Who could be your club’s Kobbie Mainoo? We pick out one young player from each Premier League team who could make an impact in the top flight this season.
There is nothing more exciting as a football fan than seeing a young player make it in your club’s first team. Even better, if they stick around and play well enough to make a career for themselves at their childhood club.
Last season, the Premier League saw a number of youngsters establish a position in the first team at clubs at the top end of the table. From soon-to-be England mainstay Kobbie Mainoo to the many exciting teenagers given first-team minutes at Liverpool, there were a few really positive stories when it came to young players breaking through.
So, who could be next on the Premier League production line? Here, we pick out one potential star from each top-flight club ahead of the new season.
A quick note: the criteria to qualify as a ‘potential breakout star’ is a little different at each club, simply because while one club might be known for blooding youth, it might not be as likely that an academy product will break through at another – it isn’t even possible at Brentford, for example, as they don’t have an academy. Whatever the criteria, we’re just looking for a young player who could make an impact on their first team this season.
Arsenal
Ethan Nwaneri
With Arsenal set for another season battling for the Premier League title, there may once again be little opportunity afforded to the club’s yet-to-be-established youngsters. Across all competitions in 2023-24, Mikel Arteta only gave game time to two players younger than 22-year-old Bukayo Saka, and those two players – Ethan Nwaneri and Charles Sagoe Jr – were handed just one appearance each.
Nwaneri is the academy product Arsenal fans are most excited about, and they have been for a long time. Back in September 2022, a 15-year-old Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history, but he has only been given 13 more minutes of first-team game time since then – in the 6-0 thumping of West Ham in February this year. The list of the youngest Premier League players of all time provides a fair few cautionary tales for Arteta to consider when managing Nwaneri’s development.
After ranking third in Premier League 2 last season for goals scored (11) and averaging 0.97 goal contributions per 90, the now 17-year-old will hope for more first-team opportunities this season.
Aston Villa
Kosta Nedeljkovic
The problem for Aston Villa’s youngsters is that after a busy summer in the transfer window, the first team is looking so well stocked right across the pitch that there could be no opportunities for anyone to prove they are ready for senior-team action.
There is a small chance, however, that Unai Emery thinks there could be room for improvement at right-back – where Matty Cash and centre-back Ezri Konsa shared duties last season – and 18-year-old Kosta Nedeljkovic is an exciting prospect in that position.
Signed from Red Star Belgrade last January and then loaned straight back to the Serbian side, Nedeljkovic is an attack-minded, athletic and physically imposing full-back.
Despite still being almost 18 months off his 20s, Nedeljkovic has UEFA Champions League experience, having made four appearances in the group stage in 2023-24, including playing 78 minutes in a 3-2 defeat to Manchester City last December, when he came up against Jack Grealish and then Phil Foden and was dribbled past on only one occasion.
He stands out more for his attacking numbers, with his rate of 4.5 shots, dribbles and chances created per 90 the fourth-highest of all defenders in the Champions League in 2023-24 (200+ mins played), behind Joao Cancelo (5.9), Ulisses Garcia (4.8), and Achraf Hakimi (4.8).
Bournemouth
Dominic Sadi
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has shown a willingness to give young players game time if he likes them, so there is reason for youngsters at the club to be optimistic about their future on the south coast.
Four players played Premier League minutes while under the age of 21 for the club last season: Milos Kerkez (1,975), Alex Scott (1,011), Illia Zabarnyi (270) and Dominic Sadi (1), with the latter potentially being the next player to make a serious push for first-team action from their development squad.
Sadi’s Premier League debut in April against Brighton came with the young midfielder just 20 years and 239 days old, while his professional debut came earlier in the season in the EFL Cup against Norwich City. He assisted a dramatic late goal to send the tie to penalties with a wicked cross to the back post for Brooklyn Genesini to score. Sadi would go on to make the Bournemouth substitutes bench on five occasions last season, overall.
He hasn’t made Bournemouth’s squad for their pre-season tour of the United States but has been scoring goals for their development squad in pre-season – just like he did regularly in 2023-24 – including both in their 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest B on 22 July.
Brentford
Yehor Yarmoliuk
Brentford have no academy, instead choosing to buy players aged around 17-21 to develop in their B team before – hopefully – easing them into the first-team squad. They’ve had many success stories over the past few years and 20-year-old Yehor Yarmoliuk looks like he could be the next.
Signed in 2022 from Dnipro, where he had become the second-youngest player ever to start a game in the Ukrainian Premier League, Yarmoliuk spent a year in the B team before working his way into the senior squad last season.
