U23 defenders with the Best Potential

The highest-potential U23 defenders, ranked on Field Insider.

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

At a glance

Renato Veiga of Villarreal is the standout for raw talent across U23 defenders, with a Field Insider Rating of 85, and F. Sjøvold has been the form player this season, grading 61.8, and Š. Chaloupek leads the scoring with 9 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: I. Vådebu has improved his Season rating most, up +46.7 on last season, while S. Dahl's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +31.3 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, C. Hughes of Hull City is the most valuable name in this group at 104.1.

Benfica · 24/25→25/26

50 players · ranked by best potentialCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	Renato Veiga Full-back	Villarreal	23	26±0%	85±0%
2	Raúl Asencio Centre-back	Real Madrid	23	273.6%	803.9%
3	Juanlu Sánchez Full-back	Bournemouth	23	2218.6%	803.7%
4	S. Baidoo Centre-back	Lens	22	39	79
5	Abdulay Bah Centre-back	FC Augsburg	20	28314.7%	7810.8%
6	Max Alleyne Full-back	Burnley	21	552.6%	7726.2%
7	C. Bradley Full-back	Liverpool	23	1520.3%	778.8%
8	J. Bos Full-back	Feyenoord	23	39319.1%	7637.4%
9	N. Sangui Full-back	Paris FC	20	2286.6%	763.7%
10	T. Blokzijl Full-back	Groningen	21	41±0%	76±0%
11	Luca Marianucci Full-back	Napoli	22	1453.7%	753.6%
12	N. Savona Centre-back	Nottingham Forest	23	1266.1%	756.9%
13	A. Kaplan Centre-back	NEC Nijmegen	23	2364.1%	7417.3%
14	I. Ogbus Centre-back	SC Freiburg	20	152416.7%	7410.5%
15	W. Goes Full-back	AZ Alkmaar	22	39±0%	74±0%
16	C. Hughes Centre-back	Hull City	22	43145.5%	7211.9%
17	M. Vitík Centre-back	Bologna	23	24	72
18	A. Matturro Full-back	Shakhtar Donetsk	21	146.3%	72±0%
19	A. Zehnter Centre-back	VfL Wolfsburg	21	874.3%	723.8%
20	J. Stephenson Centre-back	Crewe	18	0	72
21	E. Bitshiabu Centre-back	Galatasaray	21	1162.5%	724.7%
22	N. Äelik Centre-back	Lens	20	13	72
23	A. Giay Centre-back	Palmeiras	22	374.6%	71±0%
24	C. Doyle Centre-back	Wrexham	23	31±0%	711.7%
25	M. Willemsen Centre-back	Heerenveen	23	22±0%	71±0%
26	Gonçalo Oliveira Centre-back	Rennes	20	11	7063.5%
27	Jonathan Centre-back	Cruzeiro	22	39125%	706.1%
28	Arthur Centre-back	Palmeiras	21	30	70
29	Zak Norton Sturge Full-back	Millwall	22	36±0%	70±0%
30	C. Taylor Full-back	Millwall	23	39±0%	69±0%
31	K. Kita Centre-back	Real Sociedad	21	29±0%	697.1%
32	N. Veratschnig Full-back	Red Bull Salzburg	23	727.3%	691.2%
33	S. Lemkin Centre-back	Twente	23	22538.2%	6989.8%
34	B. Okoh Centre-back	Auxerre	23	20	69
35	Riyad Idrissi Full-back	Cagliari	23	116.9%	6920.1%
36	Rio Cardines Full-back	Bristol City	20	0±0%	69±0%
37	S. Dahl Full-back	Benfica	23	38±0%	69±0%
38	F. Chiarodia Centre-back	Borussia Mönchengladbach	21	17122.1%	684.1%
39	L. Jaquez Full-back	VfB Stuttgart	23	13219%	683.3%
40	R. van den Berg Full-back	1. FC Köln	22	962.4%	68±0%
41	David López Centre-back	Mallorca	23	854.9%	679.8%
42	Roman Gomez Full-back	Bahia	22	28±0%	6634.6%
43	D. Tarzia Full-back	Vitoria	23	25425%	6639.6%
44	A. Núñez Full-back	Argentinos JRS	22	28	66
45	Maykon Centre-back	Vitoria	20	12	66
46	D. Koswal Centre-back	Sandefjord	23	2140.2%	6617.5%
47	David Torres Centre-back	Valladolid	23	33±0%	66±0%
48	Cuiabano Full-back	Vasco DA Gama	23	4036.9%	666.7%
49	Pedro Gabriel Full-back	Gremio	18	18	66
50	Francisco Chissumba Full-back	SC Braga	21	20±0%	667.7%