Nidal Celik

Key strength: Aerial dominance

Defensive anchor

At just 19 years old, Nidal Celik is cutting his teeth at one of Ligue 1's surprise packages. RC Lens sit second in the table, defying expectations behind a squad featuring established stars like Florian Thauvin and Abdallah Sima. For the Bosnian teenager, rated at €1m, this represents an invaluable education at the elite level. Deployed as a defensive anchor, Celik's calling card is aerial dominance—a trait that explains his inclusion despite modest overall ratings. With physical and defending attributes of 55, he's learning to translate his natural gifts into consistent performances against France's best attackers. Playing alongside experienced defenders like Samson Baidoo (66 rating), Celik represents Lens's investment in tomorrow while competing today. The club's second-place standing suggests their blend of youth development and veteran quality is working. For Celik, every minute alongside Thauvin and co. accelerates his growth from promising prospect to potential first-team regular.