly, are you more nervous watching them then than watching Spain and Euros final? There was a game three seasons ago in which if we hadn't won, we would have been relegated. I've never ever felt anything like that before. 20 minutes to go, we're still with the possibility of getting relegated. 10 minutes to go, we scored the second goal, so we don't get relegated. And everybody cried, went into the pitch, everybody was hugging each other. That feel, that

Second to that is Spain winning the World Cup and third, the two European Championships. But there is nothing like the team that you invested your time and not so much money, but certainly emotions to, to get the target. Nothing like it.

Rafa, for your standout fixture of 2025, I think you're going a bit higher up the tiers, aren't you? Higher up the football pyramid. Slightly bigger game, slightly bigger stadium as well, I think. I don't know what the capacity is. Well, I don't know if the quality of football is much higher, to be honest, the way both teams are going, but it is PSG against Man City. Oh, yes, someone very nervous. I mean, this would have been the sort of game you'd expect in the semi-final, but this is the game to survive the...

The league stage of the new Champions League. Wow. That's going to be the kind of game where I think a lot of people say, hopefully both can lose. But because I love Jules so much. Thank you. I hope that PSG will make it. Absolutely massive, isn't it? I mean, Man City after that end with Club Bruges, Paris Saint-Germain...

I'm not sure if it is a tougher game. I guess it is on paper. Stuttgart away from home. Jules, how nervous are you about this game between Paris Saint-Germain, your Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City?

I'm nervous already and there's what, just over two weeks to go before that game. So I don't know how I'll feel when I get there, be there to cover it. And I still think that if that's a draw and then both City and PSG win the last game against Stuttgart and Club Bruges, they could still make it, both of them.

However, you know that if there's a loser, that loser in that game will be in a massive risk of not making it to the playoff phase. So it's just one of those games that I was really hoping. When I saw the schedule, I was like, please tell me that we'd be qualified by then. And obviously we are not.

I really hope you're on Five Live Sport that night. It's going to be... I need a camera on you. After PSG get the remontada, the game at the Bernabeu, the Dortmund games, I was on Five Live crying my eyes out. Literally, people making fun of me. So it wouldn't be the first time.

And your fixture is not that fixture, the fixture you're going to pick out. What's your game to look out for in 2025? I mean, I think the biggest game of 2024, the ones that we're all waiting for, the Club World Cup final. Hey, remember that dodgy competitions that you qualify, you're not really sure how, but you get there. There's a million games that most of your B team players will play. This is it. And it will be in the States. It'll be boiling as well.

And no, more seriously, I think we said last time with Guillaume a few weeks ago when we talked about the Club World Cup, how we should be excited. So we are excited and I'm looking forward to July 15th, I think that's when the final is, or July 13th, something like that. 13th of July, yeah. Starts on the 15th of June, ends on the 13th of July. 12 venues, 32 teams. Yeah, Rafa, you were on the pod when we were on the show when we talked about this.

Guillaume was very excited about the Club World Cup. Julien actually was pretty excited. I was less excited. By the end, I was thinking, I'm going to get into this. Although I was confused as to why Red Bull Salzburg were there. What's your take on it, Rafa? Are you looking forward to the Club World Cup? Yeah, I mean, the moral stance is that it's all too much and do we need this competition? And it just distorts the haves from the haves nots. Equilibrium even more because of the extra money.

But I just love to watch football games. I mean, I'm one of those suckers who just turn on all the time. And that's, unfortunately, I'm the mark. That's why this competition exists, because people think people like me will tune in and people like me will tune in. I'm not sure I'm going to see every single game. So, you know, when the Auckland, what is it, Auckland Raiders or whatever they call it? That's the Auckland City and that's the one you have to watch. They're amateurs. Yeah.

Yeah. Facing the biggest names in the world. They should be your second team now. And then Bayern Group. Yeah, I can't wait for Auckland v Bayern. Yeah. Are you upset? I can wait for that game, especially because I think it kicks off at 3 a.m. European time. True. So there will be probably summer I won't see. But yeah, I'm fairly excited. I'm hoping to go there as well for the knockouts.

