Scouted Says

Jadon Sancho is expected to complete a £73 million transfer to Manchester United following the conclusion of EURO 2020. The Borussia Dortmund winger has been tailed by Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side for well over a year - and now it appears they have their man, for £30 million less than they would have paid last summer. But what does this mean for £40 million teenager Amad Diallo, golden boy Mason Greenwood and the links to other players such as FC Nordsjælland's Kamaldeen Sulemana and Stade Rennais' Eduardo Camavinga? Data scientist and Scouted Football analyst Kees van Hemmen provides the insight on what Sancho's Man United move means. 5:54: What does Jadon Sancho bring to Man Utd? 17:58: Should Amad Diallo go out on loan? 27:07: Can Mason Greenwood become a Man Utd centre-forward? 32:13: 'Lightning in a bottle' Kamaldeen Sulemana 38:38: Is Eduardo Camavinga, Paul Pogba or Scott McTominay's long-term replacement?

Academy football is notoriously ruthless and cut-throat. A minuscule proportion of young footballers make it into the professional game. For every Phil Foden, Mason Mount or Marcus Rashford, there is a trail of disappointment and heartache felt by hundreds of budding, hopeful youngsters. Joe speaks to author of 'The Dream Factory - Inside the Make-or-Break World of Football’s Academies’ Ryan Baldi about success stories, academy pitfalls, pros, cons and the growing debate around aftercare following the dreaded release conversation. 11:34: Academy football finances 17:21: What is a 'Category One' academy? 22:36: Aftercare and the releasing of young footballers 32:35: Elite academies vs Lower league academies - Dele Alli's vs Phil Foden's 39:47: The Making of Marcus Rashford 45:30: Is Chelsea the 'ideal scenario' in academy football? 50:18: How Chelsea scouted and signed Mason Mount  

The UEFA EURO 2020 Group Stage is complete. Eight teams drop out, while 16 progress. Amongst those 16 are a handful of U23 players, most of whom are experiencing a major tournament for the first time - and they're doing exceedingly well. Join Joe and Lee as they navigate four players who have impressed throughout the Group Stage, debate their differing backgrounds, styles and futures ahead of what promises to be an enthralling Knockout Round. 5:05: Italy, Sassuolo and Manuel Locatelli 12:42: Denmark, Mikkel Damsgaard and Packing Stats 25:48: Billy Gilmour's 90 minutes of football heaven 37:45: Pedri, Las Palmas, being 'small and skinny'

UEFA EURO 2020 has arrived. This is your one-stop shop for breakout names, dark horse picks and an U-23 focused preview of this summer's headline tournament. Joe Donnohue (@JoeDonnohue), Stephen Ganavas (@StephenScouted) and Phil Costa (@_PhilCosta) discuss squads stacked with U-23 names, players with the potential to explode onto the world scene and who's ripe for a big move following an even bigger Euros display. It's a festival of football - get it started with the Scouted Football Podcast. 4:04: La Liga lads at EURO 2020 11:17: Turkey and Denmark: Scouted's Dark Horse nominations 16:57: Eyes on the prize for England? 22:48: Remembering Renato Sanches and introducing Nuno Mendes: Portugal's title defence 27:17: Viktor Tsygankov and Andriy Shevchenko's Ukraine 31:43: Saša Kalajdžić: Austria's 6ft 7in 'sticking point' 38:18: Ryan Gravenberch: The Netherlands' Paul Pogba? 44:28: Introducing Czech Republic's Adam Hložek 49:53: Federico Chiesa: Extra-time trump card

