Euro 2021 betting: Young Player of the Tournament odds

Now that we have welcomed in the new year, it’s time to start thinking about the delayed European Championships which will take place in the summer after being postponed last year due to coronavirus. 

BettingOdds.com have been keeping things ticking over with various articles looking ahead to the prestigious tournament, and we will really start to ramp up the content from now until the competition begins so that you can start getting excited for it all. 

Today I am focusing on an exciting outright market which is rarely spoken about - which player will be crowned the Best Young Player of the Tournament when all is said and done in July. 

The criteria for this market is that players must be under the age of 21 to be eligible for the award, which is why you will notice that France’s Kylian Mbappe - who is joint-favourite to win the overall Player of the Tournament award with Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne - does not feature due to him turning 22 in December.

BetVictor are the only bookmaker to price up odds so far, but expect more to get involved as the tournament’s start date edges ever closer.

Who are the favourites? 

England forward Jadon Sancho heads up the market at 4/1, closely followed by Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt who is a 5/1 shot. Germany playmaker Kai Havertz may be experiencing a slow start to life at Chelsea but he is tipped to play a key role for his nation at the forthcoming Championships, and is priced up at 6/1 to be crowned the Young Player of the Tournament. 

A full list of the odds in this market are below.

Which players have won this award in recent major tournaments?

This award is a new one to the European Championships. It has been a part of the World Cup since 2006, where Germany’s Lukas Podolski laid claim to the first ever trophy. 

It was only introduced to the Euros in 2016, where Renato Sanches was awarded it for his hand in Portugal’s title-triumph. Kylian Mbappe won it for France at the 2018 World Cup, while his international team-mate Paul Pogba was the victor back in 2014.

Typically, the trophy will be awarded to a player who is part of a tournament-winning team, so it’s worth looking at which sides you think have the best chance of going the distance before assessing which of their players (who are eligible to win it) could play a big role in their potential success before placing a bet on this market.

For example, England have an array of young talent in the shape of Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood so each of those players could be worthy of consideration, while the likes of Belgium and France both have really strong squad’s but they are ageing ones, which is obviously of no use to us here.

Who should we keep an eye on at Euro 2021?

Jadon Sancho 

Factfile:

Country: England
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Age: 20
Caps: 18
Goals: 3
Odds to win: 4/1 (favourite)

Somewhat unsurprisingly, England’s dynamic wide-man Jadon Sancho leads the betting at 4/1. The 20-year-old is one of the most sought after young talents in world football right now due to his scintillating form with club side Borussia Dortmund. 

With 39 goals and 52 assists to his name for the German titans at the time of writing, England’s exhilarating touchline-hugger is just one of a number of raw talents from the Three Lions squad who has the ability to cause some damage to teams at Euro 2021. 

He is one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s teamsheet and will be desperate to make a name for himself on the international main stage at his first major tournament this summer, and the bookies are certainly behind him, pricing the Dortmund star up as 4/1 favourite.

Matthijs de Ligt

Factfile:

Country: Netherlands
Club: Juventus
Age: 21
Caps: 21
Clean sheets: 9
Goals: 2
Odds to win: 5/1

Next up is a player who has already captured plenty of attention in recent seasons despite his tender age. Netherlands centre-back Matthijs de Ligt may only still be 21 years old but he has already amassed 167 senior appearances at club level with Ajax and Juventus (17 goals). 

The Dutch controller has been capped 21 times by his country, forming a budding relationship with Virgil van Dijk in the heart of defence and he will no doubt be a pivotal cog in his country’s back-line at the Euros as they go on the hunt for their first ever major international title this summer. 

De Ligt is everything you’d want from a centre half: tall, strong, quick and agile, while he always poses a goal threat from set-plays. Much of Holland’s success will be determined by the fitness of van Dijk, though if the Liverpool defender does return in time, the Netherlands will definitely be a side to keep an eye on with all the young talent they have across the pitch, and De Ligt will be at the forefront of this. 

Joao Felix

Factfile

Country: England
Club: Atletico Madrid
Age: 21
Caps: 11
Goals: 2
Odds to win: 10/1

Joao Felix is a really exciting player, and one who massively improved in 2020. After moving from Benfica to Atletico Madrid for a ginormous fee in the summer of 2019, it took a while for the young Portugese to find his feet in the Spanish capital. Indeed, now he looks completely at home in Simeone’s system and this time out he has provided five goals and four assists in just nine La Liga starts (eight goals and five assists in all competitions). 

As I wrote back in November, Portugal really intrigue me ahead of this summer’s tournament. A side with proven pedigree at the Euros having won it against the odds in 2016 and 2004, they have the best international footballer in the world leading the line in Cristiano Ronaldo alongside a really talented supporting cast - the likes of Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Neves et al. - which suggests to me that their price of 12/1 in the outright market could be a little overpriced.

Joao Felix is another player who will be given the perfect opportunity to shine at the European Championships, and given the plethora of creative talent Portugal have pulsating through their side, I envisage him to really make a name for himself and kick on to the next stage in his career this summer. With this in mind, 10/1 seems like it could be a valuable play to me.

Ferran Torres 

Factfile:

Country: Spain
Club: Manchester City
Age: 20
Caps: 7
Goals: 4
Odds to win: 16/1

Manchester City’s newest recruit Ferran Torres has taken to the Premier League well since arriving from Valencia last summer. The 20-year-old has found the net seven times in all competitions for the Cityzens so far, while he has kicked off his senior international career perfectly by netting four goals in his first seven appearances for Spain in the UEFA Nations League. 

It is clear that Torres is an extremely mature player who is not phased by the big occasion, and this summer he will have the perfect opportunity to prove this more by providing the goals for his country. Unlike the other names in this market, Torres is his nation’s main striker; not since the days of David Villa and Fernando Torres have Spain had the luxury of a proven goalscorer to rely on up-front. 

Alvaro Morata and Diego Costa filled the void for a while but both endured short careers as La Furia Roja’s leading man, summarised perfectly by the fact that defender Sergio Ramos has now scored more goals for Spain than anyone else during the last two years. 

Torres has the chance to be Spain’s next great striker, and at 20 has a long future ahead of him should he take to the task well. He will be the focal point in Luis Enrique’s attack at the Euros which should, in theory, see him firmly in the race for the Golden Boot. If he lives up to expectations, then it wouldn’t be a shock to see him be crowned the competition’s best young player in July.