Oh, you'll be there. I hope the Auckland City fans don't mind the name change that they're going to have over the next six months. Auckland Raiders. That would make more sense from a branding point of view. Good marketing, good branding. Right, so we've had our fixtures to watch for 2025. Now we're going to switch our attention from matches you can't miss to players you should be keeping an eye on over the next 12 months. So we've got Guillaume, Julien and Rafa to pick out some names.

I think we should kick off with players you might have heard of, but who we think are going to have a big 2025. So let's head to the Bundesliga and a man who's really been grabbing the headlines this season. Eintracht Frankfurt's Omar Mahmoud. So he's from Egypt, 25 years old.

And Rafa, for people who haven't seen him play too often, you look at the stats and they're amazing. But what do we need to know about this player? Really dynamic, wide forward who can play through the middle. He's not really a winger. He's not really a centre forward. He's sort of in between. Some people have compared him, which is the obvious comparison to his compatriot Mohamed Salah. He's perhaps not quite as tricky as explosive.

But his finishing is incredible. And he's one of those players who came to Germany when he was 18. And for six years, you think, OK, interesting player, but probably not really going to set the world alight. And then suddenly, this season, he absolutely explodes and goes to a different level, to the point where we're talking 60 million, 70 million euros, maybe 80 million euros in the transfer market. And a big move ahead for him. And that's why...

He's one to watch because I think it's very, very unlikely that Frankfurt will stick with him. Some big clubs will come in for him and he's going to be

if he continues in the same path, he's going to be a superstar. Jules, have you seen much of Omar Mahmoud? Yeah, yeah, because he plays with Hugo Ketike up front, one of the best front twos. Okay, not many teams play with a front two anymore, but still, they've been great combining together. I think for Mahmoud to have somebody like Ketike next to him works great in the way Frankfurt are playing. So,

They're really fun to watch because Mahmoud also makes it fun. And it was one of those first half of the season where anything he could do would work, right? Pretty much every position, free kicks, top corners, shot from outside of the box, they would go in. One-on-one with the keeper, it would go in. That pace that Rafa mentioned was there. And it's been absolutely great. And I think he can probably get even better because he's still young. And like Rafi said, he...

had to wait for his career to click and I think now that he got that kind of confidence and momentum and if he plays with better players in bigger clubs with better coaches even I think there's even more to come from him If you got to choose a couple of teams say in the Premier League the ones that have got what did you say Rafi? 50, 60, 70 million euros I can think of two that would perhaps try to get him

One, that's got already an Egyptian that may not renew his contract there. So Liverpool. And two, Manchester United gets rid of Rashford and that money gets used to bring him in.

What do we think? I think it would be a great buy for either side or for any side, really. It's going to be a lot of competition for him. I think it's not going to be so easy for people to work out where the ceiling is because it's not a player that you can look and say, okay, he's done it at this level, he's done it at that level. He now goes up the next level. He's going to be a success. So there's going to be perhaps a bit of hesitation there.

to wonder, you know, is this a bit of a freak season for him? Is everything going right? Does he need to be maybe the big player in a small team rather than the up-and-coming player in a much bigger side? But I think his attitude is great, his work rate is great, so...

It's going to be a long queue. Do you think you'll be okay, Rafa, with the pressure of the connection to Mohamed Salah? I mean, I've watched football in Egypt and the fans there, they put so much pressure on Mohamed Salah. Has he got that personality to take that on his shoulders at a bigger club and going forward with Egypt as well? I mean, it's the sort of thing you'll only find out once it happens. I don't think he can really give you an answer, but he doesn't strike me like a shrinking, as a shrinking lily. I think he looks super confident. Shrinking lily? Yeah. Do you know that expression? I've never heard that expression.

Yeah. He just looks like a guy who is in tune with his own game, who performs every week, who's been super consistent. If he continues throughout the second half of the season, then he'll be overwhelmed with attractive offers and surely going to make a move.

On to our next player now. Most people will know Martin Zubi-Amendi because he was very close to making a move last summer. Very established at Real Sociedad. Was in the Spain team that won Euro 2024 as well.

Guillaume, why should we be keeping an eye on him this year then after he basically turned down a move, didn't he, last year? Yeah, he was also the star of the moment of the season or one of the moments of the season for me when he comes on from the bench to replace Rodri at half-time and the whole of England explorer of happiness. We all thought we were going to win at that stage.

