3 Turkish young players among Europe's rising stars

By Fatih Erel

ISTANBUL (AA) - UEFA correspondents have picked out 50 young players, including three Turkish rising stars, to watch this season.

"Our correspondents picked out 50 young players who could be big news this season," UEFA said in a statement on Tuesday.

UEFA.com's team of reporters across the continent picked out some of Europe's rising stars.

Three Turkish rising stars -- Yunus Akgun, Ozan Kabak and Guven Yalcin -- are among the 50 young players.

"Yunus Akgun (TUR, 19 – Galatasaray): A two-footed winger with good first touch and vision, he almost joined Anderlecht in the winter and has since been linked with Lazio," UEFA said.

Galatasaray's right winger Yunus Akgun scored 5 goals in 22 matches last season.

"Ozan Kabak (TUR, 19 – Schalke): The right-footed centre-back was one of Galatasaray's brightest sparks in a shaky start to 2018/19; joined Stuttgart for a reported €12m in January and moved to Schalke in June," UEFA said.

German football club Schalke 04 signed Stuttgart's Turkish center-back Ozan Kabak this season.

Turkish international Kabak, who came from Galatasaray's youth academy, was a first team player in the Istanbul club before moving to Stuttgart in January.

Last season he had 15 Bundesliga appearances with Stuttgart and scored three goals.

"Guven Yalcin (TUR, 20 – Besiktas): A forward with strong physique and good eye for goal, Güven scored two hat-tricks last season and made his Turkey debut in May," UEFA said.

The Besiktas striker scored 8 goals in 23 matches last season.

The full list is as follows:

Yunus Akgun (TUR, 19 – Galatasaray)

Benoit Badiashile (FRA, 18 – Monaco)

Josip Brekalo (CRO, 21 – Wolfsburg)

Rhian Brewster (ENG, 19 – Liverpool)

Samuel Chukwueze (NIG, 20 – Villarreal)

Kevin Danso (AUT, 20 – Augsburg)

Alphonso Davies (CAN, 18 – Bayern)

Moussa Diaby (FRA, 20 – Leverkusen)

Denis Dragus (ROU, 20 – Viitorul)

Carel Eiting (NED, 21 – Ajax)

Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (NED, 19 – Ajax)

Eljif Elmas (MKD, 19 – Napoli)

Fabio Silva (POR, 17 – Porto)

Gedson Fernandes (POR, 20 – Benfica)

Ianis Hagi (ROU, 20 – Genk)

Amadou Haidara (MLI, 21 – Leipzig)

Erling Braut Haland (NOR, 19 – Salzburg)

Adam Hlozek (CZE, 17 – Sparta Praha)

Mohammed Ihattaren (NED, 17 – PSV)

Jovane Cabral (CPV, 21 – Sporting CP)

Dejan Joveljic (SRB, 19 – Frankfurt)

Ozan Kabak (TUR, 19 – Schalke)

Ibrahima Konate (FRA, 20 – Leipzig)

Alex Kral (CZE, 21 – Slavia Praha)

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (GEO, 18 – Rubin)

Jacob Bruun Larsen (DEN, 20 – Dortmund)

Renan Lodi (BRA, 21 – Atletico Madrid)

Sean Longstaff (ENG, 21 – Newcastle)

Arne Maier (GER, 20 – Hertha)

Donyell Malen (NED, 20 – PSV)

Ivan Oblyakov (RUS, 21 – CSKA Moskva)

Dani Olmo (ESP, 21 – Dinamo Zagreb)

Andreas Skov Olsen (DEN, 19 – Bologna)

Strahinja Pavlovic (SRB, 18 – Partizan)

Luca Pellegrini (ITA, 20 – Juventus)

Denys Popov (UKR, 20 – Dynamo Kyiv)

Ricard Puig (ESP, 19 – Barcelona)

Marco Richter (GER, 21 – Augsburg)

Rodrygo (BRA, 18 – Real Madrid)

Romario Baro (POR, 19 – Porto)

Matvei Safonov (RUS, 20 – Krasnodar)

William Saliba (FRA, 18 – Arsenal)

Ismaïla Sarr (SEN, 21 – Rennes)

Xaver Schlager (AUT, 21 – Wolfsburg)

Tiago Dantas (POR, 18 – Benfica)

Sandro Tonali (ITA, 19 – Brescia)

Ferran Torres (ESP, 19 – Valencia)

Heorhiy Tsitaishvili (UKR, 18 – Dynamo Kyiv)

Nikola Vlasic (CRO, 21 – CSKA Moskva)

Guven Yalcin (TUR, 20 – Besiktas)