Who would be the number one pick if football held an NFL-style draft? Our football team make the cases for their selections.
Tom Carnduff (@TomC_22)
The obvious contender for the number one spot in any draft type situation is PSG and France star Kylian Mbappe.
Known for his speed, the ability to dribble and to find the net, Mbappe already has a lengthy CV at the age of 21.
He won the World Cup with France in 2018, scoring in their 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final, while he has also won Ligue 1 on three separate occasions with PSG and previous club Monaco.
Mbappe's form at his current club is nothing short of exceptional. He's scored 90 goals and assisted a further 49 in 120 games across all competitions.
One of the many factors that makes Mbappe a top draft pick is the ability to play across any of the forward positions. That pace allows him to operate out wide, while the finishing puts him among the very best strikers.
Will he move on from PSG? There have been rumours that the likes of Real Madrid are interested in securing his signature. However, any club would have to smash the current world transfer record of £198million if they are to lure him away from his current surroundings.
A previous Golden Boy winner, alongside having spots in multiple teams of the season, Mbappe is already an elite talent with all the potential of becoming one of football's all-time great strikers.
There is no doubt that he is the best young footballer in world football. He is well on the way to establishing legendary status and becoming a household name on par with the likes of Pele and Maradona.
The Football Draft
Dale Tempest (@SkyBet_Dale)
Wow what a question? The older player question is of course easy as superstars Messi and Ronaldo have dominated world football now for over a decade. You have to go back an incredible 13 years to find a Ballon d’Or winner that wasn’t one of our two geniuses. In fact if you’re looking for a good lockdown quiz question it was Kaka in 2007, anyway I digress…
So our main guys have shown the consistency to go with their early brilliance, something our developing players haven’t had time to do. Youngsters are notoriously volatile being simply very young men entering a brutal professional world where temptations and expectations are through the roof, whilst the rewards of potential talent have already been banked by pushy agents.
Every player I mention will have been a teenage multi-millionaire and that’s a difficulty in itself, but let’s put all that to one side, let’s look at the question slightly differently. What under 23 player would I want in my side today?
As we know with horse racing the best two-year-old doesn’t always go on to be the best older horse, but that’s not our problem, we want the player who’s the best today, and for me that can only be one individual - Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus.
The young Dutch superstar has everything you’d want if you were building a centre half in a laboratory. Height, strength, speed, power in the air, accurate passing, plus of course the hunger and aggression all good defenders require. He became the youngest ever captain of Ajax in March 2018 and then became the first ever defender to win the prestigious Golden Boy award in the December of that year.
For a defender to win it you have to be something special, hence his nickname with Juventus fans of “The New Maldini“. He has such a powerful footballing presence and the leadership qualities you rarely see in such a young man. I don’t think I’ve ever watched him and not come away thinking what an incredible talent.
Young central defenders so often get bullied by wise old centre forwards, hence why there aren’t many of them, but not this boy he’ll front you up and take you on.
I think even I’d look good playing next to Virgil Van Dijk but seriously the De Ligt/Van Dijk partnership has quickly become the backbone to an exciting young Dutch side who could soon once again be challenging for international silverware.
I know people will disagree (Tom) and say why not Mbappe with his pace and power or the silky skills of Jadon Sancho or perhaps “The New Cruyff“ Frenkie De Jong?
Pep says Phil Foden is a very special player and who can argue with him. Liverpool fans will say Trent is going to be the best full back in the world. Manchester United fans would argue for Rashford whilst Chelsea fans may say Mount although personally I’m looking forward to seeing young Billy Gilmour in the Blues side next year.
As Ian Holloway once said in his programme notes “every man always thinks he’s got the prettiest wife at home”. We look at these things through tainted lenses but my mind’s made up. If you gave me £100 Million tomorrow and said go and buy me an under 23 superstar then Matthijs de Ligt would be my man.
Paul Higham (@SportsPaulH)
I love this question and love the idea of a draft system in football, just imagine! It’s such a tough call as having the first pick in a draft, while an obvious advantage, also comes with a huge pressure of not wanting to miss out on the next big thing.
Do you go with a proven world star already (Mbappe), one definitely on the road to stardom and looks a sure thing (Sancho) or pick someone a highly-touted youngster that may just have that x-factor but has not yet had time to show it (Rodrygo).
I’ve no problem with Mbappe as the best young player in the world, a World Cup and four league titles tells its own story – but my only hesitation is that week-in, week-out he’s playing for those flat track bullies at PSG dominating a poor Ligue 1. I’d love to see him tested in a better league.
For all the domestic plaudits Trent Alexander-Arnold receivers, he’s still not given enough credence in these types of discussions, which is a shame because he’s a 21-year-old right back who’s running a lot of games for a side dominating the best league in the world.
To be of such importance, to such a great team, in such a tough league, is incredible and the Liverpool lad would certainly be in my top three. Mbappe would be fighting it out for Sancho for another spot, but I’m taking a slight gamble with my first pick and going for goal-scoring phenomenon Erling Braut Haaland.
The signs were there when he scored nine for Norway under-20s, but he’s just kept scoring, and scoring and scoring, even though he’s now playing for his fourth different team in just his fifth season. All that chopping and changing, the rapid rise up to the Bundesliga with Dortmund and he hasn’t missed a beat.
This lad has got everything, and I mean everything, needed to be the best striker in Europe – pace, power, an eye for goal and the swagger of a man who knows he can play at the very top. He’s averaged a goal a game in European competition as well so has already passed that test.
If he’d have chosen to play for England, as he was qualified to do, just imagine the furore his scoring exploits would have caused – he may not get the international recognition Mbappe does but his numbers are stacking up nicely and he’s still only 19.
He just loves scoring goals, all kinds of goals, and he was flying in 2020 before the season stopped as he was averaging a goal every 57 minutes - by far the best rate in Europe.
So, although Mbappe seems the logical choice, I'd stick my neck out and take Haaland with my first pick and sit back, relax, and watch the goals come rolling in.