ALPHONSO DAVIES, 20

Bayern Munich, Full-back/winger

Alphonso Davies was signed from Vancouver Whitecaps for $13.5m, then the highest sum ever paid for someone from Major League Soccer (MLS). His first season was unspectacular — 74 minutes over six games. Things changed in 2019-20, with coach Hansi Flick reviving Bayern and getting the world to talk about the winger converted to left-back. As the planet grappled with Covid-19, Bayern, who had lured him with an elaborate fiveyear growth plan, extended his contract.

Davies tied for the Golden Boot in the 2017 Gold Cup. His ability to accelerate and change direction makes him an asset at both ends of the pitch. That Bayern rely on his pace to go forward could be seen in the 2019-20 Champions League round-of-16 tie against Chelsea. One of his runs set up a goal; he had the most successful dribbles (6) on the team and completed 89.9% of his passes.

In the 2019-20 Bundesliga, only Sancho had more dribbles. “My progression here in Germany has been a really good one,” the 20-year-old from Edmonton, Canada, told Canadian website Saltwire.

Davies’s development “has been phenomenal”, Flick added. At 15, he was the secondyoungest after Freddy Adu to debut in the MLS. He was Bundesliga’s rookie of the season in 2019-20 and was on the Champions League squad of the season.

Davies is also a poster boy for a changing Canada where one in approximately five wasn’t born in the country. He was born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled Liberia. The family moved to Canada when he was five. “Boys on the football pitch made me feel at home,” he has said.

Canada’s most famous footballer would still be Christine Sinclair, for her part in helping the country win the 2012 Olympics bronze. With Canada set to co-host the 2026 World Cup, that could change.