Top 10 U-23 footballers with most goals in career

There is a definite youth movement happening in world football.

Young players have been making a huge impact the past few seasons.

With so much at stake and with transfer fees increasing by the year, the search for young talent has become ever more desperate as football’s elite fight to get their hands on the players who will become the stars of tomorrow. More and more top teams, on both the club and international level, are turning to their young stars over their more experienced veterans to get the job done.

While youth, quickness and athleticism can never replace experience, they certainly don’t hurt anything.

Let’s take a look the Top 10 Under 23 footballers with most goals in career.

10. Valencia’s Maxi Gomez – 62 goals

In July, Valencia finalized the signing of Maxi Gomez from Celta Vigo on a five-year deal that will run until 2024. The forward signed for Celta for around four million euros two seasons ago, exploding into life with 18 goals in 39 games before bagging 13 goals in 36 matches in 2018/19.

With 62 goals scored in total in his career so far, 29 of which for Defensor Sporting and 31 for Celta, which makes striker is the 10th player on our list. He has also netted 2 times on international duty.

9. Houston Dynamo’s Alberth Elis – 63 goals

The 23-year-old Honduran winger Alberth Elis was linked repeatedly to a European move this offseason, but remained with the Houston Dynamo where he has helped the defending U.S. Open Cup champions to a strong league start, taking 24 points from 13 matches.

A Honduran international with blinding pace and flashy one-on-one dribbling skills, Elis has been a foundational element in the Dynamo lineup since his arrival, typically working from a wide attacking spot in a 4-3-3 formation. Elis has scored 28 goals and 19 assists in 75 regular-season MLS appearances since joining Houston ahead of the 2017 campaign. In total, he has scored 63 goals.

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8. Lyon’s Bertrand Traore – 73 goals

The former Chelsea misfit Bertrand Traore has enjoyed a successful spell with the Ligue 1 giants since joining in 2017.
The 23-year-old previously failed to make the grade in the Premier League after coming through the Blues’ youth academy, and was loaned out for two successive seasons to the Eredivisie before completing a permanent move to the Groupama Stadium two years ago.

A versatile attacker, Traore has enjoyed greater success in the French top flight, scoring 20 goals in 67 appearances overall. Prior to moving to France, he had scored additional 53 goals, making him the eight U-23 footballer with most goals in career.

7. Tottenham’s Dele Alli – 80 goals

Despite facing criticism for a perceived drop in form, Alli has featured 38 times in all competitions for Tottenham last season, scoring seven goals and assisting a further eight. In comparison, during the 2017-18 campaign, he made 50 appearances, scoring 14 goals and providing 17 assists.

Alli has scored a total of 80 goals during his 8-year-old career.

6. AC Milan’s Andre Silva – 84 goals

After impressing at Portuguese side Porto as a youngster, back in 2015, he was shipped into the first team as a reward. during his senior Porto spell, Silva managed to find the net 17 times, attracting the likes of many european top football clubs.

His international record is excellent with 15 goals in 33 senior caps and 30 goals in 70 junior caps, but he has struggled at club level for both Milan and Sevilla.

5. RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner – 86 goals

RB Leipzig and Germany forward Timo Werner has ripped up the familiar blueprint of what it is to be a striker and become the prototype of a modern, flexible forward. Mainly a striker, but even as an attacking midfielder, Werner would be able to produce the goods, and this is where the Leipzig and Germany forward stands out from the crowd.

The 23-year-old is widely regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in Europe, scoring 16 times and providing seven assists in 30 Bundesliga appearances last season. As a result, he has attracted major interest from across Europe.

4. Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus – 91 goals

Gabriel Jesus may not always be first choice for Manchester City, but he has quickly become a reliable goalscorer for Pep Guardiola’s side since signing from Palmeiras in 2017 for €30 million. The 22-year-old is now surely worth triple that amount after scoring 46 goals in 102 appearances for the Citizens.

According to Opta, Jesus has been directly involved in 18 goals for the Citizens (scoring 13 and assisting a further five) in his last ten games.

3. Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe – 102 goals

Not Neymar, but Kylian Mbappe has always been the star of the show in shadow for Paris Saint-Germain. In the absence of key-player Neymar, there is always a huge buzz of anticipation each time the 20-year-old prodigy receives the ball. The Frenchman has a total tally of 102 goals in his short, but high-class career.

2. Lyon’s Moussa Dembele – 104 goals

With just more than two netted goals, Dembele is above his French fellow countryman Kylian Mbappe. The 23-year-old joined Lyon in a €20 million deal from Celtic last year and scored 23 goals in his first season with the club, who finished third in the Ligue 1 table, behind PSG and Lille.

1. Flamengo’s Gabriel Barbosa – 111 goals

Suprisingly, Gabigol is the top goal-scorer of all the under 23 players.

At only 20 years of age he managed to sign for Inter Milan, who wanted try him out and see if he would shine. It was not so. He ended up on loan at Benfica, where he also failed to stand out. The Italians decided to send him back on loan, although this time Gabigol chose Brazil again. Flamengo was his destiny. In the Copa Libertadores, Gabigol can boast of being the biggest scorer at his age.

The Brazilian attacker leads the list of Top 10 U-23 footballers with most goals in career, with 111 goals at the age of 22.