10 Best short footballers of 2023
In the world of football, we see players of all sizes and colour play on the same field and for the same crest. Football does not discriminate against players based on their physical appearance and gives a chance to every human being to enjoy themselves. The people who understand football also know that being tall or short has its own pros and cons.
The last few decades have seen some of the best talents from Diego Maradona to Lionel Messi. These players were considered short and weak yet they are the most dangerous players for the opposition. A short player is naturally a better dribbler compared to a tall one. We don’t know the science behind this phenomenon. One thing we do know is that we all love to see short players dribble past a number of defenders and score a beautiful goal for their team.
Top 10 Short Players To Look For In 2023:
10: Moussa Diaby 1,70m or 5’6″ feet
The promising and young Moussa Diaby is a complete baller. He came from the academy of PSG and spent 5 years with them. In 2019 Moussa decided to move to Bayer Leverkusen and since then he is performing great for his new club. The 23-year-old has 84 G/A in just 146 matches with Leverkusen. Once he hit his prime we can expect more goals and assists from him.
The year 2023 will be a good time for Diaby to show his worth and increase his recognition in the football world. If he performs well in 2023 many big clubs will start to look at him and he might even move to a big European side in the future.
9: Julian Alvarez 1,70m or 5’6″ feet
The latest hero for Manchester City and Argentina deserves to be on this list. In a very short time, Alvarez has proved how good a player he is. After signing for Man City he became an instant hit throughout the world. Alvarez has two major international titles in his bag and many more titles will be added if Man City continues to perform like this in future. The player already has 7 goals in 21 appearances for City and is taking his time to fit into the system of Pep Guardiola.
The World Cup 2022 has increased the fame of every player who played for Argentina including Alvarez. The world now has set its eyes on him and would love to see the striking partnership between Alvarez and Haaland in 2023.
8: Raheem Sterling 1,70m or 5’6″ feet
The serial Premier League winning icon Sterling recently joined Chelsea in 2022. In his career, he has won 12 titles in England and is one of the best wingers who play in the Premier League. Sterling signed with Chelsea from the titleholders Manchester City, it is likely he would have won a lot more titles if he would have stayed at City. The player knows about this and will do everything to keep his form alive at Stamford Bridge. The recent times have not been very good for Chelsea, we can expect them to bounce back in 2023 and for that players like Sterling will have the most contributions.
Raheem Sterling is just 28 years old and already has 168 goals under his belt. Every football fan knows the skills he has and how efficient he is on the wing. The coming months will be crucial for Sterling and everyone including the player is excited about it.
7: Riqui Puig 1,69m or 5’6″ feet
One of FC Barcelona’s most promising young talents in the last few years has been around in the media for many reasons. Puig is a talented player who started his career with other young great academy players such as Pedri, Gavi and Fati. Unfortunately, some rumours state that the player had some problems with the management during his time in Barcelona. A young Puig made a shocking move and signed for LA Galaxy. Top performing and promising players like Puig signed for an American club after completing much of their career in Europe, it was a surprise for many Puig and Barcelona fans. The best part about this deal is that now he earns $6.5m in wages in the USA compared to the €2.1m he used to earn in Barcelona.
The little magician has a lot of skills and tricks in his bag which helps him be special and stand out on the pitch. The year 2023 will be a great time for Puig fans to see him ball in LA Galaxy.
6: Tyrell Malacia 1,69m or 5’6″ feet
Football fans love short fullbacks that are also skilful in their area of play. Tyrell earned himself a big-money move into the Premier League as Manchester United signed him in 2022. If a club like United is interested in you then surely you have a lot of potentials. He is just 23 years old and has already won the Dutch Cup and Dutch Supercup with Feyenoord.
The year 2023 will be a good opportunity for Tyrell to show his worth to the world. He already has the stage he just needs to perform and win hearts.
5: Marcus Edwards 1,68m or 5’6″ feet
The England national Marcus Edwards is one of the promising talents in Europe. Marcus is highly versatile and can play in several positions. He has scored 48 goals and 42 assists in just 205 games. These numbers are good for a 24-year-old player. The year 2022 was special for Marcus as he earned himself a move into Sporting CP. The player finally has the stage to show his worth.
If Marcus continues to perform well in Portugal he will likely be signed by a top Premier League club in the future.
4: Lucas Torreira 1,66m or 5’55” feet
The ex-Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira was one of the most promising defensive midfielders at an early age. He has played in Spain, England, and Italy and now he has moved to Galatasaray in 2022. The recent form of Lucas has not been satisfactory and so Arsenal decided to sell him to the Turkish giants. It is very special to be a part of a title-winning Arsenal team in recent years. The player won 2 titles with Arsenal and also won La Liga with Atletico Madrid in 2021/22.
Lucas is still 26 and can come back to sign for a top European side again if he performs well in Turkey.
3: Marco Verrati 1,65m or 5’55” feet
It is not possible to make a list of the best short players and not include Verrati in that list. Every PSG and football fan knows how good he is on the field. A perfect gem for PSG as he has been controlling the midfield since 2012. At a time when PSG did not have a very great team with world-class players such as Leo Messi, Neymar and Mbappe. After completing almost a decade with the club he has managed his reputation and is always in the starting lineup for the Paris side.
Verrati has won 29 titles with PSG and he is still 30 years old. When Verrati retires he will be regarded as one of the finest players in the history of Paris Saint Germain. Every fan of Verrati is looking forward to seeing him perform great in the year 2023 too.
2: Daniel Podence 1,65m or 5’5″ feet
The Portuguese winger came into the limelight after he signed for Wolverhampton to play in the Premier League. He is a good talent which is a huge threat to the opposition as he is involved in most of the attacks for his team. Podence is 27 years old and still has a few years ahead of him. If he improves his goalscoring abilities he can end up as a Wolves legend by the time he retires. The current stats are not that good but in future, we can expect better results from this player.
1: Tariq Lamptey 1,63m or 5’4″ feet
One of the most promising talents in Europe, he is expected to sign for a top club very soon. The London born is in the news among the fans of the Premier League and other parts of the world. Lamptey is skilled and fast which makes him exceptional as a full-back. In modern football, the role of a fullback is to help the team in defence and also help them during attacks. Players like Lamptey are a perfect match for this role considering the skills he possesses.
Lamptey comes from the Chelsea academy and plays for Brighton. We can expect Lamptey in any of the Big 6 clubs or any other major European team in the near future.
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