Ligue 2 is renowned for its reputation as a producer of high-level European talent. Ibrahima Konaté, Marcus Thuram, Maxence Lacroix, Cédric Bakambu and many others count it as the league which provided them their professional debut. In fact, it was the same club that provided a first senior platform for those four household names in European football: FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. Nestled in the east of France, close to the Swiss border, Sochaux is home to one of the country's best academy setups. Currently in Ligue 2 after a lengthy top flight stay which ended in 2014, the team are coached by former centre-back Omar Daf, a custodian of the Sochaux culture. 4:55: Joe and Alex's love letter to EURO 2020 13:05: Sochaux - a background 17:38: Omar Daf - manager, mentor custodian and the Sochaux culture 27:11: Sochaux alumni - Konaté, Bakambu, Lacroix, Thuram, lucrative sell-on clauses and the footballing food chain 38:53: Bryan Lasme, nine-goal,  6ft 4in wide target man 49:28: Alan Virginius, 2003-born orthod

Return of the Max. Juventus will part ways with Andrea Pirlo this summer, making room for Massimiliano Allegri once more. The six-time Serie A winner - five of which were with Juve - looks set to take the helm once more, with potential knock-on effects for Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli and Cristiano Ronaldo. 2:41: Allegri is back. How did Juve fare without him in the last two years?  7:39: Upcoming transfers: obligations and hypotheticals 12:01: Make room for Manuel Locatelli - What becomes of Weston McKennie? 15:15: Youth rebuild or gentle evolution? 19:44: Is Dejan Kulusevski suited to Allegri-ball? 25:06: Cristiano Ronaldo - Budding mentor or drain on resources? 33:10 - 37:26: What will Juventus look like in 2021/22?

This week, Joe is joined by Michael Bailey of The Athletic. Michael is the Norwich City correspondent and has covered the Canaries for 15 years. He has witnessed every promotion and relegation to and from the Premier League imaginable, celebrating a title-winning campaign this past season. Under the stewardship of Sporting Director Stuart Webber and Head Coach Daniel Farke, Norwich are once again a Premier League club. 05:06: Norwich's Premier League bounceback 10:32: The Two Emi Buendías 16:17: Oli Skipp, Bomb Disposal Expert 22:43: Kieran Dowell, Finding a Home 29:23: Todd Cantwell, Dutch Courage 38:57: Adam Idah, The (Un)luck of the Irish 41:21: Andrew Omobamidele, Replacing Ben Godfrey 44:22: The Norwich City Finishing School for Young Footballers 46:20: The Stuart Webber (Sporting Director) Revolution 53:12: Norwich City's Stuart Webber Succession Plan

Celtic parted ways with Neil Lennon earlier this season, following failure to complete an historic ten-in-a-row. Rangers have stolen their Scottish Premiership crown and with key players soon to be out of contract, there is a job to be done at Celtic Park. Joe speaks to Football Daily's Chris Hamill about the facelift the Bhoys currently need, who can steer the ship back into Europe and which players can be the centrepiece of a Celtic comeback. 08:46: How did it end up like this?  14:03: How do you replace a Kristoffer Ajer?  20:23: David Turnbull as Celtic centrepiece 26:04: I wanna, I wanna, I wanna be Édouard 31:13: Replacing French Eddy with the son of a Parkhead hero 38:08: Searching for Neil Lennon's successor

Luka Modrić, Dejan Lovren, Mario Mandzukić, Dani Olmo, Borna Sosa, Mateo Kovačić, Marcelo Brozović and many, many more players past and present credit GNK Dinamo for their footballing upbringing. Joe discusses the ins and outs, the good and the bad, of Croatia's most historic and successful club with First Time Finish's Ben Bocsák. 4:15: A history of producing top players 13:20: Dinamo Zagreb's historic squads and the academy mentality 20:01: Dinamo's recent sales, incl. Borna Sosa, GNK Dinamo academy graduate, soon-to-be German international   24:19: Dinamo Zagreb's finances, selling at the right price, and the Mamić family 30:18: Introducing Joško Gvardiol 33:31: Best of the Rest - Lovro Majer, Luka Ivanušeć, Dario Špikić, Josip Šutalo and Welshman Robbie Burton

Back again for another regional scouting episode, Joe and Lee choose three players from Scandinavia to discuss. Tricky, diminutive wingers, ball-progressing full-backs and Icelandic family trees - it's one you don't want to miss. 4:54: Andreas Schjelderup - FC Nordsjælland 14:30: Akinkunmi Amoo - Hammarby  22:07: Bénie Adama Traoré - BK Häcken 30:00: Christian Borchgrevink - Vålerenga 38:13: Ísak Bergmann Johánnesson - IFK Norrköpping 48:03: Veljko Birmančević - Malmö

Joe is joined by Steve and Phil to discuss the potential ramifications and the fallout from the shattering news that 12 major European clubs have agreed to join a 'Super League'.

