Messi chose the 10 future stars of football: Arsenal, Chelsea and Boca Juniors have representatives

Lionel Messi once again named the footballers he considers part of the next generation. The Argentine took part in the third edition of “Messi +10”, Adidas’s initiative that brings together ten young talents from men’s and women’s football under one team.

The list includes familiar names, but also less predictable picks. Max Dowman, from Arsenal, and Chloe Sarwie, from Chelsea, appear among the ten selected, while the roster is not limited to Europe’s major academies and leaves out several of the young players currently drawing the most media attention.

Messi backed two young players from Arsenal and Chelsea

One of the names that draws the most attention is Max Dowman, one of Arsenal's greatest prospects. At just 16 years old, the forward has already featured for the first team and has become one of the most closely watched talents in the Gunners' academy.

The other English representative is Chloe Sarwie, a Chelsea footballer. The 17-year-old has also taken her first steps with the first team and has been gaining prominence in England’s youth ranks.

The selection of both is especially striking because Messi did not build a list solely around the most established names among the new figures of European football. Instead, the campaign included players with very different career paths and levels of exposure.

Tomás Aranda, the only Argentine chosen by Messi

The list also has a particularity for Argentine soccer: Tomás Aranda, from Boca Juniors, is Messi’s only compatriot among the ten selected. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder is going through his first season with greater continuity in senior soccer and already has 14 appearances for the Xeneize side.

Aranda also recently had contact with the Argentina national team, a detail that helps explain why his name is starting to gain traction among the young players to watch. His inclusion gives Boca a direct presence on a list that combines prospects from Europe and the Americas and that, in this edition, reserves only one spot for an Argentine footballer.

The 10 names chosen by Messi

Among the selected are also Zavier Gozo, an American player linked to Crystal Palace; Tomás Aranda, from Boca Juniors; Gilberto Mora, from Tijuana and one of the major recent breakout talents in Mexican soccer; and Can Uzun, a forward for Eintracht Frankfurt and the Turkish national team.

The list is completed by Kees Smit, from AZ Alkmaar; Jesús Rodríguez, from Como; Lotta Wrede, from Hamburger SV; and Giovanna Waksman, a footballer for Lyon. The selection mixes players from Europe and America and maintains the formula of including talents from men's and women's football.

Messi had already chosen another Premier League gem

This is not the first time that one of Messi's choices in this campaign has drawn attention. In the previous edition, Rio Ngumoha had appeared, one of Liverpool's great prospects, along with players such as Andrey Santos and Kendry Páez.

Adidas unveiled this third generation under the slogan “The next chapter begins here”, with Messi as the central figure of the campaign. More than an official ranking, it is a promotional selection of emerging talents, but the Argentine’s presence turns every name into a choice that quickly comes under scrutiny.