Forget Nico Williams! Jamie Gittens is Europe’s HOTTEST young star

Jamie Gittens is the hottest young attacking prospect in European football, with Real Madrid the latest club to be linked with the Borussia Dortmund sensation.

Gittens, 20, is another top star to have escaped the Manchester City academy, which has squandered the likes of Cole Palmer and Liam Delap over the course of the last couple of years.

Jadon Sancho also departed the Etihad to enjoy success elsewhere, with his spell at Dortmund earning him an €85 million move back to Manchester with United. Gittens is hoping to follow a similar path, and 11 goals plus four assists across all competitions this season suggest the BVB star is well on course to do so.

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Jamie Gittens: Why is he so special?

Bundesliga expert Ronan Murphy explains: “Gittens is the latest young English wonderkid on Borussia Dortmund’s books, following on from Sancho and Jude Bellingham.

“Like Sancho before him the 20-year-old is a technically gifted winger capable of causing problems for opposition defences.

“Although Dortmund have been struggling this season, Gittens has been a rare bright spot in the team, and it was the Englishman who stood up and made the impact against bitter rivals Bayern Munich to score against the champions elect and earned a point for BVB.”

With an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €73.8 million, he is the third most valuable U21 player in the world. He is just behind Savinho (€74.6m), who has emerged as his expensive heir at Man City, but well back of Lamine Yamal, whose generational talent is underlined by his €155m worth.

Gittens, meanwhile, is rated as the Bundesliga’s fourth-best winger this season by data analytics experts SciSports, who style him as a mix of a wide playmaker and classic winger. Similar players include the aforementioned Sancho as well as Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon or Marcus Rashford.

Gittens vs. Bundesliga wingers

Best-in-world potential

What’s exciting about Gittens, though, is how good he can become.

Among left wingers, only Gabriel Martinelli has a higher potential ceiling, SciSports’ calculations claim. The Arsenal star is given a potential score of 146.7 while Gittens reaches 134.8. With a current SciSkill score of 103.0, his margin for progress is enormous if nurtured correctly.

Put into context, he has the capacity to become stronger than the likes of Liverpool’s Luis Diaz, Athletic Club’s Nico Williams and even Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or runner-up Vini Jr. Put further into context, this is the same standard as Kylian Mbappe, who presently scores 134.2.

Real Madrid are just the latest club to be linked with Gittens, with Relevo revealing their interest. There is strong interest from the Premier League, in particular.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea have all been associated with him but have so far been put off a move by a prohibitive €100m price tag.

Come the summer, the interest is destined to build again, with Gittens liable to be hot property following a spectacular breakthrough campaign in Dortmund.