Joe is joined by Bundesliga expert Jasmine Baba to discuss the managerial merry-go-round in Germany. Marco Rose leaves Borussia Mönchengladbach for the abundant youth of Borussia Dortmund this summer, while Adi Hütter will pick up the pieces at Borussia-Park in the wake of Rose's departure. What will come of Dortmund interim manager Edin Terzić and is the ex-Red Bull Salzburg Head Coach all he's cracked up to be? 8:31: BMG, BVB and Marco Rose's managerial background 16:35: Marco Rose to BVB, and the early announcement 20:18: Are Marco Rose's tactics the reason Borussia Dortmund have moved for him? 25:51: Will BMG's players follow Rose to Dortmund? 30:18: Adi Hütter's record with young players and the BMG youngsters he can develop 35:43: Borussia Dortmund Forecast under Rose 42:26: What will Marco Rose's Dortmund look like?

Expected Goals, Expected Assists, Passes into the Final Third, Successful Pressures and hard-to-pronounce names, it's Stan Collymore's worst nightmare - another Standout Stats episode. This time, Joe is joined by Scouted chief Stephen Ganavas to discuss the under-23 players who stick out in the numbers in Serie A this season. 2:51: Serie A's Winners, Losers, Disappointments and Surprise Packages this season 14:07: Dušan Vlahović, 'the breadcrumb trail' and non-penalty xG 22:19: Manuel Locatelli passing, passing and passing into the Final Third 30:38: Mikkel Damsgaard, Claudio Ranieri and Goal-Creating Actions 37:42: Lautaro Martínez and his favourite pastime beside scoring goals: final third pressures

John Terry and Ron Harris to Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount; Chelsea's academy has a long and storied history of producing top-level first-team players. But what about those coming through now, the next crop? Joe speaks to The Chelsea Spot's Orlando Ashton about the club in its current incarnation, as well as the famed Cobham academy which has had so much success in recent years. 08:19: How can Thomas Tuchel get the best from Kai Havertz? 13:11: Will Thomas Tuchel focus on youth? 16:21: What makes Cobham different? 21:18: Iké Ugbo 26:56: Armando Broja 31:06: Conor Gallagher 34:30: Billy Gilmour 40:15: Tino Anjorin 46:15: Jude Soonsup-Bell 

The Championship, Segunda División, Ligue 2, Serie B and 2. Bundesliga - they are leagues stacked with talent. Joe and Lee take a look at some of the teams vying for promotion from the second tier currently boasting under-23 players we may be seeing in the top flight sooner rather than later. 2:42: Bafodé Diakité (Toulouse) 12:52: Mohammed Bayo (Clermont Foot) 19:44: Vitaly Janelt (Brentford) 26:08: David Raum (Greuther Fürth) 34:11: Samuele Ricci (Empoli) 44:25:  Samú Costa (Almería)

34-time Belgian champions RSC Anderlecht are in a bit of a slump. Last season, they failed to compete in European competition for the first time since 1964, sliding to 8th in the Belgian Pro League. But all is not lost. Under Vincent Kompany, the Brussels-based club boast a string of exciting under-23s from the club's famed youth academy, which is known to have produced Youri Tielemans, Dries Mertens and Romelu Lukaku among others. Joe is joined by Belgian Football Podcast founder Ben Jackson to discuss where it went wrong, and how the rebuild is taking shape. 04:28 - How does the Belgian Pro League work? 8:02 - Anderlecht: Past and Present 12:04 - Anderlecht's financial troubles and young squad 16:46 - Anderlecht's style of play under Head Coach Vincent Kompany 19:13 - Albert Sambi Lokonga: ball-progressor-in-chief 27:47 - Yari Verschaeren: winger, attacking midfielder and Anderlecht's next hope? 33:54 - Lukas Nmecha: City loanee and penalty spot hero 39:45 - Anderlecht and Manchester City - Kompa

