Leeds United’s Ronaldo Vieira named 3rd best teenage prospect in England

According to the CIES Football Observatory, Leeds United’s Ronaldo Vieira is one of the top 20 teenage prospects in Europe, and is the 3rd best teenage prospect in England behind Tom Davies of Everton and Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham.

The CIES Football Observatory explained its methodology, saying:

The CIES Football Observatory has analysed the domestic league experience cumulated during the last two years by U20 players from 22 European competitions to identify those with the best career prospects. Minutes played by each footballer were weighted according to the sporting level of leagues and the results achieved by employer clubs. Weekly Post number 215 presents the 50 players with the highest experience capital scores.

Among the other names on the list were players such as AC Milan pair Gianluigi Donnarumma and Manuel Locatelli, Borussia Dortmund’s United States star midfielder Chrisian Pulisic, and PSG striker Kylian Mbappé. Vieira was ranked 20th and was the 3rd English prospect named after Davies (7th) and Sessegnon (10th), and another England player, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold came in 41st. Crystal Palace’s Timothy Fosu-Mensah was also listed at 32nd.

Both Sessegnon and Davies were listed as five-star prospects, Vieira was listed as a four-star prospect, while both Fosu-Mensah and Trent Alexander-Arnold were ranked as three-star prospects. The ratings were explained by CIES as meaning,

The five-star prospect category includes ten players who should be able to establish themselves in the very best European teams. In the top three positions are Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alban Lafont and Kylian Mbappé. Eighteen footballers make up the four-star category list. All of these players have a concrete possibility to spend the big part of their career in the most competitive European championships. Three-star prospects also are in a favourable position to stay or reach the highest levels of the football pyramid.

The CIES claims to have an objective way of measuring footballing prospects across Europe, so it’s not a surprise to see familiar names crop up on the list. It’s also great to see Vieira listed, although he’s not news to any Leeds fan.

No word on if Leeds director of Football Victor Orta has contacted the agents of any of the other names on the list, but it’s not the summer transfer window just yet. Give him time.