The 10 Series is our annual special feature on Just Football scouting the best young talents in Europe. Before we release our list of Ligue 1 best young players for 2014/15, how did The 10 Series Class of 2013 get on? Let’s take a look:

Wissam Ben Yedder

How’s he done since?

Put simply, he’s done superbly well. We had high hopes for Wissam Ben Yedder at the time on Just Football, describing him as “one of the most exciting young attackers in Ligue 1” and the Franco-Tunisian did not disappoint. That season he finished the joint fifth top scorer in Ligue 1 with 15 goals, and Ben Yedder followed it up in 2013/14 with 16 league goals – equal with €64million man Edinson Cavani, finishing joint second top scorer in the division.

The variety in the 24-year-old’s play is also highly impressive. He can beat a man, create (five assists last season) and is accurate, with his shooting ratio of 5.4 shots per goal last season putting him up with some of the world’s best strikers’ records in 2012/13.

Ben Yedder’s exceptional technique derives from his futsal background. And with two goals in games already this season, you sense he could soon become one of those Ligue 1 players who outgrows Toulouse and moves on to one of Europe’s giants for a big fee.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

So far, an unqualified success. Sure to follow the likes of Etienne Capoue and Moussa Sissoko out of the exit door at Toulouse for a tidy sum of money if his development continues at such a pace.

10 Series Rating (1 = bad – 10 = a 10 Series Legend)

9 – hasn’t carried his team to any great successes and remains uncapped at international level, but on an individual Ben Yedder has done more or less everything that can be expected of him and developed extremely well.

Lucas Digne

How’s he done since?

It was clear from very early on during his Lille days that Lucas Digne would be snapped up by a club with significant resources and/or ambitions sooner or later, and so it proved. Just months after our original 10 Series looking at France’s best youngsters was released, Digne signed for Paris-Saint Germain for a fee though to be around €15million – a bargain when you consider prices paid for left backs like Luke Shaw and others since.

A move to the capital however brings its own challenges. The 21-year-old faced stiff competition for places with Maxwell around and only featured in 15 league games, having started 31 the season before.

While his on-field progress has stalled, Digne has had a successful year in other ways. He has learned from being around world class defenders, describing himself as having “progressed defensively and tactically”, he was a key part of France’s Under-20 World Cup winning team in 2013 and he also represented his country at senior level as part of Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad, playing the full 90 minutes in France’s 0-0 draw with Ecuador.

All vital experience for the 21-year-old, whose attitude (he returned early for pre-season training of his own accord, for example) has impressed.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Considering Digne played half the amount of league games he did in 2012/13, some may say his progress has stalled. We are not one of those, however. He’ll have learned much from the last year and his experiences with France in Brazil stand him in good stead to become a regular international for years to come. Maxwell is 33 now, so Digne should see much more action for PSG this season too.

10 Series Rating

7/10

Kurt Zouma

How’s he done since?

Google Kurt Zouma now and the first results you’ll see are about the horror challenge that broke Sochaux player Thomas Guerbert’s leg and landed Zouma a 10-game ban. To paint Zouma as a bruising, reckless brute of a defender would be unfair, but it’s undeniable that the tackle was disgraceful and he was rightly punished. Seeing a player shatter another professional’s leg, whether accidental or not, is never cool.

A year after we named Zouma in the 10 Series Chelsea pounced on the now 19-year-old, beating competition from Manchester United, Monaco and Inter Milan to sign the U20 World Cup-winning centre back for around €15million. A call from Jose Mourinho did it – Zouma saying that he ‘danced around’ after the Chelsea boss explained to him how he’d make Zouma the next Raphael Varane.

Zouma only started 17 games in 2013/14 thanks to his suspension, often filling in at right back as Saint-Etienne did brilliantly to finish fourth, but he captained France U21s before moving to Stamford Bridge, where he’s been a bench player thus far. A loan move is quite possible in the near future.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

In that Zouma secured his dream move to a club he says he used to play with on FIFA all the time and has supported since he was a boy, a success for sure. On the pitch, he didn’t quite hit the levels of peak performance during his final year at Sainte, and missed much of his final season through suspension. Zouma doesn’t even turn 20 until October, though. There’s still plenty of time.