This week, we're in Eastern Europe, where Viktor Tsygankov has been involved in nigh-on 120 Dynamo Kyiv goals at the age of 23, and where a Portuguese-speaking contingent to rival Wolverhampton Wanderers has emerged at Shakhtar. It is also the land of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup champions, but what has become of the winners of that tournament two years on? Joe is joined by Ukrainian football expert Andrew Todos - founder of Zorya Londonsk - to discuss the country's big two and decorated young players. 5:22: Shakhtar's Portuguese-speaking contingent and a changing of the guard 10:54: Marcos Antônio and Tetê 16:56: Manor Solomon 20:33: Dynamo Kyiv's title challenge 22:58: Viktor Tsygankov 29:45: Vitaliy Mykolenko 34:12: Illya Zabarnyi + Denys Popov 38:01: Vladyslav Supriaha + Bogdan Lednev 43:18: 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup winning team - Where Are They Now? 51:46: Best of the Rest (Ukrainian Premier Liga), Anatoliy Trubin, Pape-Alioune Ndiaye + Allahyar Sayyadmanesh

There's more to life than plain old goals and assists. This week on the Scouted Football Podcast we're joined by Mark Carey - data analyst at The Athletic and co-host of the Football Fanalytics pod. We're talking goals, assists, defensive actions, dribbling, carrying, xG, xA - the lot. 7:14 - Dominic Calvert-Lewin, what's changed at Everton and the importance of xG 17:23 - Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden and Expected Assists 24:20 - Mason Mount, xA, the relevance of 'key passes' and the set-piece caveat 31:51 - Trent Alexander-Arnold, losing possession and the creative drop-off 38:58 - Why are defensive stats often possession adjusted (pAdj) and why is it important? 43:59 - Declan Rice, pressing and Passes per Defensive Action (PPDA) 48:34 - Adama Traoré, Pedro Neto and Wolves' world-beating collection of dribblers, or carriers

Episode 55 takes us to the sunnier climbs of South America with the return of scouting and analysis expert Lee Scott. Joe and Lee discuss various players, common pathways for South Americans and translating their performances in CONMEBOL competitions to Europe where many often end up. 8:47 - South American player development 15:43 - Jhon Durán 19:09 - Brenner and MLS 28:05 - Carlos Palacios and Chile 38:42 - Agustín Urzi and Expected Goals 49:32 - Alan Velasco and Tomás Belmonte

Stuttgart's promotion from 2. Bundesliga last season was secured in the final knockings of the season, but there is little danger of them returning to the second tier after a blisteringly entertaining Hinrunde in this season's Bundesliga. Joe is joined by Berlin-based journalist, OneFootball and Arseblog's finest, Lewis Ambrose. They discuss Stuttgart's background, it's fruitful record with young players and of course the Sporting Director who has headed up the club's charge back to prominence: Sven Mislintat, formerly of Borussia Dortmund and briefly Arsenal. 3:10 - Stuttgart's background 10:16 - Gnabry, Kimmich and Leno 14:40 - 2. Bundesliga promotion 16:12 - Pellegrino Matarazzo and Stuttgart's tactics 20:19 - 11-goal wide-forward Silas Wamangituka 31:39 - Box-to-box midfielder Orel Mangala 38:41 - 6'7" Saša Kalajdžić and penalty king Nico González 45:07 - Sven Mislintat's scouting genius 56:08 - 19-year-old ex-PSG Tanguy Coulibaly