Top 15 Male Players to Keep an Eye on at the 2024 Paris Olympics

The Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics isn’t for another couple of days but the XXXIII Olympiad truly begins today with the men’s soccer tournament among other events. As always, a plethora of exciting young talent is eager to prove themselves to the world throughout the sixteen under-23 national teams who qualified. To save you the trouble of dissecting sixteen different 18-man rosters, I’ve picked out the 15 most talented players in the tournament that you should keep your eye on this month in Paris. Although each squad is allowed three overage players who do not fit the Olympic age requirement of being under 23 years old at the start of the year, I will not be including those individuals for consideration to focus on the next generation of talent, as one should do during a youth tournament. Here we go:

1. Boubacar Traoré (Mali, 22, Wolverhampton Wanderers) Boubacar Traoré is a box-to-box central midfielder who broke through as a teenager with Metz in France’s Ligue 1 back in 2021. When the team got relegated a couple of years later, Traoré joined Wolverhampton Wanderers where he has spent the past two seasons developing his game. The Premier League is a difficult place for a young player to fight for minutes but Traoré doubled his league minutes with Wolves last season, earning seven starts across 27 total appearances. The Olympics could provide Traoré with the opportunity he needs to get the world’s attention.
2. Federico Redondo (Argentina, 21, Inter Miami CF) When an Argentinian youth international gets the opportunity to play with Lionel Messi, they take it. Following his first two professional seasons in his home country’s top division with Argentinos Juniors where Redondo quickly impressed scouts, some of the top teams around the world became interested in the Argentinian wonderkid. Rather than signing with Bayern Munich, however, the son of Real Madrid legend Fernando Redondo chose to play with Messi in Major League Soccer instead. Despite being limited to just nine games due to a torn left collateral ligament (LCL) in his knee causing him to miss eight weeks of his debut season, the defensive midfielder has already impressed in South Florida. Entering the Olympics off the back of potentially the best performance of his career a week ago with a brace and assist in a 3-1 Miami win, Redondo can do it all. A strong challenger in the air, he remains difficult to dribble past while eager to press from a deep-lying role. His best traits are on display in possession where he is tidy on the ball, press-resistant, and can pick out an incredible long ball pass. Learning from legendary teammate Sergio Busquets certainly can’t hurt in that regard. I know he just arrived in South Beach, but perhaps he can be the latest Inter Miami youngster to earn a major transfer with a breakout tournament in Paris.
3. Amir Richardson (Morocco, 22, Stade de Reims) It’s not often you see a 6-foot-5 box-to-box midfielder, but Amir Richardson is no ordinary 22-year-old. Richardson cut his teeth in France’s Ligue 2 for a couple of seasons before earning his move to the top division last season with Stade de Reims where he has shown himself nicely, scoring three goals and adding one assist across his 28 league appearances, starting half of them. He may not catch the eye with a five-star performance in any single match, but Richardson provides a reliable 7/10 every time he steps on the pitch — a particularly valuable commodity in the middle of the park at a youth tournament.
4. Eric García (Spain, 23, FC Barcelona) The curious case of Eric García is set to write its latest chapter at the Paris Olympics. The Spaniard came up through the famous La Masia academy in Barcelona before being transferred at 17 years old to the Manchester City academy — another one of the best academies in the world that ironically modeled itself after La Masia. At 18, he made his Man City debut and at 19, his Premier League debut. He was earmarked to be the next Gerard Pique but couldn’t dispel the occasional blunder from his game, which is crucial as a central defender at the top level. At 21, City sent García back to Barcelona where he once again struggled to impress in two seasons before being sent on loan to fellow La Liga side Girona FC last season. The move turned out to be just what the doctor ordered with García producing five goals from central defense in the best campaign of his career. That form carries him into an Olympics where he will be expected to lead Spain from the back as one of the oldest “under 23” players in the entire tournament with his January 2001 birthday.
5. Enzo Millot (France, 22, VfB Stuttgart) Enzo Millot is aiming to follow up a breakout Bundesliga season with a breakout Olympic tournament. Two weeks after his 17th birthday, the creative midfielder signed his first professional contract with AS Monaco. A year later, he made his Ligue 1 debut, and a year after that he moved to VfB Stuttgart for a mere €1.5m transfer fee. With Millot earning his way into the team over the past couple of seasons, this year that investment paid off for Stuttgart as Millot contributed 5 goals and 4 assists across 31 matches (27 starts) while recording another goal and three assists in the DFB Pokal. It’s the type of season that has the rumor mill spinning once again with links to Millot replacing Lucas Paqueta should the attacking midfielder leave West Ham this summer. For now, Millot will have his summer focus set in his home country.