The world is full of young football talents. They grow up in the streets of São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Abuja or Belgrade, and the world is literally to their feet, so to speak.
These lads are on a mission to become the stars we will watch tomorrow. The next Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or João Felix.
At the same time, there are beautiful projects that focus on these players, from the Guardian’s top 60 young footballers yearly plan, the unique and high-quality Scouted Football, among others.
We are not going to compete with them. However, in our work and research in BabaGol, we discover many players that don’t get the focus or the chance to showcase what they can produce.
With that in mind, we have decided to share snippets of our source of knowledge. Our shadow scout, Juan Gafas, will pop-up weekly and will put the spotlight on one player that is worth your attention. This can be viewed as a tip for all BabaGolers to meet the next Jamie Vardy and Dado Pršo, or maybe the next Gary Medel or Jorge Valdivia, a moment (or a few years) before they become famous.
Today, we head to Iceland to see who is lighting up the local league.
Valdimar Ingimundarson
Age: 20
Club: Fylkir (Iceland)
Position: Attacking Midfielder, Forward and Winger.
Nationality: Icelandic
Market Value: €100,000 (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? Playing for a modest club in a league ruled by veteran players, Valdimar was directly involved in 13 league and cup goals in 24 matches, while showing an uncharacteristic flair for the Icelandic league.
He wasn't signalled by local scouts as an exceptional talent prior to this season, having difficulties breaking into Fylkir's starting lineup and was inconsistent with his performances.
However, this season he got his breakthrough, forming a lethal partnership with Geoffrey Castillion. Ingimundarson set up goals and scored himself, finishing the season as one of the top 5 players in passes in the final third, as well as touches in the opponents’ box. The icing on the cake was being called up to the U21 national team, sealing a great year.
He is not the typical Icelandic player, as he has no prominent physical presence, which he makes up for with a lot of flair. His good technical skills, vision for passes and dribbling serve him well so far, but he needs to get stronger physically and mentally and try to avoid losing his temper or disappearing on the field when things don't go his way. If he will improve these aspects, it is possible for him to make it to the higher levels.