Topics: Karamako Dembele, Xavi Simons
Forget Cristiano, Messi, Neymar, and co. These kids are running the show on social media!

It brings fans much satisfaction to see their teams scoring, winning games and, eventually, silverware at the end of every season. However, aside the wins and jubilations, the chills, thrills and the whole beauty of football often lies in the trickery and showboating cameo which some of the world’s acclaimed players execute with aplomb as games proceed.

It is, as a result, heartwarming to see that these levels of finesse are being imitated by very young fans of the game who barely know anything about professional football. Without much ado, let’s take a look at five of these lads in the first part of our “5 football wonderkids wowing social media” series. 

1. Matan Shalov

The first on our list is 3-year-old Matan Shalov aka Matanos. The young Israeli has been around the block for a while now although his age suggests otherwise. Don’t be fooled by his diminutive stature because Matanos has a lot on his sleeve when it comes to skills! 

He eats nutmegs for breakfast and step-overs for supper. When all is said and done, he celebrates like his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. In fact, his fame in recent times is due to a viral video of him replicating Ronaldo’s “SIIUUU” celebration. Matanos currently has over 105k followers on Instagram. 

2. Keyl Skills 

He is originally called Keyl Shafi but he goes by the name Keyl Skills on his YouTube and social media pages. With this lad, his nickname actually says it all. The Birmingham-born prodigy currently plays with the Aston Villa under 9s but has already taken YouTube and Instagram by storm with his “tekkers”. 

He is often seen in the company of one of the best freestyling duos in football, The F2 Freestylers, due to his immense talent. No wonder Pep Guardiola said “I will remember your name” when he had the opportunity to perform for the Manchester City manager to see. Keyl already has over 28 thousand followers on Instagram and more than 80 thousand subscribers on YouTube. 

3. Alex Alcala 

Young Alex goes by the handle @alexrebel05 on Instagram. Although small, Alex is slowly catching the eyes of some top European clubs, with Chelsea having reportedly made a 50 million bid for the 8-year-old, recently. Obnoxious, right? Not quite. Alex has already made rounds at Barcelona and was seen at Etihad in 2016 while embarking on a week training with Manchester City. 

His nifty feet and agility are his great assets and his fascinating cameos have attracted over 4.8K subscribers on YouTube and over 24.4K followers on Instagram. 

4. Xavi Simons 

He is the captain of Barcelona’s Cadet B side and that should tell you a lot. 14-year-old Xavi Simons is not like your average 14-year-old. His idol? His namesake and Barcelona idol Xavi Hernandez, with his style of play having also been likened to the former Spanish international. 

The future looks bright for the Barcelona starlet who has already collected 4 youth Ballon d'Or in his career. At the moment, he has over 921,000 followers on Instagram. 

 

5. Karamako Dembele 

He may be the last but he is certainly not the least. Karamoko Kader Dembele, born on February 22, 2003, currently plays for Celtic’s youth side in Scotland. At the age of 14, he has already represented England’s U-15 team and the Scotland U-16 side. 

 

A post shared by Karamoko Kader Dembele (@karamoko) on

Dembele first caused a frenzy on social media after debuting for Celtic's under-20 development team at the age of 13, back in October 2016. Since then he has been on the radar of a lot of big clubs across Europe, mainly for the magic he does on the field with his left foot. Dembele currently has over 163,000 followers on Instagram and is already a Nike ambassador.