The 20 La Liga youngsters with the most potential

Martin Macdonald

• 28 Apr 2022 12:33 BST
• 3 min read

Vinicius Junior is the La Liga player at the age of 21 or younger with the most potential, according to SciSports.

Using in-game data to calculate the performance of every La Liga player, the Real Madrid star has statistically the highest ceiling of any youngster plying their trade in Spain's top flight.

Previously a target of scathing criticism for his final product, Vinicius Junior has enjoyed the best season of his career in 2021/22, flourishing next to Karim Benzema.

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While the position on the right of the front three has largely been interchangeable at Madrid, Vinicius Jr and Benzema play every match where possible, such as their importance to the team now.

The Brazilian scored a magical goal against Manchester City in the Champions League, and has 18 goals and 14 assists in all competitions so far this campaign.

In second is Barcelona's young maverick, Pedri. Widely considered to be the future of not just Barca but the Spanish national team, the midfielder has the poise and confidence of a veteran and has earned comparisons with club legend Andres Iniesta.

Going back to Real Madrid and we have Eduardo Camavinga. In the summer of 2021, Los Blancos attempted to sign Kylian Mbappe but when they deal didn't happen, they turned to another young French superstar. Camavinga has been tipped for stardom for a while, and although he hasn't made a huge impact at Madrid yet, he is still young and his time will come.

Pedri's Barcelona team-mate Gavi is the player in Spain with the fourth-highest potential. He broke into the Barca first-team thanks to Ronald Koeman, who largely had to rely on younger players as he wasn't backed in the transfer market for big-money deals.

It has worked out, though, as Gavi has played plenty under Xavi, too, and crucially can play in a number of positions.

In September of 2021, he became Spain's youngest ever player at the age of 17 years and 62 days.

Rounding out the top five is another Madrid wonderkid in Rodrygo.

Other notable names in the top 20 are Villarreal's Yeremy Pino, Ander Barrenetxea of Real Sociedad, and Yunus Musah of Valencia.

Ansu Fati also makes the top 20, though his stock has fallen slightly due to his recent long-term injury.

How is the SciSkill ranking calculated?

SciSports explains how our development ratings are gathered:

“Among others, a positive development could be boosted by more playing time, playing time on a higher level or better performances on the pitch.

“A negative development could be due to the player being active on a lower level than he used to play, bad performances or the fact that he does not play that often as he used to do.

“A SciSkill Development of 0.0 could indicate that a player is performing exactly like our algorithm expects him to do. Another reason could be inactivity (e.g. a long-term injury or suspension).”