He ended up making six starts in Premier League games but they only really came about due to injuries to teammates, and far more of his action came from the bench. This season, though, with Thomas Frank surely considering freshening up his trusted central midfield of Vitaly Janelt, Christian Nørgaard and Mathias Jensen – his first-choice midfield three for the past three seasons – Yarmoliuk will be hoping for more game time.
He is a versatile option in midfield, able to play a number of different positions and capable both in and out of possession. He won possession 6.7 times per 90 minutes on average in the Premier League last season, while also averaging 2.3 successful dribbles per 90. Expect to see more of him in 2024-25.
Brighton
Valentín Barco
Given he is only 31 years old himself, it seems natural to assume that new Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler will be open to giving young players time on the pitch. There’s never any shortage of exciting and talented players you’ve never heard of at the Amex, so it would be no surprise to see Valentín Barco given more first-team opportunities.
Barco, who turned 20 this week, joined from Boca Juniors in January and made three Premier League starts and his international debut for Argentina in the second half of last season. His game time at Boca was split between left-back, left wing-back and left midfield, but almost all of his appearances Brighton have come at full-back, and he may fancy his chances of ousting Pervis Estupiñán in the team next season.
He is very comfortable on the ball, likes getting forward, and has a wicked delivery. His 308 minutes of Premier League action for Brighton came against very tough opposition in Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Bournemouth, so he is clearly trusted to be able to handle the pressure of big games, and he averaged 1.2 chances created and 16.1 passes ending in the final third per 90.
Chelsea
Josh Acheampong
In a bloated squad full of very, very, very expensive and talented players, it’s going to remain difficult for Chelsea’s youngsters to break into the first team without a similar injury crisis to that which the club suffered last season.
That crisis did, however, open a few doors to the senior squad, and Josh Acheampong was one of the players who got a chance in the first team, and it appears he might be about to get a few more.
Included in the squad for Chelsea’s pre-season tour to the USA, Acheampong is seen as a better player to be moulded for Maresca’s football than the omitted Trevoh Chalobah, who is thought to be available for a transfer.
Able to play at right-back, right wing-back or right-sided centre-back, Acheampong is an adept defender in one-on-one situations but also very comfortable on the ball and a threat in the opposition’s box. He was dribbled past just seven times in almost 15 hours of football in the U18 Premier League last season, also averaging 6.9 carries of at least 5m upfield per 90 and adding two goals and three assists.
There’s a big queue at Chelsea so he’s going to have to wait in line and there may not be opportunities for any youngsters, but he is highly thought of at the club and may well have a future there.
Crystal Palace
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi
With Michael Olise having left for Bayern Munich there’s a space to be filled on the Crystal Palace wing. Although it’s almost certain that Oliver Glasner will dip into the transfer market to attempt to fill the massive void there, there’s a chance that he might give one of the club’s most exciting young talents a chance there.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi made six substitute appearances at the start of last season under Roy Hodgson following a successful loan spell at Charlton in 2022-23 – when he scored 15 goals and provided eight assists in League One. He – and his club – would have hoped he would kick on in 2023-24, but a lack of game time has led to reports that he might look for first-team opportunities away from Selhurst Park.
Because he was so often training with the first team, he didn’t get much game time in Premier League 2 last season, but when he did he was lethal, registering five goal involvements in just 229 minutes of action – an average of two goal involvements per 90. He has clearly outgrown that level and it’s understandable that he will want a chance in the top flight this season. Whether that’s at Palace or not remains to be seen, but he should be one to watch.
Everton
Tim Iroegbunam
It’s been two and a half years since Tim Iroegbunam made his Premier League debut for Aston Villa, but after spending 2022-23 on loan at QPR – where he played a full season of Championship football – it took a while for him to get into the team back at Villa last term. He eventually played a decent amount in the Europa Conference League latter stages and in the Premier League in the second half of the season, but with Champions League football on the agenda, Unai Emery decided he could not guarantee the midfielder game time.
So, this summer, Iroegbunam made a £9m move to Everton, where he’ll hope to play more football in the middle of the park. A ball-playing midfielder who prefers to play it short and simple, he acts as a metronome at the base of midfield. Across all competitions for Villa last season, Iroegbunam completed 104 of 118 passes, while in Premier League games, he misplaced just four of his 55 attempted passes. He also breaks play up well, averaging 7.5 regains and 2.8 tackles per 90 in 2023-24.
With more game time at Goodison Park, he has many of the attributes to make it at the top level in the modern game.
Fulham
Jay Stansfield
It has been a steady climb for Jay Stansfield. The striker scored six goals in 11 games for Fulham in the U18 Premier League in 2020-21, then six in 14 for the U21s in Premier League 2 the following season.