Not realising that Thuy Mendy, first of all, is the team that's the key for Spain and secondly, Thuy Mendy is perhaps after Rodri the best holding midfielder in the world. And that's what Liverpool had decided, having gone through a lot of algorithms and numbers and knowing of his personality. Barcelona also wanted him.

I've been told that everything was done with Liverpool, absolutely everything. And then him personally decided not to move to England because at Real Sociedad you have to be seen to be saying no at least once. But three months into the season, I think it was like, oh, right, I think I'm ready to go.

So when Manchester City want to look for a replacement to Rodri or somebody to challenge him, I don't know if they will do that. First and second best in the world. They've got it in certain positions, so why not? But that is the guy to look for. Barcelona will like him but don't have the money. And I think he's absolutely ready to move now. Is he really already the second best? Yeah, did you say second best player in the world? For me, yes.

It's about the understanding of it, how you limit your weaknesses. He's not perhaps the strongest or the fastest, but how he reads the game, how he identifies where the pressure has to go. He leads the team in the past, right?

in the past, the number nine was the reference to any team. You put the balls to him and you hope that he scores and wingers around him and players at number 10 behind. Now the reference of teams that want to control games is that player and he understands the role perfectly. So for me, after Rodri, it's Ubi Mendy.

Where's the destination then, do you think, Guillaume? After he turns down Liverpool, where do you think he will end up? I'm not sure Liverpool will go back. They saw the situation with Gravenberg, but Thuy Mendes at a different level, so if they have the funds, yeah, why not? I know at City they like him a lot.

You look for others that have got 60 million euros, which is his buy-or-close, and Real Sociedad will not accept a penny less. So it has to be 60 million euros. And you only can go to the Premier League. Manchester United, they want to move that direction as well. Chelsea don't need him, and he's not the kind of player they go for. And the 24s is what they go for, so...

It will be the Premier League. And as I said, between his improving of English, he's not to Liverpool. City may even inquire in January, but I think the move will be in the summer. If he's not the second best holding midfielder in the world, who is then Rafa Gilles? Who are you going for? I mean, there's no doubt that Shain Oglou is way better than Zubi Mendy right now. I know he's not the same age. He's older than him, but I don't think we can compare Zubi Mendy yet, who's played, I believe...

eight Champions League matches in his career so far and he's a young player so

And somebody like Charnoglu in that same position. Yeah, I would still pick Kimmich ahead of Subimendi. Yeah, as well, yeah. For example. Okay, next player to discuss, Angelo Stiller, Stuttgart's 23-year-old midfielder. And Rafa, fair to say that this season's been a breakout year for him. 2024 was a brilliant year for this player. Yeah, and talking of controlling midfielders and Manchester City, these are the type of players

being made because of his output. He is not the kind of player you necessarily notice when you look at the Stuttgart team. You see the defenders, you see the guy scoring the goals, but he's the guy that makes everything happen very, very quietly. And I think

I think it used to be the case that these guys were the water carriers and they did all the dirty work for the number 10 and we could have appreciated them but nobody really cared much about these kind of players. Now it's very different because they touch the ball a million times and we know if you want to have control, if you want to have the build up and that structure, you need the guy who has the pressing resistance, all the things that weren't really necessary let's say 15, 20 years ago.

And he's got it. He's got it. He's still very young. He's still growing. He came from Bayern. Biden didn't quite see that he was going to be as good. But Sebastian Hoeneß, who worked at Bayern as a youth coach,

saw the potential and he's worked wonders with that Stuttgart team and he's worked wonders with individual players like Angelo Stille and that's why I think he is a player if he doesn't continue at Stuttgart and Stuttgart look like they might continue their great run and finish in the top four again then

which would be an amazing achievement. If it doesn't continue with him, then I think in the summer or at the very latest, the next year, we'll see a very big move for him. As you say, he started at Bayern Munich. Are they seeing this as a big mistake that they let him go? And could they be the club to spend a lot of money to buy him back? I don't think they'll spend money to buy him back because that would hurt too much. But we see that all the time at Bayern and I guess probably at other clubs like PSG and City as well. They produce fantastic players there.

but these players are not quite ready. So then what do you do? I mean, do you put them in the reserves and they just rot away or do you send them on loan? Or if you don't quite think that this is going to be the next stage, then they have to be sold. And some turn out to be brilliant and some turn out to be exactly what you thought, that they're not quite ready for the parent club and they have to go at a smaller club and establish themselves. So I don't think I would criticise Bayern for doing that.

or clubs like PSG City are often in a similar situation with players of theirs. But I think they are in the market for this type of player, especially if Josue Kimmich doesn't renew his contract. I just wonder if Bayern Munich have got a buyback clause or something like that. Real Madrid seem to have found that that's the best way for that gap that you're saying between the academy and the first team to be resolved.

