Scouted Says

This is the first episode of the brand-new SCOUTED Weekly, a show wherein the boys get together and chat about the week's biggest stories and catch up with you guys, the audience. To mark the occasion, Tom, Steve and Joe decided to look back at the Premier League predictions the team made in September and laugh about how wrong they were. SCOUTED: Twitter Notebook

Girona are keeping pace with Real Madrid at the summit of LaLiga this season despite operating on a fifth of the budget. They've beaten Barcelona and Atletico in thrilling fashion, scored the most goals and tied Carlo Ancelotti's side for points during the first half of 2023/24 - and show no signs of stopping. Aided by their City Football Group affiliate link, but hindered by their geography, SCOUTED's Joe Donnohue speaks to Football España editor Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) to discern whether Spain have a Leicester City-style fairytale on their hands.

Joe is joined by Steve and Llew who've spent the past month doing little else other than watching the FIFA U17 World Cup in Indonesia. Features: an in-depth analysis of the four semi-finalists including German champion Paris Brunner, England's fortunes and elimination at the hands of Uzbekistan, as well as a deep dive on tournament darlings Mali and their metronomic midfielder Hamidou Makalou. Powered by SkillCorner. Listen now.

After a busy summer, the Scouted Football podcast returns at the end of the transfer window with five player picks - from Europe and South America - for the upcoming 2023/24 campaign. Skelly Alvero, Rodri Sánchez, Lucas Beltrán, Lucas Besozzi and Amane Romeo.

Joe, Steve and Phil discuss each of the standouts and ones to watch across the 16 nations competing at this summer's Under-21 Euros in Georgia and Romania. No stone left unturned. Essential listening if you're tuning in to the tournament between June 21 and July 8. Featuring analysis on Khéphren Thuram, Castello Lukeba, Zeki Amdouni, Gabri Veiga, Loïs Openda, Nelson Weiper as well as plenty more you have and haven't heard of. Listen, share and subscribe now.

Joe, Llew and Steve recap the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which was won by Uruguay with a 1-0 victory over runners-up Italy in the final. The guys also discuss Golden Ball and Boot winner Cesare Casadei, 3rd place Israel, South Korea's Kim Ji-soo, Gambian sensation Adama Bojang, several other honourable mentions and provide a rundown of the Team of the Tournament. Listen now.

Joe is joined by Scouted's Llew and Steve to assess the players selected to represent their countries at this year's 24-team FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Argentina. Stay ahead of the game and get to know who's worth watching at this year's tournament. Listen, share, subscribe now.

Joe is joined by Lee and Tom from The Other Bundesliga and The Sweeper podcasts, to discuss what's been happening in Austria this season. From the dominance of FC Red Bull Salzburg, their 34-year-old head coach, link to satellite club FC Liefering, an Ivorian teenager tearing up the second tier, to a recently-capped Japanese international currently trumping the Salzburgers as prime candidate to be crowned ÖFB-Bundesliga Player of the Year. Listen, share and subscribe now.

Join host Joe Donnohue and Football España editor Ruri Barlow as the pair discuss LaLiga's standout youngsters - from the renowned Vinícius Jr, to the soon-to-be household name Gabri Veiga. Stick around until the end for the next prodigy out of the Canary Islands after Pedri and Yeremy Pino, already being courted by Barcelona. Listen now.

Brazil have been crowned South American champions at Under-20 level for the first time in over a decade. Join Joe and recurring guest Lee in discussing the tournament as a whole, South American themes and, of course, the competition's standout players. Listen, share, subscribe now.

Lorient are threatening to record their best ever finish in French football this season, boasting a deep-lying midfielder with a troubled past, a left-sided attacker straight out of Burkina Faso and a Nigerian centre-forward who began his professional career in Lithuania after a spell at a football academy in Hastings, England. Listen now.

Chief scout and recruitment analyst Lee Scott returns to the Scouted podcast after a 12-month break to discuss the players making waves on the biggest stage of all.

Joe is joined by former Ghana international Derek Boateng to discuss the Black Stars' chances at this year's World Cup. The pair also speak at length about Derek's role within Right To Dream, the west African academy which owns Danish side FC Nordsjælland and boasts seven academy products at this year's tournament in Qatar, representing both Ghana and Denmark. Listen now.

The 2022/23 UEFA Youth League group stage has come to an end ahead of the World Cup, so Joe has invited Steve and Llew over from the Scouted Patreon channel to discuss their standout players and tournament predictions. For more in-depth UYL analysis, check out Scouted Football on Patreon.

Napoli have begun the 2022/23 season in blistering form. Top of their Champions League group, ahead of AFC Ajax and Liverpool, unbeaten in Serie A after 12 games. Spearheaded by Khvicha 'Kvaradona' Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen, can I Partenopei end their 33-year wait for a Scudetto? Raffaele Rispo from the Napoli Rant joins Joe to discuss the possibility, and much, much more. Listen now.

Unbeaten in their opening four Champions League group stage games and already through to the knockouts without conceding a goal this season but third in Belgium's top flight after winning five of the last seven titles. Club Brugge boast a young team, a young coach and heaps of potential, but are toying with the loss of star man Charles de Ketelaere, Noa Lang's drop-off in form and coach Philippe Clement's exit. Join Joe and Belgian football expert and consultant Scott Coyne for the latest episode of the Scouted Football Podcast. Listen now.

Graham Potter is in the early knockings of his time as manager at Stamford Bridge - so what can we expect from the former Leeds Carnegie University and Östersunds boss? Brighton fan and The Athletic's tactics writer Liam Tharme combines his knowledge of Potter's team and tactics over the past three seasons to cast his verdict on what's to come at Chelsea. Listen now.

A novel transfer approach taken to the 'extreme' in Swiss football, FC Basel's bid to reclaim top spot in the Alpine nation may take some time as BSC Young Boys are looking pretty strong. But, led by club legend and former Swiss international Alex Frei, whose band of young players from across Europe, there is a chance Basel can restore themselves to former glories and build on their 20 league titles. Featuring Swiss football scout and the Super League's head Football Manager researcher Oliver Zesiger. Listen now.

After signing Tino Livramento and Armando Broja (loan) from Chelsea's academy last summer, Southampton have added Gavin Bazunu and Roméo Lavia from Manchester City this year - and Liam Delap could yet join them. Joe speaks to Scouted Football analyst Llew Davies about the new faces at St Mary's (including Handbook alumnus Armel Bella-Kotchap) and The Athletic's Southampton correspondent Jacob Tanswell about the business done and season to come. Listen now.

England are UEFA U-19 European Champions for a joint-record eleventh time. Scouted Football's Llew Davies cast his beady eye over the entire eight-team tournament and along with Stephen Ganavas has devised an 18-man Team of the Tournament. Five English, five French, four Italian, two Israeli, one Slovak and one Austrian. Names you'll be hearing plenty more of. Don't miss it.