After a year's delay, Euro 2020 will finally get under way when Italy take on Turkey in Rome on Friday, June 11.
Some of the world's top talents will be on display in the month-long tournament, including the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane.
But away from the elite players, there are a clutch of others looking to overshadow those aforementioned names and leave their own mark on the pan-European competition.
Using Opta data, Stats Perform picks out eight under-the-radar stars – those that would not necessarily be considered as one of the favourites for individual honours before a ball is kicked – ahead of the tournament.
Federico Chiesa (Italy and Juventus)
Juventus may have endured one of their worst campaigns in recent memory last time out, but Chiesa can hold his head up high after impressing in his first year at the Allianz Stadium.
He was the man for the big occasions, scoring a couple of goals in January's league victory over Milan and the winner in Juve's Coppa Italia triumph against Atalanta.
The 23-year-old was a regular threat down both flanks – only Benevento forward Riccardo Improta (77, 29.87 per cent) had more open-play crosses in Serie A last season with a higher success rate than Chiesa (69, 27.54 per cent).
That ability to both create and score goals, plus his never-say-die spirit – best embodied by his three goals in two legs of the Champions League last-16 knockout defeat to Porto – means he is already a fan favourite in Turin.
"He tries to ignite the fans at home on the couch to let them feel the game like the players in the pitch," former Juve striker Fabrizio Ravanelli told Stats Perform.
"He always sends a strong message to Juventus fans, the true DNA of Juventus of never giving up like it says in the motto: 'Till the end'."
Alexander Isak (Sweden and Real Sociedad)
Whisper it quietly, but Sweden may have a new superstar forward emerging to rival the legendary figure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Isak's 17 strikes in 34 league appearances for Real Sociedad last season saw him become the Swede with the most goals in a single LaLiga campaign, surpassing Ibrahimovic's 16 for Barcelona in 2009-10.
He may be tall and blessed with great technical ability, but Isak is a lot different to Ibrahimovic – ruled out of Euro 2020 with a knee injury – in terms of his playing style.
And with clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester City reportedly keeping a close eye on the 21-year-old, it may well be one day that other youngsters from the Scandinavian country are described as 'the next Isak'.
Unai Simon (Spain and Athletic Bilbao)
Luis Enrique has not shied away from putting his faith in youth at the expense of those who have been there and done it, with veteran centre-back Sergio Ramos arguably the most high-profile omission from any squad at Euro 2020.
That is also true between the sticks, where 23-year-old Athletic Bilbao stopper Simon has usurped David de Gea to take control of the number-one spot.
Unlike Manchester United keeper De Gea and Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has not made the cut for Spain, Simon played regularly for his club side in 2020-21.
Indeed, the only Spanish goalkeepers to play more minutes last term in Europe's top five leagues than Simon (3,330) were Alex Remiro and Fernando Pacheco of Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alaves respectively.
Simon saved 63.3 per cent of the shots he faced in LaLiga in 2020-21, compared to 65.22 per cent for De Gea in 26 Premier League games, and the six-cap keeper will need to be at his best if Spain are to banish their demons from the 2018 World Cup.
Jamal Musiala (Germany and Bayern Munich)
Musiala switched international allegiance from England to Germany four months ago in the same week he became Bayern's youngest Champions League goalscorer at the age of 17 years and 363 days.
Despite strong competition for places, Musiala featured regularly for the German champions last season with 35 appearances in all competitions, albeit the majority of those outings being as a substitute.
The former Chelsea product made his first two appearances for Germany in March's World Cup qualifiers and only adds to a plethora of options available to Joachim Low in the final third.
Musiala may not be considered a regular just yet, but the stats suggest Low should perhaps consider using the youngster from the beginning of games.
Bayern's win rate increased from 62.5 per cent without Musiala in their side in the Bundesliga last term to 73.1 per cent with him, while their average goals for climbed from 2.5 to 3.0, and their passing accuracy in the final third went from 72.4 to 74.1.
