6. GEORGE MELLS

After 33 Adelaide United appearances, Mells took off to the Netherlands - where prodigious young Aussie's careers are made or broken - with Eredivisie club Fortuna Sittard. 

Unfortunately he couldn't make an appearance last season however, restricted to a couple of pre-season runouts and the 22-year-old's one-year contract expires in a couple of weeks.

A former youth player with the highly-esteemed Chelsea and Southhampton academies, and with three appearances for the Australian U20s, he's firmly on the Aussie radar, but his next move will be key to fulfilling his potential.

He’s had a tough run, as have many of the Aussies on this list, especially those who have been overseas since a very young age. It’s a tough life, fraught with obstacles as he told FTBL and Neon Kosmos’s Con Stamocostas last year.

“It was a pleasure to be part of the best team in the world for two-and-a-half years,” Mells said.

“Chelsea’s youth academy has always been renowned as the best academy in terms of results across all age groups. Even at that age, they don’t take it lightly. They take it as serious as they do with the seniors.

“Because for them it’s all about winning. For me it was a fantastic experience. I’ve carried a little bit of it everywhere I’ve been. I learnt that it is not acceptable to lose. It’s not acceptable to come second. It’s all about winning and having a real winner’s mentality. That’s what I learnt from my time at Chelsea.

“It’s hard when you’re 12. You know how big the club is but at the same time you don’t really. Most of us who were there didn’t appreciate it as much as we should have. It sounds sad but that’s the truth. Looking back, I was playing at the best club in the world. It was special.”

He's a technically gifted central midfielder with an A-League Premiership / Championship double on his resume though, so here's betting he still has a decent crack at Europe, maybe at a club that aren't fighting relegation.