From Miami to Frankfurt, Tijuana to Alkmaar, Lionel Messi has cast his eye over the next generation of footballers in an Adidas campaign built around “10 chapters that rewrite the future of the game”. The Inter Miami forward selected ten young players he believes can shape the years ahead, with prospects from both the men’s and women’s games included.
The group reaches across Europe and the Americas rather than concentrating on the usual headline academies. Messi’s choices include established teenage names such as Arsenal’s Max Dowman and Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Can Uzun, alongside less widely discussed prospects including Crystal Palace’s American forward Zavier Gozo.
Messi’s ten emerging talents
- Tomás Aranda — Boca Juniors, Argentina
- Can Uzun — Eintracht Frankfurt, Turkey
- Gilberto Mora — Tijuana, Mexico
- Max Dowman — Arsenal, England
- Zavier Gozo — Crystal Palace, United States
- Jesús Rodríguez — Como, Spain
- Kees Smit — AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands
- Chloe Sarwie — Nordsjælland, Denmark
- Giovanna Waksman — Lyon, Brazil
- Lotta Wrede — Hamburg, Germany
Aranda is the sole Argentine in Messi’s selection. The Boca Juniors prospect has already made his senior debut, while other Argentine youngsters such as Franco Mastantuono and Nico Paz were not included.
Spain is represented by Jesús Rodríguez, now at Como, while AZ Alkmaar midfielder Kees Smit carries the Dutch presence in the list. Mexico’s Gilberto Mora, playing for Tijuana, is another of the continental talents identified by Messi.
Three women included in the project
Messi’s selection also gives significant space to the women’s game. Danish player Chloe Sarwie of Nordsjælland, Brazilian Lyon prospect Giovanna Waksman and Hamburg’s German talent Lotta Wrede complete the ten-player group.
The campaign presents the players as figures capable of becoming leading names in the next era of the sport, linking youth development in cities from Buenos Aires and Guadalajara to London, Lyon and Hamburg.
