Prodigies

Barcelona forward Ansu Fati will be sidelined for four months after undergoing knee surgery, the LaLiga club said on Monday.

Fati, who turned 18 last month, ruptured the internal meniscus in his left knee during Barcelona's 5-2 home win over Real Betis on Saturday.

"Ansu Fati has been operated on successfully by Dr. Ramon Cugat... under the supervision of the Club's medical staff," Barcelona said in a statement. "The player will be out for approximately four months."

It’s been almost a full year since we saw a USMNT with European-based talent defeat Cuba 4-0 to advance to the Nations League Final Round — although a largely domestic-based squad defeated Costa Rica back in February — but the U.S. is finally able to welcome its Yanks Abroad back into the fold for a pair of November friendlies against Wales in Swansea and Panama in Austria.  

Vaclav Cerny was once among the highest-rated prospects at Ajax.

The young Czech winger, who broke into the first team at the Amsterdam Arena as a 17-year-old, scored 31 goals and assisted 25 for Ajax's U-21 side. He was valued as highly as $2.2 million in July 2016, according to Transfermarkt. After a bright start in the senior squad under Frank De Boer, Cerny suffered an ACL injury, which kept him out of action for nearly a year.

Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson might not be a familiar name to many soccer fans, but with Liverpool, Manchester United and Juventus already scouting Iceland's teenage sensation it's about time you became acquainted with one of football's future stars.

Barcelona's 17-year-old midfielder Pedri may not have got on the scoresheet in his side's 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus but the teenager was the unmistakeable star in a victory that gave life to his wounded side and put him on the map.

Given a second start in a row despite looking fazed in Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid, Pedri played with ambition and bravery against the Italian champions, driving Barça's play with slick passing and confident dribbling.

It’s not getting any better than this for 19-year-old goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin and Shakhtar Donetsk — or is it?

Last Wednesday, Shakhtar travelled to the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano and pulled off an incredible 3-2 upset of 13-time European champion Real Madrid despite missing 10 players through a combination of injury and pandemic. That match marked a Champions League debut for Trubin, who recorded three saves.  

Santiago Muñoz’s path to Real Madrid via Newcastle United is beginning! On Sunday, the very close namesake of the famous Goal! film series (Santiago Munez) logged his first Liga MX minutes with Santos Laguna during his side’s 2-1 win over Atlético San Luis. 

I don’t know if Spanish newspaper ABC is indeed as pathetically racist as it appears to be, but it’s hard to think otherwise after its recent game report of Barcelona’s Champions League win over Ferencváros on Tuesday. The author’s half-assed non-apology only heightens my suspicions.