What happened next with 2016's wonderkid XI including five Premier League stars

Predicting the next generation of superstars can be a thankless task.

For every Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is a Federico Macheda and Freddy Adu, and for every Wayne Rooney, there can be a Sonny Pike.

Most wonderkid XIs have their fair share of stinkers when you can look upon them with the benefit of hindsight years later.

Spanish news outlet Marca have an annual tradition of trying to pick the next batch of stars, naming a team composed of players 18 and under, who they believe will go on to scale the heights of the game.

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The purpose was to find talented teens who by the age of 20 were regulars in the top tier, before becoming established stars by their mid-20s.

In 2022, the players selected in 2016 are now all between the ages of 23 and 24 and it's a perfect time for Mirror Football to take a look at how the selections have panned out in the years since.

Gianluigi Donnarumma - 23 (Paris Saint-Germain)

The Italian 'keeper's pedigree has been crystal clear ever since he broke into the AC Milan senior side aged just 16.

Antonio Conte opted to omit the fresh-faced teenager from his Euro 2016 squad, but he was quickly called up following that tournament and was named the successor to Gianluigi Buffon following his retirement in 2018.

To say filling Buffon's gloves was a big task would be the understatement of the century, but in Donnarumma, Italy went from one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, to a player who could eventually take that mantle himself.

Donnarumma's legend grew even further last summer, named player of the tournament and saving two penalties in the final as the Azzurri lifted the Euro 2020 title at Wembley.

Kieran Tierney - 24 (Arsenal)

Having made his senior debut for Celtic aged 15, Tierney would go on to win the Scottish Premiership title in every season he qualified for a medal.

In 2019, the £25million paid by Arsenal was a record for a Scottish international player and he has proven to be worth every penny, playing a vital role in Mikel Arteta's youthful revolution in north London.

Having already skippered Scotland, Tierney is in the discussion to be named the next Gunners captain, a sign of his standing at one of the Premier League 's biggest clubs.

Joe Gomez - 24 (Liverpool)

Had this catch-up been done in 2020, Gomez would be one of the true success stories, fresh off the back of winning the Champions League and the Premier League in back-to-back seasons with Liverpool.

Before suffering a serious knee injury whilst on international duty, the England international had established himself as the first-choice partner of Virgil van Dijk. Unfortunately since then, the versatile defender has slid down the pecking order at Anfield and now stands at a potential crossroads in his career.

Reece Oxford - 23 (FC Augsburg)

Becoming West Ham 's youngest ever player at 16 years and 198 days, there was exceptionally high hopes that Oxford would become the latest product of the Hammers' famed academy.

But after failing to break through in east London, Oxford had loan spells in the Bundesliga, ultimately ending up with Augsburg.

In the current campaign, he has made 24 appearances in the German top flight, finally getting the kind of consistent football he needs to kick on.

Cristian Manea - 24 (CFR Cluj)

Arguably the least known name in the lineup, Manea has bounced around clubs in Belgium and Romania, finally settling with Cluj in 2020.

Still a regular for the Romanian national team, the right-back has made a career for himself, but unquestionably not at the level of some of the other players in the list.

Renato Sanches - 24 (Lille)

In the six years since being included by Marca, Sanches has experienced the full gamut of emotions that professional football can offer.

Sanches won the Young Player of the Tournament as Portugal made history in 2016, before joining Bayern Munich shortly after.

It didn't work out at the Allianz however, failing to ever live up to his lofty expectations. After an infamously disastrous loan spell with Swansea, he looked as if he could be another name added to the list of football's biggest flops.

But he has enjoyed a career renaissance with Lille, helping them to the Ligue 1 title last term and is now seemingly destined for another blockbuster move this summer.

Youri Tielemans - 24 (Leicester City)

Unquestionably one of the Premier League's best midfield players, Tielemans has enjoyed a gradual rise which has him right on the precipice of greatness.

The Belgian midfielder spent two years with Monaco before joining Leicester, initially on loan and thriving under Brendan Rodgers.

He was named the Foxes' Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season in 2020/21, scoring one of the club's most famous ever goals, helping them win the FA Cup with a stunner in the final against Chelsea.

Ruben Neves - 24 (Wolves)

When Portuguese wonderkid swapped the Champions League with Porto, for the Championship with Wolves, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

At the time of his move to Molineux, Neves was still the youngest ever play to captain a team in Europe's top competition at just 18.

But the substantial risk of moving to England's second tier has paid off, playing a significant role in their promotion to the Premier League - and their smooth transition to a top-half team.

Neves recently brought up 200 appearances for Wolves and will go down as one of the club's greatest modern-day players whenever he does decide to take the next step in his career.

Kylian Mbappe - 23 (PSG)

We don't need to spend too much time on other worldly Kylian Mbappe.

He was also destined to be one of the best in the world and has well and truly lived up to the billing.

With a World Cup winners' medal, four Ligue 1 titles and four Coup de Frances, he already has a trophy cabinet most players would only dream of at the end of their career.

Having scored a ridiculous 156 goals in 205 games for PSG, he looks set to join Real Madrid and become this decade's first real Galactico.

Dominic Solanke - 24 (Bournemouth)

Having decided to jump off the Chelsea loan merry-go-round, Solanke was given a fair crack to become a regular with Liverpool.

But with just one Premier League goal in a season-and-a-half, the Reds cashed in, selling him to Bournemouth for a whopping £19million.

Now one of the Championship's best strikers, Solanke has Bournemouth in the reckoning for a return to the Premier League, but to say he truly fulfilled his potential would be going to far.

Martin Odegaard - 23 (Arsenal)

Bursting onto the scene at the tender age of 15, Odegaard has been in the spotlight for almost a decade, despite the fact he doesn't turn 24 until the end of the year.

Signed by Real Madrid in 2015, the Norway international failed to ever make his mark at the Bernabeu, earning just 8 LaLiga appearances in six years.

His career started to turn around with positive loan spells at Vitesse and Real Sociedad, before finally finding a home with Arsenal, signing on loan in January 2021, and making the deal permanent later that year.

Odegaard is now one of Arsenal's most consistent performers and could yet add the honour of being club captain, to the fact he is already his national team's skipper.