10 Series Rating

6/10

Remy Cabella

How’s he done since?

Another who has changed clubs (and, indeed, leagues) since our last edition of The 10 Series, Remy Cabella is now part of the French colony at Newcastle after moving in the summer for around £7-9million.

The former Montpellier man showed real progression after making our 10 – he finished 2012/13 with seven goals and eight assists in 31 appearances (26 starts) and followed that up in his final season for MHSC with 14 goals and five assists in 35 starts.

Cabella grew into a real focal point of what ultimately became a quite mediocre Montpellier team shorn of stars like Olivier Giroud, Younes Belhanda and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Success. Cabella has since made his France debut, been to a World Cup (albeit as last minute replacement due to Franck Ribery’s injury) and emerged from the shadows of more prominent team-mates at Montpellier to show he can be relied upon.

Cabella described the atmosphere at St. James’ Park on his Newcastle debut as ‘exceptional’ and while he’s admitted he now needs to toughen up to adapt to a more physical league, he’s already in the Premier League’s top 12 for key passes per game. An early sign of things to come for the 24-year-old, perhaps?

10 Series Rating

7/10

Wahbi Khazri

How’s he done since?

Wahbi Khazri was just adapting to life in France’s top flight when we featured him in the original 10 Series, having spent his career in Ligue 2 at Bastia. Seven goals and five assists in his maiden Ligue 1 campaign was a reputable 2012/13 campaign – a better record than Ezequiel Lavezzi in his first Ligue 1 season and at no cost, having come through Bastia’s academy.

Khazri struggled in his second top-flight season in Corsica, however, managing just five goals and assists. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder started the campaign well, racking up four goals up to Christmas 2013 including a fantastic long range effort at Guingamp, a wonderful free kick (his speciality) at Reims and an outrageously cheeky Panenka penalty in a 4-1 thrashing of Lorient.

But Khazri then went on a long scoring drought, and wouldn’t hit the net in league action until May. The bond between player and fans had already been broken the summer before when Khazri accused Bastia of a ‘lack of respect’ for vetoing a move to Saint-Etienne, breaching what he believed was an agreement he could leave.

It was already expected he would move on therefore, and Bordeaux signed the now-Tunisian international for a cut price €2m in July.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Khazri looked as if he had the talent to become a real force in Ligue 1 during his early months at Bastia when they reached the top-flight. That simply hasn’t happened and if anything his career went backwards in 2013/14.

A move to a club like Bordeaux is demonstrative of Khazri’s natural ability, showing the talent is there if it can be unlocked. It could be the making of him. Already he has one goal in four appearances, and now is time for the 23-year-old to show why he was so highly-rated.

10 Series Rating

4/10

Gueida Fofana

How’s he done since?

While injuries have curtailed his progress to some extent, another barrier preventing Gueida Fofana from establishing himself as a midfield force for Lyon came in his transformation into that most ambiguous of squad roles – the utility player.

Deployed by former OL boss Remi Garde as a midfielder, centre back and a right back over the past 18 months, Fofana – France captain at the U20 World Cup in 2011 but not even close to a senior call-up since – has become Lyon’s John O’Shea: jack of all trades, master of none.

His spot in midfield has been occupied by a variety of players from Steed Malbranque to Clement Grenier and Maxime Gonalons, and thus while Fofana has put in some spectacular performances, most notably in the Europa League, and scored some quality goals with either foot (Bordeaux away 2013, Reims away 2014), he hasn’t pushed on like others on this list.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

We still feel Fofana has a whole lot to offer. Newcastle (obviously) and Stuttgart tried to sign Fofana earlier this year, but he eventually signed a new contract at Lyon.

Fofana needs to push on now and if he can stay injury free we still feel the physical, dynamic midfielder can show why he was once coveted by Real Madrid as a teenager at Le Havre.

10 Series Rating

5/10

Serge Aurier

How’s he done since?

