Several promising young Welsh talents are pushing for inclusion in Craig Bellamy’s future squads. Young players across midfield, defence, and attack are showing technical quality and maturity beyond their years. With Bellamy focused on building a dynamic, fearless side full of energy and purpose, these emerging stars will be eager to seize their chance and become key figures in Wales’ next generation.
00:00Looking at the Wales men's national football team under Craig Bellamy, they've had quite the start under Bellamy as their head coach.
00:10And I think what's special about this team at the moment is the young talent that they have at their disposal.
00:16Of course, Wales, under previous regimes, under previous managements in the last sort of 10 years,
00:22they've had so many good world-class players who've seen them into major international tournaments,
00:27the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, of course.
00:30You look back at Euro 2016, for example, getting them there to the semi-finals.
00:35And then, of course, you look back at Euro 2020 as well, and you also look to the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
00:41Now, though, that era has come to an end, and ultimately, they've got this new, fresh batch of talent coming into the set-up at Wales
00:50under Craig Bellamy, of course, former striker for the Wales national team.
00:53And you have to think, well, this is really a talented group.
00:56You look at the likes of Brendan Johnson, for example, at Tottenham, forward-attacking players as well, to name just but one.
01:03So let's go now to our Wales sport correspondent, Charles Hague-Jones.
01:06Charles, who else, apart from perhaps Brendan Johnson, can we talk about when it comes to Wales at the moment?
01:13Of course, you've got the likes of Ethan Ampadu as well, Joe Rodon, perhaps more further back in the pitch.
01:19Can they, alongside Brendan Johnson up top, can they provide Wales with the sort of impetus they need to become a major player in the European scene once again
01:30and qualify for the upcoming World Cup in America, Canada and Mexico, which, of course, takes place next summer?
01:36And can Craig Bellamy be the man who helped steer them there?
01:39Yeah, there are some fantastic talents throughout Welsh football.
01:46And, I mean, you've got to look at the bigger picture in terms of, you know, both across the men's and women's games,
01:51in terms of where those teams are going, where they are in terms of really making sure they are almost qualifying for the major tournaments, if not so.
02:01And, obviously, Wales women, they qualify for their first major tournament with young players.
02:07You know, you look at the under-17s for Welsh Euros, they qualified for the first time ever in 2023 and then did it again in 2024 as well.
02:18The Welsh men's team, they're looking forward to trying to qualify for the World Cup 2026, which is a remarkable achievement for them.
02:25You know, the goals are really simple, that Wales now are looking at these major tournaments, trying to make sure that they are there,
02:34they are consistently qualifying for them.
02:36In terms of players to watch, there are so many.
02:39I mean, you have to really look, firstly, at the Cymru Talent ID.
02:43The FA of Wales has, obviously, created regional Talent ID programmes, starting from under-12s,
02:50which have produced over 80% of senior internationals.
02:54Now, that's one of the biggest percentages across the entire European sort of talent ID programmes,
03:01building a pipeline for constant and consistent future success.
03:06A few players to watch, Braden Clarke, already involved with Arsenal under-21s,
03:12born in 2007 after a move from Wolves.
03:16Unique achievement, the only Welsh player to feature in two consecutive UEFA under-17s finals.
03:25Dylan Lawler, born in 2006, Cardiff City's Academy.
03:30Captain the under-21s made a full debut in the FA Cup in February this year.
03:35Then received a senior Wales call-up as well.
03:39Bellamy is a real fan of him, you know, born in 2006.
03:42An unbelievable bit of achievement there.
03:45And then Kean Ashford, 2004, so only, you know, 20 or so years old.
03:52Cardiff forward with 33 senior appearances and three goals in the Championship.
03:57That's incredible.
03:58That makes him really a huge key for Cardiff moving forward.
04:01Can they keep him?
04:02Can they give him that platform in League One to go and express himself and really make a difference in the third tier?
04:08I think the fact that they are having massive, massive impacts at good level.
04:12You know, these are Championship players.
04:14These are, you know, Championship and better players as well.
04:17But the bottom line is, thanks to a structured youth pathway and standout individuals now rising through at Senior Club Football,
04:24as I say, they're having great platforms to go and play.
04:27There's strong momentum behind Wales is developing a new generation to follow the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey in their era
04:35because it's so important they replace it and use the future to embed these future stars into Welsh football.
