Soccer future power rankings: Ranking teams by talent, more

Is any team better-placed than Real Madrid for domination in the medium term? Let’s crunch the numbers. Diego Souto/Getty Images

It’s safe to say that Liverpool have been the best team in the world in 2024-25. Arne Slot’s team is now the overwhelming favorite to win the Premier League — Arsenal have 12 matches to make up 11 points — and the betting favorite to win the Champions League, though there’s plenty of work remaining there. With 30 goals and 21 assists in 38 matches (in all competitions), Mohamed Salah is enjoying just about the best contract year any athlete has ever had in any sport; everything has come up Reds in Slot’s first year succeeding Jurgen Klopp.

In other words, Liverpool own the present tense, but thanks primarily to the Transfer Rumor Industrial Complex, our soccer discussions always involve at least a hint of the future, too.

For Liverpool, expiring contracts for Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have remained talking points throughout this brilliant run. Of the 16 Liverpool players with at least 1,200 minutes in all competitions this season, only three are under 25 years old. The club has a lot of decisions to make moving forward, and as we’ve seen with Manchester City’s difficulties this season, dominating now certainly doesn’t guarantee dominance in the future.

So, as we watch Liverpool’s and others’ title pushes move forward across Europe’s top five leagues, let’s take a minute to look far into the future. Never mind contract talks and potential summer moves; let’s talk about which clubs are best positioned to succeed, say, three years from now.

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