Well. Aurier’s progression graph would be off the chart if we bothered to make one. The rambunctious right-back has since been named in Ligue 1’s 2013/14 team of the season, shortlisted for young player of the season, played in a World Cup and moved to PSG. Quite simply the Ivorian international is a star, and has lived up to all the hype and excitement since we raved about him while at Toulouse. A class act.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Unqualified success. Aurier was made vice-captain in his final season in Toulouse while still 21, finished 2013/14 the club’s joint-third top scorer and was tied seventh in Ligue 1 for assists with six in total.

10 Series Rating

9/10

Samuel Umtiti

How’s he done since?

Dubbed ‘the new Abidal’, Lyon’s defensive sensation has done pretty well. Another on this list with an U20 World Cup winners medal in his collection, demonstrating the talent at academy level in France, Umtiti has progressed at an encouraging rate.

“Samuel has made interesting progress” his former manager Remi Garde commented last year. “His control and technique on the ball, efficiency and physique have all improved, he’s getting better and better in tackling and aerial duels and he still has a huge margin for further development.”

A rock at centre back for France’s successful U20 World Cup side, Umtiti’s best moment since has to be this absolute rocket against Spurs in the Europa League in 2013. Take a bow, son.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

There is clear room for improvement for the centre back, who can also play at left back. He can look shaky in possession at times and is far from a consistently reliable finished article. As Garde says, however, Umtiti is coming along just nicely. Still only 20, after all.

10 Series Rating

7/10

Romain Alessandrini

How’s he done since?

Ups and downs. There’s no doubt that injuries have curtailed Alessandrini’s development. Shortly after we published the original 10 Series, Alessandrini ruptured his cruciate ligament and was ruled out for the rest of the 2012/13 season. That he was still named Rennes player of the season by a fans’ website summed up just how brilliant he’d been in the months before getting crocked (he had been called into the France squad for the first time just days before the injury).

Thereupon began a dark period for Alessandrini. He angled for a move to Marseille, the hometown club he supports and whose academy he grew up in. Rennes fans were furious, even launching a petition to have him dropped to the reserves. The bad blood lasted for most of the remainder of his time in Brittany, and while Alessandrini recovered in 2013/14, scoring seven goals in 35 appearances, the damage had been done.

A move to Marseille in the summer fulfilled a lifelong dream, but so far the two games he’s started OM have lost.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Through no fault of his own, we’d have to stay standing still here. It’s never easy to recover from such a career-threatening injury, and Alessandrini has done well to recover, but the 25-year-old hasn’t quite hit the heights of that outstanding first half of 2012/13 since. His transfer issues also left a bad taste.

10 Series Rating

5/10

Marco Verratti

How’s he done since?

5ft 4inches and weighing in at just 60kg, Marco Verratti is representing for super featherweights worldwide. Dubbed ‘the new Pirlo’ so many times it’s now become almost an accepted truth, Verratti has won two league titles and the Coupe de la Ligue in Paris before his 22nd birthday.

The Italian midfielder now has nine caps for the Azzurri and played twice at the World Cup, a calm, composed presence on the ball whose passing range and vision are outstanding. Carlo Ancelotti is a huge fan and tried to sign him for Real Madrid in the summer, but Verratti (Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season in 2014) is considered the future at PSG. For now at least, is going nowhere.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Considering he’s had to adapt from Serie B to one of the richest clubs in the world, Verratti can be proud of his performances in the 18 months since.

He still has much to learn, though. Verratti dithers on the ball too often at times and risks possession in dangerous areas in front of his defence (a perfect example of this came against Chelsea in last season’s Champions League quarter finals).

He’s also picked up an extraordinary THIRTY bookings in two seasons at PSG, a truly incredible tally in large part down to his undying devotion to giving referees backchat. That said, in today’s market this is probably a £30m pound player, and he’s not even 22 yet. A fine footballer.

10 Series Rating

9/10

How would you rate the Ligue 1 best young players performances since? Let us know below, on Google+, Facebook or Twitter and check out all our 10 Series picks including 2014/15 best young talents in world football here.