Football Wonderkid Scout

 Rosenborg Starlet Markus Henriksen

to succeed at the highest level, with skill, strength and composure. Regarded as one of the hottest properties in Europe he has attracted interest from across the continent with Werder Bremen, Arsenal and a number of Serie A clubs all monitoring his progress. Meanwhile, Marcus Pedersen has been described as Norway's answer to Wayne Rooney and first came to the attention of the football world after a fine first full season in Norway's top flight after scoring 10 goals in 24 appearances at the age of 18 for Stromsgodset. In his second season, Pedersen confirmed his growing reputation in the game bagging 7 goals in 16 games. Having had a trial at Liverpool in 2006, the Anfield outfit were reportedly showing an interest in taking him back before he sealed a move to Vitesse on 30 August 2010 for £1.2 million, signing a four-year contract.

Denmark looking for an answer since the Laudrup's, will be pleased with the emergence of Ajax starlet Christian Eriksen who has already won his first senior call up to the national team, winning nine caps at the tender age of 18. Starting his career at Odense, Eriksen came to the attention of European scouts after several eye catching performances for Odense and impressing at youth level on the international scene for Denmark. Having signed for Ajax in 2008, he made his debut in January 2010 and coach Martin Jol has compared the playmaker to Wesley Sneijder and Rafael Van Der Vaart. Techniqually excellent and with great vision and range of passing, Eriksen was personally recommended to Arsene Wenger by former player Dennis Bergkamp. He has also been linked with moves to Manchester United, Chelsea and Inter Milan. Other Danish talents causing headlines and attracting interest are 16 year-old striker Kenneth Zohore and goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard who is playing in Norway for Aalesund. Lindegaard has been hailed as the next Peter Schmeichel and was recently watched again by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as he lines up a replacement for Edwin Van Der Saar, in the recent international match between Denmark and Portugal at Porto's Estadio do Dragao. He has also had the highly rated shot-stopper monitored by goalkeeping specialist Eric Steele and the Old Trafford outfit look ready to make their move after glowing reports. Lindegaard looks likely to leave in January and Aalesund could accept a bid in the region of £5m. Kenneth Zohore who currently plays for FC Copenhagen is a 16 year-old strike sensation who joined the club in 2009. Physically mature beyond his years, Zohore has made his debut for the first team aged 16 years and 35 days to become the youngest ever player to appear in the Danish Superliga when he came on for César Santin in a 5–0 victory against AGF. In 20 October 2010, Zohore made his first UEFA Champions League apperance for Copenhagen playing against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Prolific at international youth level for the U17's, Zohore scored 6 goals in 10 appearances and has since gone on to represent Denmark at Under-19 level.

Sweden's up and coming talents include strikers John Guidetti and Linus Hallenius. Guidetti is an 18 year-old striker who was bought to Manchester City at the age of 15 by then manager Sven Goran Eriksson. With a stocky frame, his style has been likened to that of Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney and after returning to play for former club IF Brommapojkarna, he has already shown that even at his young age he can be physically imposing and pundits have been drooling over the striker’s undoubted talents. Guidetti is technically excellent and his key strengths are his pace, vision and tactically awareness which has made him a potent threat in front of goal. A regular international for Sweden at youth level, Guidetti has appeared for the Under-16 side and recently made his debut for the U21s. His next task will be trying to force his breakthrough into the Man City first team ahead of the likes of Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli. Linus Hallenius is a striker currently playing for Superettan side, Hammarby IF, but is set to join Serie A outfit Genoa at the end of the season for a fee in the region of £2m. Described as the next Zlatan Ibrahamovic, Hallenius is building up something of a reputation both domestically and across Europe. This season alone, Hallenius has scored 18 goals in 23 games and was attracting interest form Ajax and Fiorentina before Genoa made their move. A current regular for Sweden on the international scene at Under-21 level, Hallenius has good physical and technical abilities and uses his imposing figure to trouble defenders.