I'm thinking Lucas Vázquez, Valverde, Carvajal, they all left and Ramadir kept an option on them. Uh, Nico Paz is a good example. Now he's succeeding at Como, Ramadir has left. I've got, uh, came through the academy, kept 50% of, uh, of any rights if he gets sold on and about, I think he cost, uh, he was sold by 9 million. It will cost 9 million to get him back next year, 10 million the year after, 11 million the year after that. So there is a, there is a way, um,

Meanwhile Real Madrid are using the academy to raise money for themselves. But if the players get good, they have a way to get them back. It's rarely used in Germany. I don't know what it's like in France. It's rarely used in Germany for two reasons. One, the buying clubs just don't tend to agree. They say, you know, we either buy or we don't buy. But buying with you having the right to buy back? No.

Plus, of course, it always depends on the player. I mean, if you have a buyback clause and the player has no interest of coming back because it's really settled at his new club, then it's worth absolutely nothing.

I don't think they have one. It'd be a surprise because it rarely happens for the reasons I just mentioned. PSG had one with Xavi Simmonds when he went to PSV, but that's really the only one. That was very complicated. In the end, they couldn't quite execute on it. Yeah, they still had to pay more than I think what was agreed or something like that. So it's really rare in France as well. And just before we move on from Angelo Stila, Rafa, where do you think the likely destination would be then? Would it be the Premier League?

Oh, I think it's a little bit early to say. Look, I mean, when you go from a place like Stuttgart, you can either go to Bayern Dortmund Leverkusen, you can go to Spain, but it doesn't tend to happen so much with German midfielders.

or you can go to the Premier League. So the Premier League having the most amount of clubs that can afford a player like him, the answer is always, it's probably the Premier League. But I think it's just as likely for him that he'll stay in Germany for a little bit longer. Let's move on to the next category now. So this is the under-23s. You might know them, you might not.

Magnus Akliush is our first player. Monaco, 22 years old. France's Ligue 1 is a breeding ground for talent, particularly Monaco as well. He won a silver medal at the Olympics, scored in the final against Spain, made his first team debut October 2021. And how has he developed since then, Jules? He's really caught my eye, actually, in the Champions League, Akliush. That goal against Barcelona when they played against 10-man Barcelona, he was sensational there.

the last few years he's really come on hasn't he? Absolutely you're right JB he caught the eye of a lot of people I was at the France Austria under 21 games in Nancy recently in October and the way I was sat all the scouts were there and plenty of German scouts it's normal because it's not far from Nancy but also a lot of English scouts who were there for Kliusha

And a few others like Mio from Stuttgart, but Akliush mainly. And you can see why. He's turning 23 in February. He made his debut, like you said, when he was, I think, 18 from Monaco. And if you'd watched the game against PSG just before Christmas, for example, the Monaco-PSG game in Ligue 1, he was outstanding again. He's a left-footed Paris born and bred, which helps, obviously. It means a lot of natural qualities in him. How do you not know who's from Paris? Yeah, exactly. But anyway,

But that left foot, the vision that he has, the energy that he gives, he never stops running and he's been wonderful on that right hand side. So coming inside onto his left foot in creativity, scoring goals now, more and more assisting like he did in that PSG game with Monaco for Mbolo, for example. So really outstanding to see his development, especially in the last 18 months and playing in the Champions League, for example, will also add to that because it will take him to another level. And then...

I think a bit like all the boys, all the guys that we've mentioned already, it's about making the right decision as well for the next club because that step up from wherever you are, whether it's your...

the club where you went through the academy or where you arrived really young, like an Aclius or like a Steller, but even Zubimendi as well. It depends very much, I think, where you go next. And we've seen a lot of young players who made the wrong call and went to the wrong club. So I really hope Aclius makes the right decision. Linked with Newcastle over the last few weeks. That would make sense, wouldn't it? I'm kidding. That would make sense though, wouldn't it? And Thierry Henry is a massive fan.

