It isn’t easy for a young player under the age of 23 to make a major impact in the center midfield positions, because it’s a position that requires a combination of technical quality, tactical intelligence, defensive grit, energy, work rate, veteran know-how, and all-around footballing quality.
Here are 10 young players under the age of 23 who have been standouts for their clubs in midfield.
To be considered one of the best young center midfielders in the world, a player must be a 6 or an 8 and cannot only play as a 10. Players who are No. 10 playmakers but have a past history of success as a 6 or 8 are able to qualify for this list, because they have shown a history of success in this role.
11. Johnny Cardoso, Real Betis
Johnny Cardoso is the least-known name on this list outside of USMNT observers and the Real Betis faithful, but he had arguably the best season of any traditional center midfielder under the age of 23 in 2023/24.
The Real Betis standout averaged 2.8 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game last season, performing at a higher level defensively than veteran teammate Guido Rodriguez.
Look for Cardoso to become a fixture on these lists in the future.
10. Javi Guerra, Valencia
Young Valencia star Javi Guerra is becoming one of the best center midfielders in LaLiga and joins Andre Almeida as another player on the Bats worth watching closely in the coming seasons.
Guerra scored four goals for Valencia last season while averaging 1.1 dribbles completed per game.
9. Warren Zaire-Emery, PSG
PSG may not have as many eyeballs on them next season with Lionel Messi, Neymar, and now Kylian Mbappe all out the door, but the next generation of talent in Paris is worth believing in.
Far too often, PSG have let their best young players walk away like Christopher Nkunku and Moussa Diaby, but at least they clearly know what they have in Warren Zaire-Emery, who is a much bigger phenom than either of those two.
Zaire-Emery is only 18 years old but is already one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1 with excellent dribbling skills and a willingness to win possession defensively.
8. Carlos Baleba, Brighton
Carlos Baleba is extremely underrated and overshadowed by the other talents at Brighton, but he is very much one of the best young players in the Premier League heading into the 2024/25 season.
He and Mats Wieffer could form a midfield tandem that dominates the league. Baleba is just 20 years old but already has top-class traits in the defensive midfield, completing over 92 percent of his passes like Zaire-Emery while providing even better reading of the game defensively.
7. Adam Wharton, Crystal Palace
Many England national team fans wanted their country to give Adam Wharton some minutes at Euro 2024, arguing that he would do a better job than Declan Rice and most certainly than Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield.
Wharton looks like the next great English defensive midfielder with his defensive covering and range of passing. He is calm and slick with his passing, ready to break out truly when he joins a club with more of a supporting cast than Palace.
This past season, the 20-year-old Wharton averaged 3.0 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game to flex excellent defensive quality while adding vital playmaking to the Eagles with 1.3 key passes per game.
6. Amadou Onana, Everton
Barcelona and other big clubs are after Everton defensive midfielder Amadou Onana, who stood out positively as Belgium’s best player at an otherwise disastrous Euro 2024 tournament.
Onana has his limitations as a passer and often goes sideways, but he is an elite defender with his intelligent reading of the game and intensity.
He’s also an asset on the ball because he is progressive with his dribbles.
5. Kobbie Mainoo, Manchester United
Kobbie Mainoo is the future hope of Manchester United and their best young player currently, as he is so good that he has become a fixture in the lineup for the England national team.
The 19-year-old defensive midfielder quickly usurped Casemiro in importance last season, scoring three goals while averaging nearly three combined tackles and interceptions per game.
An ideal all-action midfielder for the modern game, Mainoo has box-to-box quality and real attacking upside, as he showed last season by scoring some very important goals for Manchester United. Mainoo makes things happen.
4. Moises Caicedo, Chelsea
Although Moises Caicedo hasn’t been able to show his true level for Chelsea, fans can see the quality that made the Blues spend a record amount on the defensive midfielder from Brighton last summer.
Every big club in England wanted to get their hands on Caicedo after he dominated the game defensively, as he is arguably the best defensive presence in the midfield in the world when he is on his “A” game.
Caicedo showed that a number of times at Copa America. If Enzo Maresca can get Caicedo revving back to his best, then the rest of the Premier League had better watch out.
3. Eduardo Camavinga, Real Madrid
Real Madrid center midfielder Eduardo Camavinga just barely misses out on the second spot to Xavi Simons after the incredible breakout season the Dutchman enjoyed at RB Leipzig, but there is no question that Camavinga is a world-class player.
If anything, Camavinga is getting underrated because he is so overshadowed by the other elite midfielders at Real Madrid, as well as the issues with the French national team under Didier Deschamps.
The 21-year-old has matured into a better all-around midfielder for Real Madrid, especially defensively, as he has gone from a raw, all-action 16-year-old phenom at Rennes to a player capable of locking down the entire midfield in the final stages of a vital Champions League knockout tie.
Camavinga is the best ball-winner and progressor on a Real Madrid team that includes players like Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham, and his sweet left foot is just waiting to truly break out in the scoring column.
2. Xavi Simons, RB Leipzig
Xavi Simons is used to playing a deeper role in midfield, but, like Jude Bellingham, he made headlines in an attacking midfield role for a Champions League level side in RB Leipzig.
Though Simons had stood out for PSV in this competition before, he got a chance to raise his game with a higher profile side in Leipzig and did so with aplomb.
Now clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich are begging to sign him. Simons is one of the best players in the Bundesliga and was honestly just as good as Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala last season with 8 goals, 11 assists, and 2.6 dribbles completed per game.
1. Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham was in contention for the Pichichi trophy as a No. 10 in Carlo Ancelotti’s tweaked tactical system at Real Madrid, and he was the standout player throughout the majority of the 2023/24 season on a team that won LaLiga and the Champions League.
But before stepping foot at the Santiago Bernabeu for Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham spent a few seasons as a world-class No. 8 for Borussia Dortmund, winning the Bundesliga Player of the Season award in 2022/23 after nearly leading BVB to the title.
Bellingham averaged 5.2 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game with 3.6 combined tackles and interceptions per match that season.
It is hard to believe that Bellingham, who has a case for being the best player in the world, is still only 21 years old despite several seasons of top-class play.
He is magnificent in midfield for Real Madrid, making all the right runs into the box, skipping past defenders with Zinedine Zidane-esque roulettes, and showing a fire defensively that few superstars do.
Bellingham has haters, but, like Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, he receives hate from those who believe it is cool to bash a confident and talented individual.
