Sancho and Saka included in football's World most promising youngsters

Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Pedri lead the way in a new ranking of football's hottest young talent across the globe, with plenty of Premier League representation in the standings.

Research carried out by the CIES Football Observatory has ranked the most promising young players around the world based on their 'capital experience' model.

This means players are judged on a combination of data based on the amount of first-team football they have been playing and the quality of the club they represent.

They have broken down the results into four age categories: players born in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 or after and picked out 25 of the most promising youngsters in each age group.

England and Borussia Dortmund star Sancho leads the way in the oldest age group thanks to his regular first-team role with the Bundesliga giants.

Sancho, who is expected to leave Dortmund this summer, has 45 goals and 56 assists in his two-and-a-half seasons as a first-team star. He is joined in the top three by team-mate Erling Haaland, who is fast becoming one of the world's best strikers.

Sandwiched between them in second place is Bayern Munich full back Alphonso Davies who, at the age of 20, is already a Bundesliga and Champions League winner, as well as a regular starter under Hansi Flick.

Lille defender Sven Botman, reportedly a transfer target for Liverpool in the January window, comes fourth in the 2000 category with Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior in fifth while Premier League trio Pedro Netro, Phil Foden and Ferran Torres also make the top ten.

Juventus wide man Dejan Kulusevski and Lille forward Jonathan David round off the top ten in the oldest category.

The Premier League dominates the top of the 2001 category with Arsenal starlet Saka the highest-ranked prospect.

Saka has become a vital component of the Gunners side since Mikel Arteta took over last season and has scored six goals and provided seven assists so far this season.

Manchester United starlet Mason Greenwood comes second after his breakthrough at the back end of last season. He is now a regular first-team player under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has made 35 appearances in all competitions this season.

There are three more English-based players in the top 10 with Liverpool's Curtis Jones, Michael Olise of Reading and Derby's Jason Knight all earning a strong position in the standings.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of overseas talent with Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile, AZ Alkmaar's impressive striker Myron Boadu, Besiktas' Ersin Destanoglu, Charles De Ketelaere of Club Brugge and Shakhtar's Anatoliy Turbin all included.

It is no surprise that Pedri leads the way in the 2002 standings after his emergence as the next star of the Nou Camp following his arrival from Las Palmas last year.

The 18-year-old midfielder has become a key player in Ronald Koeman's side this season, making 39 appearances in all competitions, and looks likely to be a key part of the club's rebuild alongside Ilaix Moriba.

There is no domestic talent in the top 10 of the 2002 category but there are still plenty of household names on the list.

St Gallen's Leonidas Stergiou comes second with Rennes winger Jeremy Doku in third, both coming out in front of Dortmund's American starlet Giovanni Reyna.

The in-demand Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes is fifth with Sporting Lisbon's Nuno Mendes in sixth and Ajax midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who impressed at Anfield in the Champions League against Liverpool earlier this season, taking seventh.

Barcelona's Ansu Fati takes eighth and then there are two Brazilian prodigies closing out the top 10 in Santos' Kaio Jorge and Talles Magno of Vasco da Gama, once linked to Liverpool, taking 10th place.

The youngest group, born in 2003 or after, is headlined by Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, who is making a big impression in the Bundesliga.

Still only 17, Wirtz became the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at the age of 17 years and 34 days when he found the back of the net against Bayern last season before his record was broken by Dortmund's Youssoufa Moukoko less than a year later.

Despite his age, Wirtz has made 29 appearances for the first team this season and looks like a ready-made replacement for Kai Havertz, who left for Chelsea last summer. He also has eight goals and seven assists in 38 appearances so far.

English starlet Jude Bellingham comes in second in the 2003 or after category after he left Birmingham City for Dortmund and made an instant impression in Germany.

He has made 32 appearances for the Dortmund first-team this season and came off the bench to win his first senior England cap against the Republic of Ireland back in November.

Harvey Elliott, on loan at Blackburn from Liverpool, comes fourth after a series of impressive displays in the Championship this season with Isak Johannesson of IFK Norrkoping ahead of him in third place.

Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich finds himself in sixth place as his role with the perennial German champions continues to grow.

Musiala recently snubbed England and committed his international career to Germany and his performances could win him a call up to Joachim Low's Euro 2020 squad this summer.

Fabricio Diaz (Liverpool Montevideo), Youri Regeer (Ajax), Wahid Faghir (Vejle BK), Lucas Gourna-Douath (Saint-Etienne) and Loizos Loizou (Omonia) complete the top 10.