New players for your radar from the UEFA qualifying rounds, plus a top 17yo prospect from Croatia

A James Doolan special here as the man from the Balkan Angle gives us some great info from the Champions League qualifcation rounds

We have really been enjoying the return of real club football on the European continent this week. The UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League qualifiers began on Tuesday night, and, as always, there were fun storylines and potential new stars making their marks.

This is actually a really important period of the year for the majority of UEFA countries. The UEFA coefficients are calculated on the performance of clubs in these competitions, and, for many countries, their only contributing points will come from the results in these weeks in July and August.

For some nations, the Conference League in particular has produced their first ever taste of group/league stage football on the UEFA stage.

As I wrote in the subscriber-only piece earlier this week as well, it is a huge week for the expansion of players into possible transfer targets.

There are still players who qualify for GBE from long runs into Europe or qualification into the league stage of the Champions League from last season, but those players must be acted upon this summer to ensure that those valuable continental points are secured. Check out this piece from last week for that.

The 2024/25 season crop of players who played in these rounds last season are still ESC eligible because of the two year reference period, and now, we have had our first look at some of the players who newly qualify for ESC this season.

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