I'm told, because he was the coach, wasn't he, at the Olympics? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and the Monaco relationship as well. He's a massive, massive fan. Gael Clichy, who we've had on the show before, who's the under-21 assistant. Coach rates him massively. And I think I wouldn't be surprised if in March, when Deschamps calls up his squad for the Nations League quarterfinals, that actually Clichy is in it as well. Like Ryan Cherky, for example, too, because they've been really, really...

and deserved to get that call up finally and yeah I think the Premier League I mean Spain I think he will do well in Spain but the Premier League is where the money is we've just repeated that since the start of the show but also I think the football suits him the most because with all that energy with all the fitness levels that he has I think he will do so well in the Premier League especially for a really good team so I wouldn't be surprised if that's the...

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We don't have James Hauntcastle with us. We don't have Mina Rizuki, but Jules is going into that patch. He's going to take us to Italy now for the next player, an Argentine attacking midfielder who's playing for Como. He's 20 years old, Nico Paz. Tell us a little more about him, Jules. Yeah, and then Guillem mentioned him a little bit when he talked about that move and the buyback close from Real Madrid. Yeah.

And I don't know if we expected him to be that good arriving at Como, just being promoted to Serie A with Seth Fabregas as a coach and a lot of new signings, a lot of players to integrate in that team. But Nikopas has been amazing. He has. He's this kind of

smaller, he's 1m76 I think, left-footed playmaker if you want, that creativity is great, the ball control is amazing, the vision is great, he's a lovely player to watch to start with, he's elegant, he's scored some amazing goals because of that, the feel he has and the technical ability that he has and at only 20 years of age, he's just, I think for me, took Serie A by storm and again, there were probably a lot of people in Italy who had never heard of him, he

It's a great coup from Como to have signed him. And I don't think, I think it's a no-brainer for Real Madrid at some point to bring him back home because he's that good, really. He's too good for Como already. Yeah, he's what Real Madrid needs. That's clear in my head. He's a 6 or an 8, left-footed. Everybody thought that there was no space for him, as Jules said, because of Brian being there or Arda Guller being there. But he's not that player anymore.

If Real Madrid need something, it's somebody to organize the attack, to actually give tempo to the attack, to perhaps drive with the ball, but generally just to organize. And he's able to do all of that. Remind me, he reminds me, but I'm going to need people to be 30 plus here, of Fernando Redondo.

Real Madrid legend. We're far too young, Rafa, for Jules and I. Far too young. He's the son of a good Argentinian player in Pablo Paz. But he's got absolutely everything. I mean, already in 15 matches, a couple of goals, three assists and leader of that midfield.

And he does it with such an elegance for such a big guy. You don't expect that kind of control of the ball. But he's got the leadership, he's got the personality. And as I said, Real Madrid could take him back for nine million euros at the end of this season. And I would be very surprised if they don't.

An absolute bargain, isn't it? 9 million euros. But he's learning from, well, you'd think, taking a step back, looking from the outside, you'd think he's learning from one of the best possible coaches, Cesc Fabregas. Someone like him, Rafa, to be passing on his expertise, great midfielder to possibly great midfielder. Yeah, I think it's a dream to be coached by Cesc Fabregas if you are...

midfielder you learn so much it's also a great I think club for this kind of profile because the pressure isn't really on of course you need to stay up but no one's expecting you to challenge for the top four no one's really breathing down your neck when you know the local fan base is unhappy it's not going to happen at a club like this so

I think it's a great, great place for develop and let's see if he does it immediately or maybe decides to stay a little bit longer. Can I have just a little word about Cesc Fabregas as a coach? Because I still see him like the 16-year-old with, remember that bad haircut that he had, like a bit of hair coming out of his back when he first arrived to Arsenal.

You couldn't find a player that had such a smaller world than he did as a player, as in until he became mature. It was all about him. He was the center of the universe. He would just go into the computer and check the forums where people thought of him. He wanted to talk all the time about his performances. It wasn't anything beyond him and the evolution of him.

as already, of course, when he started losing the pace and his brain started adapting to the whole team, you saw somebody that could be a coach. But if you talk to some of the colleagues that he had in the national side as well, it's like, Cesc? A coach? Never. And he actually is a very, very good one now. The last category for players to watch in 2025 is the real youngsters. So we're turning to a teenager now.

