U18 defenders with the Best Potential

The highest-potential U18 defenders, ranked on Field Insider.

Best goalkeepers Best midfielders Best attackers Most in-form defenders Top-scoring defenders Most valuable defenders

At a glance

H. Ahanor of Atalanta is the standout for raw talent across U18 defenders, with a Field Insider Rating of 78, and L. Herrington has been the form player this season, grading 36.4, and Neil Pierre leads the scoring with 3 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: H. Ahanor has improved his Season rating most, up +23.3 on last season. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, X. Espart of Barcelona is the most valuable name in this group at 72.3.

Atalanta · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

H. Ahanor+23.3SsN

Atalanta · 24/25→25/26

50 players · ranked by best potentialCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	H. Ahanor Centre-back	Atalanta	18	27568.3%	7814.4%
2	K. Potulski Centre-back	FSV Mainz 05	18	12	72
3	Pedro Gabriel Full-back	Gremio	18	18	66
4	S. Mfuni Full-back	Manchester City	18	6	61
5	M. Muzungu Centre-back	Ajax	18	23±0%	5913%
6	A. Gomes Centre-back	Venezia	17	7	56
7	M. van de Wetering Full-back	Excelsior	17	11	54
8	A. Natali Full-back	AZ Alkmaar	18	8±0%	538.2%
9	L. Herrington Centre-back	Hull City	18	36211.1%	51184%
10	P. Sondergaard Centre-back	Brondby	18	8	51
11	M. Dos Santos Centre-back	New York Red Bulls	17	13	49
12	K. Kasanwirjo Centre-back	Jong Ajax	17	10	46
13	Allan De León Centre-back	Novi Pazar	18	32	46
14	D. Banjaqui Full-back	Benfica B	17	7	45
15	M. Verhaeghe Centre-back	RWDM	18	9	44
16	A. AvdiÄFull-back	FK Crvena Zvezda	18	28	43
17	A. Mahroug Centre-back	RSC Anderlecht II	18	8	43
18	N. Engwanda Full-back	RSC Anderlecht II	18	1619%	434.3%
19	H. Hilvenius Centre-back	BK Hacken	18	36215.8%	4228%
20	Jayden Onia Seke Full-back	RSC Anderlecht II	17	12236.1%	426.4%
21	P. Blondeel Centre-back	KAA Gent II	16	4	41
22	E. Mbavu Full-back	Genk	16	9363.2%	4112%
23	Brad Ryan Manguelle Full-back	KRC Genk II	18	937.4%	413.3%
24	F. Yrga-Alem Full-back	Fredrikstad	18	10	41
25	B. Akomolede Centre-back	RSC Anderlecht II	18	10	40
26	I. James Centre-back	Sporting Kansas City	18	12116.7%	409.6%
27	Y. Faingezicht Full-back	Maccabi Haifa	18	11	39
28	R. Kumar Centre-back	Istra 1961	17	12	37
29	Mert Menemencioglu Attacking midfielder	Adana Demirspor	18	0	36
30	A. Stoian Centre-forward	FCSB	18	13	36
31	Y. A. Buz Centre-back	Iğdır FK	18	5	36
32	A. Bolat Centre-forward	Adana Demirspor	17	10	36
33	A. Sarikaya Full-back	Adana Demirspor	16	5	34
34	Conor Haughey Centre-back	Fleetwood Town	18	10	32
35	B. Szakos Full-back	Diosgyori VTK	18	6	32
36	T. Pališčák Centre-back	Žilina	18	16	31
37	T. Durko Full-back	FK Košice	16	4	31
38	Unax Larrañaga Centre-back	Real Sociedad II	0	4	31
39	Ramiz Hamouda Centre-back	Birmingham Legion	18	5	31
40	C. Uribe Centre-back	Atletico Nacional	18	3	25
41	Sadick Abubakar Centre-back	Radnik Surdulica	0	16	22
42	Mohamed Ibrahim Hassan Centre-back	Zamalek SC	0	5	19
43	M. Cooper Centre-back	Newcastle Jets	18	6	19
44	Dusan Pavlovic Centre-back	Radnicki NIS	0	2	18
45	Kayden Coulas Centre-back	Radnicki NIS	0	6	18
46	Alfa Boubakr Keita Centre-back	El Geish	0	3	18
47	S. Zulu Centre-back	Richards Bay	0	10	1
48	B. Madingwana Centre-back	Chippa United	0	3	1
49	T. Nhlapo Centre-back	Orbit College	0	13	1
50	N. Mabaso Centre-back	Golden Arrows	0	5	1