Not so much a lucky omen, but a player who is clearly already good enough to make a telling impact on even the biggest sides.
Marcus Thuram (France and Borussia Monchengladbach)
No nation boasts a collection of forwards quite like France, who can call upon Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Wissam Ben Yedder, Thomas Lemar, Kingsley Coman, Olivier Giroud and the returning Karim Benzema.
What chance does Borussia Monchengladbach forward Thuram have, then, of ousting any of those players from the side?
While the 23-year-old may not be used as a regular starter, he will provide an intriguing option for spoiled-for-choice head coach Didier Deschamps to choose from off the bench for group games against Germany, Portugal and Hungary.
Thuram, the son of World Cup winner Lilian, certainly knows how to make the most of his minutes on the field and has the ability to score via a range of different ways.
All eight of his Bundesliga goals last term were scored inside the box, but they were shared between his right foot (three), left foot (two), head (two) and other means (one).
In fact, he was one of just nine forwards to start 20 games or fewer in Europe's top five leagues last season and still score more than once with his right foot.
Aleksandr Golovin (Russia and Monaco)
Monaco midfielder Golovin was plagued by injuries and illness in 2020-21 but still played a starring role in Monaco's unlikely Ligue 1 title bid that went down to the final game.
The 25-year-old found the net five times and set up nine more in 21 appearances, three of those goals coming in one game against Nimes in early February.
That made Golovin the first Russian to score a hat-trick in Europe's top five leagues since ex-Fulham striker Pavel Pogrebnyak in 2012.
He is undoubtedly the key creative talent in the Russia squad and, in a group that contains a defensively-strong Denmark and Belgium, plus Finland, it will likely be the Monaco man that holds the key to his side's hopes of progression.
His effectiveness with set-piece deliveries could be particularly vital.
Yusuf Yazici (Turkey and Lille)
Lille's incredible Ligue 1 triumph was down to a collective effort, but a few players certainly stood out for the shock title winners.
Look no further than breakthrough star Yazici, whose return of a goal every 153.71 minutes was the fourth best of any midfielder with at least five goals in Europe's top five leagues in 2020-21, trailing just Joe Willock, Lars Stindl and Musiala.
The 24-year-old scored seven league goals in total and netted the same amount in the Europa League, where Lille made it to the knockout stages before being eliminated by Ajax.
That includes a couple of three-goal hauls in the group stage as he became the first player to score an away hat-trick against Milan in all competitions since Rivaldo in October 2000 for Barcelona.
With experience of scoring in big matches and winning silverware with rank outsiders, Yazici will now be looking to guide many people's dark horses Turkey deep into Euro 2020.
Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands and Ajax)
A member of the Netherlands' Under-17s European Championship-winning squad in 2018, Gravenberch has gone from strength to strength in the three years since and is now a regular in Ajax's central midfield.
Gravenberch also has two Eredivisie titles and two Dutch Cups to his name to go with that age-grade continental triumph, all before he even turned 19 last month.
The teenage talent, another product of Ajax's fabled academy, made his senior international debut earlier this year and has a chance of starting – or at least playing a prominent part in – the Oranje's quest for a second European Championship crown.
If nothing else, Gravenberch will certainly bring a level of calmness to the Dutch midfield.
He had a pass accuracy rate of 87.21 per cent in the Eredivisie last season – the only midfielders younger in Europe's top five leagues to play 20 or more times with a better return were Pedri (87.66) and Lucas Gourna-Douath (87.29).
Declan Rice set to leave West Ham after Europa Conference League success
West Ham chairman David Sullivan has confirmed captain Declan Rice will be allowed to leave this summer and he expects to start receiving bids immediately.
The England midfielder said he did not know if he had played his last game for the club after leading them to Europa Conference League glory.
A 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Wednesday night’s final saw him become only the third Hammers skipper to lift a major trophy, following Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds.