After some cameo appearances for the first team, Stansfield went on loan to Exeter City in 2022-23, where his late father Adam was much loved as a player. He scored nine goals in 36 games in League One, before moving to Birmingham City on another loan deal last season.
Despite Birmingham being relegated from the Championship, Stansfield shone as he claimed 12 goals in 43 league appearances. Supposedly the club part-owned by NFL legend Tom Brady are interested in making his move permanent, but Fulham boss Marco Silva might consider giving the 21-year-old a chance this season. The London club have Rodrigo Muniz, Raúl Jiménez and Carlos Vinícius as striker options, though none reached double figures for goals in the Premier League last season.
Silva doesn’t turn to youngsters too often, though. Fulham only handed 74 Premier League minutes to players aged 21 and under last season, the fewest in England’s top flight.
Ipswich Town
Liam Delap
He must be sick of people asking him about his dad’s throw-ins; now Liam Delap has the chance to show the Premier League what he can do.
Delap – son of former Stoke City throw master Rory Delap – arrived at Ipswich in a reported £20m deal this summer from Manchester City, though he rarely featured for Pep Guardiola’s men. He has instead honed his craft in the Championship in loan spells with Stoke, Preston and Hull City.
The 21-year-old did show signs of his promise at City, though, scoring 24 goals in 20 games in Premier League 2 in the 2020-21 season, before adding eight in 10 the following year. He wasn’t able to match that output in the Championship in loan spells, scoring just three times for Stoke and once for Preston, though his eight goals in 31 games for Hull impressed Ipswich enough to put money on the table for him.
Under Kieran McKenna, who rarely seems to fail in improving players, Delap could reach that next level.
Leicester City
Abdul Fatawu
Leicester fans might be wondering why we’ve gone with a player already established in their team. Well, Fatawu is yet to prove himself at the top level, having only turned 20 years old in March.
The Ghana international had been linked with a move to Liverpool before joining Sporting CP in 2022, though he only made 10 appearances for the first team in the 2022-23 season, with just one start.
Fatawu was on loan at the King Power Stadium last season and looked sharp in the Championship, scoring six goals and assisting 13 in his 40 appearances (33 starts). He created 32 big chances, at least 10 more than any other player in England’s second tier, while he also completed 90 of 181 dribble attempts.
Fatawu has now made his move to Leicester permanent, and it will be interesting to see if he can also take the Premier League by storm next season.
Liverpool
Jayden Danns
Another second-generation player, Jayden Danns – son of former Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Neil Danns – fast-tracked his way through Liverpool’s youth teams last season, only playing his first game for the U21s in September 2023, before coming off the bench for the first team to make his senior debut in the 4-1 win over Luton Town in February.
Just a few days later, Danns came off the bench again to play 33 minutes including extra-time in the 1-0 win over Chelsea in the EFL Cup final, and grabbed his first two goals for Jürgen Klopp’s team as a substitute in the 3-0 FA Cup fourth round victory against Southampton. Overall, Danns made five substitute appearances last season, on top of his three goals in seven games for the U21s in Premier League 2, and nine goals in nine games in the U18 Premier League.
His rise was made more impressive by the fact he missed eight months of football as a 15-year-old as he was suffering from Osgood-Schlatter’s disease as a result of his growth spurt.
Unfortunately, he will miss Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the USA with a back issue, but should Darwin Núñez experience more difficulties in front of goal, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Arne Slot give Danns opportunities next season, and if his cameos last season are any indication, he could take them with both hands.
Manchester City
James McAtee
Like Delap, McAtee is another who learned his trade at Man City, but had to go out on loan for first-team experience. His 18 goals in 23 games in Premier League 2 in 2021-22 grabbed Sheffield United’s attention, and he spent the last two seasons at Bramall Lane.
He scored nine times in 37 Championship games (21 starts) for Sheffield United in 2022-23, while only Iliman Ndiaye (51) and Sander Berge (39) created more than his 33 chances from open play for Paul Heckingbottom’s men.
Much like the entire Sheffield United team, McAtee was less productive in the Premier League last season, but still managed three goals and three assists in 30 games (20 starts), while only Gustavo Hamer (54) created more than his 25 chances from open play for the Yorkshire side.
Crucially – at least in terms of whether he can make a career for himself at City – Pep Guardiola recently suggested the 21-year-old will get chances at City next season, saying: “We have a high opinion of him. I would love to have him next season with us – he can play in the small spaces in the pockets. I think he grew up in terms of physicality and has played for a team fighting relegation and when you do this you get something special.”
Manchester United
Toby Collyer
Given what has happened with Kobbie Mainoo over the past 12 months, when Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag picks out a young player, there is genuine reason to get excited.
