We’re one week away from what football fans across the continent will be calling the biggest sporting event of the year.
That’s right, it’s nearly time for the European Championships, better known this time around as Euro 2024.
Having laid down the gauntlet with our player of the tournament bets, it’s time to look at the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ market. Let's see which youngsters could be set to announce themselves on the biggest stage in Germany.
Euro 2024 tips: Young player of the tournament prediction & tips
Not the easiest market to get a handle on, as it involves something far less clear cut than say being the top scorer or registering the most assists.
This market involves betting on a player to be crowned ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ by whoever at UEFA is in charge of making such a decision.
There’s always a chance that UEFA gives this award, along with the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award, to someone undeserving in the eyes of most fans, though that's just the nature of the beast, as the saying goes.
I’m going to take three pokes at this market, because why not? It’s the Euros after all.
I must admit I was tempted to have a slice of Premier League midfielder Adam Wharton at 16/1 and I certainly wouldn’t rush to put people off such a bet.
However, while I could very easily be wrong, I’m not convinced he’ll get the game time he probably deserves.
Wharton is clearly a positive, progressive footballer, yet even with limited central options, I’m sure Gareth Southgate will find a way to be overly negative.
Instead, I’m going with Germany’s Florian Wirtz, Spaniard Nico Williams (not to be confused with Wales’ Neco Williams), and at a massive price, Francisco Conceição for Portugal.
I will explain my trio of picks a little later in the article, but let’s first take a look at the betting market and previous winners of this award.
The betting market
Below you will find the pre-tournament betting odds for the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ market.
Previous winners
Below you’ll find a list of players to previously win the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ award at the European Championships, alongside their country, where their country finished at the tournament and which club they played for at the time of the Euros.
Unlike the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award, which is a long-standing award, the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ award is still in its infancy having first been awarded in 2016, as shown in the table above.
Which youngsters appeal most?
Euro 2024 will certainly contain more than its fair share of top-draw youngsters. Many of the likely top performers are in their early 20’s, which tells us this could be a vintage year for young players.
As mentioned above, I’m keen on Wirtz, Williams and Conceição in this market, so let’s get stuck into why.
I’ve spoken quite a bit about Florian Wirtz in my player of the tournament tips article, so I won’t bore any of the same readers with an identical explanation here.
What I will say is that we’re simply talking about a wonderful player, one just as capable of scoring a terrific long-ranger as he is picking the lock and creating high-quality chances for his colleagues.
Moreover, Wirtz comes off the back of playing an absolute starring role for a double winning Leverkusen team, a team that also reached the Europa League final, and for my money, he’s nailed on to be a mainstay in Germany’s attacking line-up at this tournament.
One last thing to note about Wirtz is that in the last domestic campaign, amongst attacking midfielders/wingers in Europe’s big leagues, he ranked in the top 1% for assists per 90 minutes, as well as the top 2% for shot-creating actions, plus the top 8% for non-penalty goals.
Moving on, I like the look of Spanish speedster Nico Williams, who admittedly, isn't a definite starter for Spain, but he arguably offers something different to La Roja’s other attacking options, so the Bilbao man should get plenty of minutes.
Interestingly, last term, across Europe’s top leagues, amongst attacking midfielders/wingers, Williams ranked inside the top 2% of players for assists per 90 minutes, which is impressive given that he was playing for a team not challenging for a title.
Williams has bags of pace, can carry the ball well at speed, plus he’ll run in behind, both out wide and in central areas, while he’s certainly no stranger to finishing off those runs with tangible end-product, registering 24 goals and assists combined (in all competitions) for Athletic Club last term.
I think he’ll turn out to be a heavily used player for the Spanish at Euro 2024 and for my cash, he’s worth betting on at 20/1 in the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ market.
There are some big-name youngsters set to star at Euro 2024, so I understand why someone like Francisco Conceição is going under the radar.
After all, while the likes of Jude Bellingham and Florian Wirtz have starred in Europe’s biggest leagues (and biggest continental competitions) this season, the Portuguese winger/forward has quietly plied his trade at Porto, but that is absolutely no reason to dismiss him and for my money, 100/1 is worth a stab.
Just because he doesn’t play for the biggest club in the world currently, don’t make the mistake of thinking that the 21-year-old can't do the business on the biggest stage.
The son of former Portugal, Lazio, Inter Milan and Porto player Sérgio Conceição, Francisco Conceição is not a player short of first team experience, that’s for sure.
Wearing the number 10 shirt, he played a sizable role for Porto this season, playing a hand in his team finishing third in the league and winning the Portuguese Cup.
What I really like about Conceição is the fact that he’s direct and aggressive; he’ll happily run at his man, and he’ll happily cut in and shoot. Such players are exciting to watch and they draw the attention of onlookers, which is key here.
Far from experienced at first-team international level, Conceição finished the season strongly for Porto and has impressed in recent friendlies, turning in an excellent performance against Finland the other night, off the back of which Portugal boss Roberto Martinez may just have him in the starting XI.
Recap - Young player of the tournament prediction & tips
Here’s a quick recap of the YPOT bets recommended in this article:
Florian Wirtz Young Player of the Tournament @ 7/1 (bet now with bet365)
Nico Williams Young Player of the Tournament @ 20/1 (bet now with bet365)
Francisco Conceição Player of the Tournament @ 100/1 (bet now with bet365)