However, Sullivan admits a gentleman’s agreement means they will allow a player who still has two years remaining on his contract – one year plus an option – to leave.
Asked whether lifting the trophy in Prague was Rice’s last action as a West Ham player, Sullivan told talkSPORT: “I think it has to be. We promised him he could go.
“He set his heart on going and in due course he has to get on and we have to get a replacement.
“It is not something we wanted to happen. We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago and he turned it down. You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there.
“I think the offers will start to come today. Three or four clubs have shown interest but, out of respect to West Ham, while we’re still playing, you don’t make offers for players.”
Rice said after the game that it was “not goodbye yet”.
He added on BT Sport: “Look at the moment there’s a lot of speculation about my future.
“There is interest from other clubs, that’s out there, but ultimately I’ve still got two years left at West Ham.
“There hasn’t been nothing yet (offers). Let’s wait and see, who knows.
“I love every minute of it here, you can see the smile on my face.
“It’s not about that tonight, it’s about celebrating and that’s what I’m going to do now.”
Women’s World Cup win would earn England’s players more than £200,000 each
England’s players will earn more than £200,000 each if they win this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
FIFA has set out how a record prize money pot will be distributed for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, with 270,000 US dollars (around £216,000) earmarked for each member of the winning squad.
Every player involved in the tournament is guaranteed to receive at least 30,000 US dollars (just over £24,000), at a time when the average salary in the women’s game worldwide is 14,000 US dollars, according to last year’s FIFA benchmarking report.
World players’ union FIFPRO has praised FIFA “for listening to the voice of players” on the issue of pay, and for ensuring equal conditions in terms of training facilities and transport for players at this summer’s finals compared to the men’s tournament in Qatar late last year.
A group of 150 players from 25 national teams – including players from England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland – had written to FIFA in October last year calling for equal conditions and for a guarantee that at least 30 per cent of prize money would be allocated to players.
Previously, there was no requirement for national associations to distribute a minimum amount of World Cup prize money to participating players.
The overall performance-based fund for the finals is 110million US dollars (£88.1m), more than three times what was on offer at the 2019 World Cup in France, with the players sharing more than 44 per cent of that between them.
“The confirmation of equal conditions and guaranteed per-player performance compensation at next month’s World Cup represents not only the outcome of tremendous global collective action by over 150 national team players, under the umbrella of FIFPRO and its member unions, but a constructive negotiation with FIFA over the past months,” FIFPRO said in a statement.
“They have listened to the voice of the players, and we have taken steps towards greater gender equity in our game at its highest levels. The legacy of this action is by the players, for the players, of both today and tomorrow.”
FIFA is working to make the women’s game self-sustaining, and is understood to be bearing more of the load on prize money compared to sponsors and broadcasters for this year’s tournament than it would like to in the future.
Its president Gianni Infantino has set a target for equal prize money at the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups but insists broadcasters in particular must do more to make this possible.
Broadcast deals in some key markets – including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain – are still not agreed. Last month Infantino described some of the offers FIFA had received as “a slap in the face” for the women’s game.
Liverpool sign World Cup-winning Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister
Liverpool have begun the rebuild of their midfield with the signing of Brighton’s World Cup-winning Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister.
A fee has not been disclosed but it is understood the 24-year-old had a release clause – believed to be around £45million – in a contract he only signed in October.
The PA news agency understands the Argentinian has signed a five-year contract.
Mac Allister has been on the club’s radar prior to his move to the Seagulls in 2019 but the club felt his development was still in its early stages, although his versatility to play in several positions was a key factor in their interest.
He was subsequently identified as a key target prior to the winter World Cup in Qatar, in which he played a key part in Argentina’s victory, and Liverpool were keen to secure his services to avoid a bidding war.
Mac Allister’s age and his career appearances (160) fit in with the demographics of some of the club’s most successful signings like Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Roberto Firmino and represent the start of an overhaul of a midfield which lost James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the end of their contracts.
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