And Rafa, it's over to you. Paul Vanna, I think I've got the pronunciation correct there. He's FC Heidenheim on loan from your Bayern Munich. He's a midfielder. Very, very highly rated. Very highly rated. And it's a bit of a breakthrough season for him because he had the talent, but it was hard to...

to kind of be noticed when he was at Elversberg last season in Bundesliga 2. Now he's at Heidenheim, a team that plays Conference League, a team that is also quite small and isn't necessarily known for playing a lot of football. Their game is based on running and fighting and so on. But he sticks out for that very reason. He does things differently. He scores goals. He turns up.

between the lines he's he's a number 10 but he can also play uh slightly more out wide and uh the kind of player that dribbles past players so really exciting and he looks I think to develop the kind of resilience and toughness that you need uh

we all know these players who are super technical and super exciting, but when it gets to playing against, you know, top level opposition who are a little bit tough and a little bit dirty and a little bit sneaky, then they can't quite do it. And I think it's a great educational journey for him to do it at first in Bundesliga 2 and now at one of the smaller sides in the Bundesliga. And there's a real tussle between the German FA and the Austrian FA because he has one parent each and he hasn't made up his mind yet.

for who he wants to represent. You know, he's got on the one hand a chance to play with Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirth and maybe win the World Cup with Germany. On the other hand, I think he could be going forward be the new David Alaba in Austrian football, the new superstar for years to come if he utilizes his talent. So a player that really generates a lot of headlines and

And before Christmas, there was a story that Dortmund are interested in him, which of course would be really difficult for Bayern in a way to sell one of their prized assets to Dortmund and then perhaps see him thrive. You know, the fear of him coming good there would be probably prohibitive for that particular move. But yeah, really worth looking out for him in the second half of the season.

in 2025, full stop. But certainly, I think when it comes to the summer, I think we'll see big stuff from him. Rafi, what do you think the Austrian national coach, Ralf Reining, of course, who you know well, think of him? He likes him very much. He's been trying really hard to get him to commit to Austria, but so has Julian Nagelsmann and Schalke.

I think they all realized that, okay, he's not finished article. He's only 18. It's going to take a bit more time before he's ready. He himself said, I'd be happier to play for the under 21s for the time being because Nagelsmann called them up. Of course, that was a way of keeping his options open. You don't have to commit yourself to

competitive football for one nation or the other but I think at the same time it shows that he understands where he is you know playing in the under 21s at this point is probably better for him than getting five minutes with Germany or Austria who wouldn't make him a starter at this point so yeah

going to be super interesting to see what he ultimately decides I saw him play against Chelsea in the conference league not that long ago and I was really impressed and I know Heidenheim lost 2-0 that game but

He played the whole 90 minutes and I thought he was really, really good. And you could see the talent that he has. And for him at 18 to already be an established Bundesliga player, plays in Europe, okay, albeit the smaller competition of the three, but still playing there week in and week out is really impressive. Our final player is just 17 and a long way off first team football. Guillaume, tell us why you've chosen Juan Martinez as your player to watch.

Seventeen, as you say, he was signed by Real Madrid in 2023 from Levante. And he was training with Castilla and then in one of those twists of destiny of football, Jesús Vallejo, the fifth centre-back of Real Madrid, got injured just before Real Madrid went on pre-season to the United States. And he got a call, John Martinez from the first team, saying, all right, get ready. You've got 24 hours to get your stuff put together and come with the first team.

Wow. They had to, the club had to very quickly sort out passport he didn't have. His parents had to go to a police station to allow him to travel and work in a foreign country. And he had to ask his kid manufacturer to get more boots because he didn't have enough to take with him. So he goes, obviously it was worth it. He couldn't imagine, you know,

what I seen in him but then he came on to play the replacing Rudiger against AC Milan play 45 minutes he was outstanding and Ancelotti said he's staying with the first team and

And then a couple of days later, he gets injured, does his cruciate, and he's going to be out for the rest of the season. But they renewed his contract. They think he's going to be the new Sergio Ramos. This is a horrible thing to say. I haven't heard anybody saying that. But anyway, there he goes. Yeah, he could be the new Sergio Ramos. But his talent is mixed with his personality. He's still a little bit thin, but has got...

everything to succeed at Real Madrid, even though he probably will do like Nico Paz and end up somewhere else to come back. Top, top talent.

