Euro u21 and u19

A busy summer of international football continues next week with 2 youth competitions.
England go into the u21s as holders, while Spain are the reigning champions at u19 level. They are among the nations who appear in both competitions along with Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Romania.
With the Club World Cup going on, plus a lot of players already stepping up beyond the level they are eligible for, a lot of talent will be missing but there are still potential superstars out there...

U21 European Championship - 11th - 28th June
Spain and Italy are the most successful teams at this tournament with 5 titles each, and they meet in Group A this year. Alongside them are hosts, Slovakia, and Romania.
Pablo Torre will be one to look out for, as the Barcelona attacker has been allowed to join up. After a decent loan at Girona, Torre has had a decent spell back with Barca. Cristhian Mosquera is a highly rated CB who has been tentatively linked with English clubs after an impressive season with Valencia.
Leeds fans will be watching out for Mateo Joseph for Spain, and Wilfried Gnoto will be one of the star men for Italy. Tommaso Baldanzi and Cesare Casadei are among their best known talents.
Louis Munteanu and Octavian Popescu are exciting prospects within the Romanian squad and Leo Sauer could be the man for the hosts.

Group B headliners are champions England. Like Spain they have suffered from not being able to pick CWC players including Liam Delap. That has led to a shortfall in strikers, and Jay Stansfield is the only recognised striker. Ethan Nwaneri is one of the youngest players named in the tournament squads, with Archie Gray and Jobe Bellingham also teenagers. Elliott Anderson and Tino Livramento may have been in the senior squad otherwise, but the loss of Adam Wharton to injury is a big blow. Harvey Elliott should have a big role
Germany are among the favourites, and Nick Woltemade may be a bet for top scorer. The Stuttgart man made his senior debut on Thursday, and had a breakthrough season at club level. Brajan Gruda has had a good season in the PL.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia are also in Group B, but I don't know any of their players

France and Portugal are the big names in Group C. France will look to Thierno Barry and Spurs duo Wilson Odebert and Mathys Tel for attacking output. Castello Lukeba is a very talented CB looking to get into the very large pool of French senior defenders.
Celtic man Paulo Bernardo, Wolves Rodrigo Gomes and Carlos Forbs and Mateus Fernandes of Southampton are among the Portuguese talent. Missing some Benfica and Porto players, they should still do well.
Dominik Marczuk has Polands hopes, while Gabriel Sigua and Luka Gagnidze will be hoping to star for Georgia.

Group D finds the Netherlands alongside Denmark, Finland and the Ukraine.
The Dutch include Ian Maatsen, Jorrel Hato, Ryan Flamingo and Devyne Rensch is a strong looking defence. Anass Salah-Eddine, Kenneth Taylor and Ruben van Bommel add attacking threat. They look a decent bet on paper.
The Danish squad should include Obi Martin, who at 17 will be the youngest player on show.


U19 European Championships - 13th - 26th June
Group A has Spain, Denmark, Montenegro and host nation Romania.
England and Germany meet in Group B.

The England squad includes the likes of Tyler Dibling, Mikey Moore, Joshua King and Chris Rigg who have all had good personal seasons.
Keke Topp may be a German dangerman.




Channel 4 will be showing the u21s on their various platforms.