Player Focus: Top Teenage Centre-Backs - Marquinhos, Zouma & Laporte

The raw pace of the likes of a Theo Walcott or Michael Owen gives an added advantage in their teenage years as they pursued a route to the top of English football. Even if their slight frames made them stand out as looking rather too youthful to be taking on big, brutish centre-halves, their speed gave them the chance to get away from the defence in the blink of an eye. 

Nowadays, though, it is not only wingers and forwards that find themselves thrust into the first team as teenagers due to physical aspects that give them an an extra edge. More and more in recent years, we have seen central defenders come to the fore at an early age, defying their years with continuous performances of an seasoned, experienced international 30-something. Take Phil Jones, for example. Still only 21-years old, he has 4 seasons of Premier League football under his belt and is an established member of the Manchester United squad, yet he wouldn't have been able to manage that if he was not fully developed physically by such a young age. 

Across Europe over the past season, yet more central defenders have come to prominence despite still being teenagers at the end of the season. Three who have been particularly impressive this season rank in the top 7 teens in terms of average WhoScored rating across Europe's top 5 leagues, and have been the subject of speculation during the off season, each linked with a move to bigger and better things. While their respective futures are still to be decided, this trio of youngsters could well go on to become superstars.

Marquinhos

In his first season in European football, Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos established himself as a regular starter under Zdenek Zeman, and then retained his spot even when Aurelio Andreazzoli took over. €30m is the price that has been suggested if anyone is to prise the youngster from Roma's grasp. That is serious money for a player with only 32 senior appearances to his name in the Brazilian and the Italian top flights, but with Real Madrid amongst those reportedly interested, he must have been doing something right this term.

With an average rating of 7.18, midfielders in Schalke's Julian Draxler and Inter's Mateo Kovacic are the only teenagers to have finished the season with a higher rating than Marquinhos, who only celebrated his 19th birthday in mid-May. One might expect that someone of his youth would struggle with the pressure of playing for a team as widely watched and scrutinsed as Roma, and that nerves might be a problem. Not so for Marquinhos, who completed the full 90 minutes on 21 of the 22 occasions he started, playing nearly 35 hours of football and yet was not culpable for making a single error leading to a goal. What's more, the Brazilian kept the ball mightily well, completing 88.9% of his passes, including a 77.3% long ball completion rate, highlighting the range of passing he possesses as well. With 2.7 interceptions and 0.8 shots blocked per game, he ranks in the top 15 in Serie A for both stats, also making a helpful 7.3 clearances per game.

The Brazilian might already be playing like he has a great deal of experience under his belt, but after making such huge strides this season, it could be in his interests to keep his feet on the ground and look to continue at the Stadio Olimpico, and there is every reason to believe he can keep his place in the first team despite yet another new manager coming in, with Rudi Garcia now taking the reigns. Marquinhos certainly is a star in the making, but another season in Rome might be worth his while rather than a slightly premature and risky move to the Spanish capital and the bright lights and superstardom of the Bernabeu.

Kurt Zouma

Big, strong, powerful and fast, St Etienne's Kurt Zouma has everything anyone could want in an aspiring centre-back, and at just 18 years of age he has a bright future ahead of him. It seems he may become the latest Ligue 1 import to the Premier League soon enough, with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all linked with a move for the youngster. Zouma has represented his country at U16, U17, U19 and U20 levels and will surely be playing in the senior squad before too long.

He is extremely good in the air, having won 81.5% of the 54 aerial duels he contested this season, whilst scoring 2 goals, both of which were headed efforts at set pieces. He is a constant terror from such situations, having had 13 headed attempts in his 18 Ligue 1 appearances this term. His pace on the turn is another asset of his, and as a result of this coupled with his strength, he was not once, in 1550 minutes on the pitch, dribbled past all season. He is one of only 2 defenders to have made at least 15 appearances and stopped an attacker in his tracks on every occasion this season, along with Betis' highly experienced 30-year old defender Paulao. Zouma is calm in possession, completing 86.1% of his passes, whilst also avoiding making a single error leading to a chance for an opponent all season. He is clearly playing ahead of years, and it is little wonder he is being linked with such well-regarded clubs whilst still 4 months shy of his 19th birthday.

Aymeric Laporte

Aymeric Laporte made history in November when, at the tender age of 18 he became only the second ever Frenchman to play for Athletic Bilbao after Bixente Lizarazu. Fine performances in two Europa League ties - in which his side kept two clean sheets - including one in which he obtained a WhoScored man of the match award, won him a professional contract, and he swiftly became a key member of Marcelo Bielsa's squad.

Despite being the youngest player to hold down a spot in the Athletic team, Laporte brought an assurance to the defence that they had previously lacked. With the Frenchman in the starting lineup, Bielsa's team conceded an average of 1.32 goals per game, compared to 1.92 when he wasn't playing. It wasn't as if he played in the easier games either. Laporte played the full 90 minutes against Atletico Madrid, Malaga and Valencia, to name but a few.

Making 2.9 tackles and 2.8 interceptions per game, only 4 centre-backs with at least 10 appearances averaged more in La Liga this season, showing Laporte's impressive reading of the game even though he could still be playing youth team football. His young head has been a problem at times, however, when he has rashly dived into challenges that he perhaps shouldn't have; the defender has received 4 yellow cards and 2 reds in his 15 league appearances for Los Leones. Still, that will be written out of his game as he grows and gains experience. After a successful first season as a professional, he has plenty of time to do just that.