So those are the players to watch. Directors of football from across Europe have been listening in to Euroleagues on 5 Live Sport, writing those names down. Let's see what happens over the next 12 months with those fantastic footballers we've been talking about. But before we go, your jobs aren't done yet, Guillaume, Rafa and Jules, because I want you to pick out something you're looking forward to in European football over this year. So in 2025, Jules, let's start with you.

The women's Euros in Switzerland because I think it's a very open tournament this year maybe more than ever because Spain maybe are still the favourite but don't look as strong maybe that they did for example when they

Won the World Cup and I think there's a lot of really interesting narratives everywhere with England. That group, that group is so tough. France, the Netherlands, England, Wales. That group is so tough. For Serena Wigman to play against the Netherlands, for example, for them to, England and France to face each other, Wales and England to face. In every group, there's a lot of great stories for each team, each big team. Suddenly there's a lot of great narratives. So I can't wait to be in Switzerland covering all those games.

Rafa, I think you're going home for your selection, aren't you? Oh, nice. I mean, it's coming home, isn't it? Football's coming home to the Allianz Arena again for the Champions League final. Now, I don't think it's going to be as traumatic for me personally as the last one. I hope not. 2012, yeah. For that reason alone, I'm looking forward to it. I've even gone and booked my flights already. What? Yeah, because it's the weekend and it's going to be super busy in Munich.

And yeah, it's going to be great. Great. I hope that I'm going to see all of you there. And Bayern Munich, right? And Bayern Munich, ideally. I know it's horrible memories for you, that 2012 final Chelsea beat Bayern. What happened? I can't remember. I was there that weekend and the organisation was so good around the city. The weather was great. The trains was a disaster. Do you remember? No, I don't remember the trains being bad. The train system broke down.

and people had to walk home from Alianza in the middle of the night. It was a total shambles. Oh, wow. I don't remember that. I was bigging up Munich's organisation.

- Guillaume, where are you going to go for your something to look out for in 2025? - Well, I'm going home for mine because I'm hoping that the Spotify Camp Nou will be reopened. Barcelona, last time they spoke about this, they said in March, and people stay with the word March, in March they will tell the world if it reopens this season. And people are saying, "Ah, right, it's reopening in March." No, no. They're telling you that they may reopen this season.

But I'm going to be this season.

Maybe September, maybe next year or the year after. For the whole thing to be reopened, we're looking at 2026 or 2027. But they're hoping to reopen at some point, maybe in 2025, for 60,000 seats. And if not, if they cannot reopen, listen to this, this season, that means that they, in theory, will have to play the Champions League second phase, the knockout stages, right?

in Montjuic. It's just that Montjuic is booked for some of the days of the Champions League. So they cannot play. They have to get another stadium. And do you think Espanyol, which is next door, has raised their hand and says, you can come here. No, they haven't. So they're talking maybe playing in Valencia or Madrid at the Atletico Madrid stadium. So that's going to be interesting because nobody thinks it's going to be reopened before the season ends.

Before you go, you didn't think we'd let you get away without making some predictions. So this is very quick fire. I think I know where Rafa's going to go with this first question. It's time to ask the questions you don't really want to answer. So quick fire, just a name here. Who's going to win the Champions League? Rafa, you start. At home, in Munich. Leverkusen. Jules, who's going to win the Champions League?

You'll know the answer, PSG of course. They're going out in the first round. They're not even in the Women's Champions League. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I think Liverpool right now as we record this in January, Liverpool look the favourite to me so I'll go for Liverpool. Guillaume, in a word? Atalanta and it will make us all happy, they deserve it. That brings us on to, will there be a surprise winner in any of the top five leagues? Guillaume, let's start with you. Atletico Madrid to win La Liga for me.

Fuels? Atalanta? I'm not sure that counts as a surprise winner. Atalanta, yeah, for me. Of the big five leagues, they're the ones really that would be a massive surprise. Guillaume, Rafa, Julien, Happy New Year. Thank you so much for joining us on the first EuroLeagues of 2025. Happy New Year to you all. And don't forget, there are loads more Football Dailies to download right now at BBC Sounds. Goodbye for now.

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