Footie Frog's 'Tadpoles to Watch'™

This is a new feature on the Footie Frog website, and is basically a way to show all of you that cannot get to see the major European leagues both what you are missing out on, and also what major young talent could be coming soon to a Premier League club near you.

This feature will be updated weekly (usually on Wednesdays) and will (for the time being at least) be categorised by position, starting from the back and working up to the strikers until a squad of 23 ‘Tadpoles’ has been selected.

There are a few rules of qualification for this feature –

      1.  Footie Frog must have watched them play

      2.  They must be 21 or younger

      3.  They must be playing in Europe (anywhere but the Prem!)

      4.   Ridiculously obvious choices will be overlooked

      5.   (and most importantly) THEY MUST BE GREAT!!

 

Starting with the three Goalkeepers then, Footie Frog’s first selection is…

 

SERGIO ASENJO

FactFile:           

Full Name:                Sergio Asenjo Andres

Date of Birth:           June 28, 1989 (age 19)

Height:                     6ft 2in

Club:                        Real Valladolid

Position:                  Goalkeeper

 

Overview:

One of the players that Footie Frog is most excited about in Spain at the moment, Sergio Asenjo seems destined to be the next big thing in Spanish goalkeeping. After his fine debut against Villarreal last season (making him the youngest keeper in La Liga) Asenjo quickly established himself as undisputed first choice at Valladolid, going on to make 24 starts in an impressive debut campaign. This season he has continued where he left off, with some outstanding displays attracting the attention of many major European clubs, with Barcelona and Valencia both reported to be ‘extremely interested’ in the young stopper. Footie Frog wouldn’t be surprised if Asenjo is snapped up at the end of the season – both of these clubs have goalkeeping issues currently; Valencia basically without one, and Victor Valdes somewhat out of favour with the Blaugrana faithful.

Asenjo is agile, has terrific reflexes, a safe pair of hands and he demonstrated a knack for penalty saving in the semi-finals of the European U19 Championship in 2007. A great capture for any club, and with a reported €6m buy-out clause he would be a wonderful investment.