Rough Diamonds is a series which looks at young players who have the talent and the ability to dominate world football in the years to come. And we would like,you the readers to contribute to this series.

The player you are writing about must be 21 or younger(Exceptions might be made),and preferably not someone famous and well known like Neymar/Wilshire.

Send in your entries to thefalse9[at]gmail[dot]com with your name and other details like twitter/blog url.

Rough Diamonds series has been featured in A Football Report’s The Best of Football Writing in 2011.

Julian Draxler (20)

In 2011, Julian Draxler because the fourth youngest debutant to appear in Bundesliga at the tender age of 17.

As a player, Draxler is well-known for his superb finishing technique, He publicised his ability at the age of 17 in the German Cup final with an amazing goal from outside the area and has since scored several astonishing goals for the Schalke fans.

It takes a special player to accomplish such much so young.  And make no mistake, Draxler is special.

Romelu Lukaku (20)

After a immensely positive loan spell at West Brom, the Chelsea starlet was very mFNuch expected to feature for the Chelsea side, but instead, after a missing a penalty in the super cup final, he was loaned to Everton, and Chelsea recruited the talent of Samuel Eto’o. A choice which could come back to bite the 2009 premiership winners in a time when Lukaku is displaying some Match winning performances, and Chelsea’s forward line is failing to find the net.

Lukaku’s one key attribute is the 6ft 3’s athleticism, although dissimilar to most tall footballers, his game doesn’t necessarily revolve around his huge stature and is found constantly utilising his pace and superb technical ability to help him leave premiership defenders in his wake.

It’s tough to find a weak link in Lukaku’s game, he’s an extraordinary talent, and will most certainly go on to huge things, and with UK betting websites already offering odds (albeit not favourable) on Lukaku being a contender for the golden boot next season, the experts obviously think the same.

For a more in-depth analysis please see here. 

Marquinhos (19)

Marcos Aoás Corrêa, more commonly known as Marquinhos, is the Brazilian talent recently purchased by Paris Saint Germain for a huge fee of €31.4 million.

Marquinhos is naturally very athletic without being huge in stature; being renowned for his ability to read the game and make key interceptions, He reads the game astoundingly well which leads to his remarkable tackle success rate. On 31 October, Marquinhos received his first call up for the Brazilian international team, being named in the squad to face Honduras and Chile

You can read the already posted articles in this series here.

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