The footballing world was a very different place in 2004.
Arsenal made history by becoming the first team to go an entire Premier League season unbeaten, while the world stood up and noticed Jose Mourinho after he led Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph.
But that wasn't even the biggest upset of 2004 with that accolade going to Greece, who shocked the continent by defeating hosts Portugal to win the European Championships for the first time.
There was even a surprise in the Ballon d'Or as Andriy Shevchenko collected the coveted award over Barcelona duo Deco and Ronaldinho as well as 'Invincible' star Thierry Henry.
So, it would be fair to say that the beautiful game was pretty interesting in 2004 and a lot of the players we now recognise as icons started to come through the ranks that year.
Football in 2004
It was the first time that Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney shared the pitch at Manchester United, for example, while Andres Iniesta and Carlos Tevez were also attracting hype.
And courtesy of Transfermarkt, we've been able to look back at the footballing landscape of 2004 in greater detail than ever, revealing the 15 wonder kids with the highest transfer value that year.
We've already looked at the most valuable players of all in 2004, but focusing on stars who were 21 or younger at the time shows there was so, so much talent coming through 16 years ago.
15 most valuable youngsters in 2004
Check out the 15 most valuable starlets down below and their eventual career-high value to see just how successful they were (spoiler alert: most of them absolutely smashed it):
15. Diego (19) - €10 million
Career-high value: €29 million
14. Vincent Kompany (18) - €10 million
Career-high value: €35 million
13. Wesley Sneijder (20) - €10 million
Career-high value: €45 million
12. Emmanuel Adebayor (20) - €12 million
Career-high value: €25 million
11. Rafael van der Vaart (21) - €12 million
Career-high value: €26 million
10. Michael Essien (21) - €12 million
Career-high value: €38 million
9. Andres Iniesta (20) - €12 million
Career-high value: €70 million
8. Daniele de Rossi (21) - €14 million
Career-high value: €38 million
7. Carlos Tevez (20) - €15 million
Career-high value: €40 million
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (19) - €18 million
Career-high value: €120 million
5. Arjen Robben (20) - €20 million
Career-high value: €40 million
4. Robinho (20) - €22 million
Career-high value: €36.5 million
3. Fernando Torres (20) - €25 million
Career-high value: €50 million
2. Jose Antonio Reyes (21) - €35 million
Career-high value: €35 million
1. Wayne Rooney (18) - €37 million
Career-high value: €65 million
So many up-and-coming stars
What. A. Bunch. Of. Players.
Considering how many hyped youngsters that come and go in the modern game, it's astonishing to think that most of these starlets went on to justify all the praise before their 21st birthday.
Number one pick Rooney would go on to become United and England's all-time top scorer, while bronze medallist Torres won the World Cup and two European Championships with Spain.
Reyes and Robinho arguably never reached the levels of their fellow top 10 finishers, but to say their careers were still anything of a world-class standard would be to cruelly short-change them.
Ronaldo: The pick of the bunch
But the most successful 2004 youngster can be found in sixth place... Ronaldo himself.
In an era where that name would immediately make fans think of the Brazil legend, Ronaldo launched himself to stardom at Old Trafford to flip the script by the time he was 25.
And frankly, if any of the current best youngsters in the sport can follow the career path of their 2004 predecessors, then we're in for an incredible next decade in the beautiful game.