2022 Football Winter Transfers — The Best Young Player Signings (Part III)
These signings show that even smaller teams can profit from doing their scouting homework.
(DISCLAIMER: We are talking about those players who have been permanently signed by a club.)
Amin Sarr
Malmö FF » Heerenveen (€2.3M)
21-year old Amin Sarr shone bright in the Allsvenskan in the last season as a loanee to Mjällby. His 8 goals in 22 games for the Swedish mid-table club were a clear statement that Sarr deserved a spot in his home team’s squad.
But the young forward never actually got to play for Malmö this year, as the club sold him to Heerenveen in January, before the start of a new Swedish league season.
Sarr’s statement had traveled well beyond his home country’s borders. To his credit, the young centre-forward has quickly become a pillar of Heerenveen’s attacking end. He currently has 3 goals in 9 Eredivisie games, playing a significant role in ending Heerenveen’s streak of losses that lasted between December 22nd and February 27th
Chiquinho
Estoril Praia » Wolves (€3.5M)
Wolverhampton Wanderers have become well known for their inroads into the Portuguese market, and their latest acquisition is no exception.
After playing most of his youth career with Sporting CP, Chiquinho found a new home just a few miles outside Lisbon with second-tier club Estoril Praia, in 2020. Despite playing a marginal role in the club’s rise to the top division in 2021, the left winger became a crucial piece of Estoril’s campaign this season.
His 3 goals and 3 assists in 15 matches helped the recently promoted club challenge the best Portuguese teams in a heated battle for the league’s Top 5 in the first half of the season. This series of surprising performances led the Wolves to sign him in January for €3.5 million.
Chiquinho still has not had enough time to prove himself under Wolves’ coach Bruno Lage, but the Portuguese U21 international has time and potential on his side to solidify his place in the Wolves lineup.
Akinkunmi Amoo
Hammarby » Copenhagen (€4.3M)
Hammarby’s wonderkid and Nigerian sensation Akinkunmi Amoo (previously featured in U21TV’s debut article) had a superb season in 2021, finishing as the runner-up to Allsvenskan’s Young Player of the Year with 9 goals and 5 assists in 29 games.
The 19-year-old winger signed at the last hour with Danish powerhouse FC Copenhagen for a little over €4 million. Despite a slow start, Amoo has already managed to score a goal in 2 games for his new team, and fans can look forward to a lot more magic from the 5'4" Super Eagle.
Luca Moro
Padova » Sassuolo (€4M)
Why on earth would a Serie A club pay €4 million for a third-division forward?
The answer: this forward is just 21 years old and had scored 20 goals in 19 matches at the time of his signing.
Luca Moro has been a beacon of light in a Serie C largely ignored by international audiences. On loan to Catania — a club that in recent years enjoyed a consistent run in the Serie A before plummeting due to financial woes — Moro has given the Sicillian fans over 20 reasons to watch their team in the Serie C.
Such an enviable goalscoring prowess did not go unnoticed to the Serie A clubs. In the end, it was Sassuolo who snatched the young forward, although they have kept him on loan to Catania as Moro is not eligible to compete in Serie A until the start of next season.
Honorable Mention: Dejan Kulusevski
Juventus » Tottenham Hotspur (€10M loan fee + ~€30M buy-out clause)
Yes, yes, I know what I said in the disclaimer. But to hell with it. Dejan Kulusevski has earned the right to be an exception.
Kulusevski is enjoying a tremendous spell under Conte and it seems quite obvious that Tottenham is going to buy him out from Juventus before the end of the season.
Since his arrival in January, Kulusevski has racked up 3 goals and 6 assists in 13 games. The 21-year-old Swedish forward has brought a much-needed dynamism to a team that struggled for most of the first half of this season under Nuno Espírito Santo.
It’s a no-brainer to the London team. Kulusevski is a godsend, as has been Massimo Conte, and the two are a hard requirement for Tottenham’s long-term success. In a team boasting the quality of Heung-min Son and Harry Kane, it seems that the Swedish winger is set to become a key piece in a legit Spurs title run in the years to come.
