It's that time! The time when, in honour of the NFL draft, Juls and I try our hand at drafting the best players by birth year. We're up to 2004, which makes this the fifth year of our draft and offers a nice opportunity to look back.
We both made some bad picks (me, to be fair, more than Juls), but since we're buying futures, we figured we'd treat these like stock portfolios, using Transfermarkt valuations (which aren't perfect, but are a decent benchmark). Mine is basically flat (down 0.01%, largely because of my disastrous 2001 draft, when I foolishly put my faith in Mykhaylo Mudryk, Armando Broja and Nicolò Fagioli), but Juls has pretty much killed it (he's up 15.39%).
Anyway, here are is our draft of players born in 2004. Note how there's a bit of a drop-off after the top three, and the top eight picks are all midfielders...
1. Juls: João Neves, MF, Paris Saint-Germain "His football IQ is higher than anyone of his generation and higher than many more experienced players in his position."
Neves was Juls' top overall pick and it's hard to argue given how indispensable he's become for club and country at such a young age. PSG would be much worse without him. Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images 2. Gab: Nico Paz, MF, Como "A genuine number ten who combines athleticism, creativity and quality... Real Madrid have the option to bring him back..."
3. Gab: Gavi, MF, Barcelona "A regular for Barca at 17 and then hampered by injuries the last two seasons... I picked him high because I want him to go back to where he was: one of the best all-rounders in Europe."
4. Juls: Aleksandar Pavlovic, MF, Bayern Munich "He's strong, he's tall, he runs forever and he's calm and composed on the ball... already a fixture for Bayern, one of the best teams in the world."
5. Juls: Adam Wharton, MF, Crystal Palace "I picked another defensive midfielder here. I love how he scans and dictates the pace of the game, I love his left foot. He's going to move to a big club this summer for a lot of money."
6. Gab: Carlos Baleba, MF, Brighton "Last season he monstered the Premier League, though his play has dipped a bit this time around. But I'm playing the long game here... he can be a Moisés Caicedo type."
Gab & Juls draft: Players born in 2004
7. Gab: Mateus Fernandes, MF, West Ham "A metronomic passer who is comfortable in tight spaces and creative to boot... if West Ham stay up, he'll be a big part of it."