“He’s now earned an opportunity,” Ten Hag said this week about Toby Collyer, after the 20-year-old played in a pre-season friendly win over Rangers. “Today he was in the starting XI, that’s something, and we see how we can progress. We saw last year with Garnacho and Mainoo what can happen, so the pathway is also open for other players and Toby is there.”
Collyer is expected to have a role to play with the first team this season rather than go out on loan, and there will be fans out there dreaming of a Collyer-Mainoo midfield axis in years to come.
Collyer is a number eight with great vision who always looks get on the ball, both in picking it up off the defence and in the half-spaces on both sides of the pitch; he covers an awful lot of ground, as his heatmap from Premier League 2 games last season shows. He is yet to make his senior competitive debut but there is plenty of precedent for youngsters succeeding at Old Trafford so don’t expect him to be waiting too much longer.
Newcastle United
Joe White
White has had to wait patiently for a chance in the Newcastle first team, but he finally made his league debut for the club in February 2024 with a substitute appearance against Bournemouth. He’d go on to make three more apps before the end of 2023-24, but he was by no means a young face compared to others in the squad. At 21 years, 139 days old on debut, he was the ninth youngest to play in the Premier League for Newcastle last season.
After good loan spells in the EFL with Hartlepool and Exeter across 2021-22 and 2022-23, White spent the first half of last season on loan at League Two side Crewe, where he enjoyed a productive spell. Between his first (2 September) and last (13 January) appearances for the club, White was their leading chance creator in league competition (28) and had a hand in five goals (3 goals, 2 assists) across 20 appearances.
White’s introduction into the first team last season may have been down to a midfield injury crisis at the club, but Eddie Howe’s decision to block him returning to Crewe for the second half of the campaign hinted at an intention to begin considering him for senior team selection. He’s been involved with the first team in pre-season training so far this season, so could be one to keep an eye on in 2024-25.
Nottingham Forest
Eric Moreira
Nottingham Forest signed 18-year-old Eric Moreira in June from German club FC St. Pauli and there’s every chance we could see him in the first team at some point in 2024-25.
Moreira was part of the excellent German U17 squads that won both the European Championship and the World Cup in 2023, playing six of Germany’s seven games in each tournament.
Across the two tournaments, he assisted three goals for his national side – only Noah Darvich (8) assisted more, while nearly half of his 19 chances created came from set-piece situations (9).
If he appears in the Premier League before his 19th birthday on 3 May 2025, he’d become just the fourth player to play in the competition for Forest aged 18 or younger, after Rodrigo Ribeiro, Marlon Harewood and Chris Doig.
Southampton
Sam Amo-Ameyaw
Southampton’s youngest ever Premier League player, Sam Amo-Ameyaw, will be hoping for opportunities to add to his first-team appearances in 2024-25 following their promotion back to the top flight for this season.
Back in May 2023, he became the first 16-year-old to play in the Premier League for the club (16 years, 314 days old) when he debuted against Liverpool, breaking Luke Shaw’s record as Southampton’s youngest Premier League player that had stood for 11 years.
In the Championship last season, Amo-Ameyaw played just three games and 74 minutes in August, a month after signing his first professional contact, but wasn’t used again in league competition after the opening month of the campaign.
He formed a crucial part of their under-21 side in Premier League 2 last season, where he was involved in 12 goals (6 goals, 6 assists) in 12 games – more than any other teammate.
Tottenham
Mikey Moore
It’s been a long time since one of Tottenham’s academy products made a proper success of their career at the club, but there arguably hasn’t been anyone to be as excited about to come out of N17 for years as Mikey Moore.
A technical and versatile attacking midfielder who likes to get on the ball and affect play in the final third, Moore never shies away from his responsibilities and has the ability to decide games in front of goal.
Still only 16, he made his Spurs debut at the end of last season as a substitute against Manchester City, and then shone this summer at the Under-17 European Championship with England. Despite England’s elimination at the quarter-final stage, Moore ranked second at the tournament for goal involvements (5), with four goals and an assist in four games.
He is capable of scoring special goals, too, with his four goals coming from shots worth just 1.2 xG. Spurs fans will be hopeful Moore’s exceptional talent means he breaks through and they can enjoy another academy product in the first team.
West Ham
George Earthy
Nineteen-year-old George Earthy will hope for more first-team opportunities under new West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui after signing his first professional contract and making his debut in 2023-24.
Earthy (19y 249d) even scored with his first touch in West Ham’s meeting with Luton at the London Stadium on 11 May, netting 67 seconds after coming on as a substitute. He became the first teenager to score in the Premier League for West Ham since Declan Rice in January 2019 against Arsenal and the youngest since Junior Stanislas in May 2009 against Middlesbrough (19y 179d).
His day was capped off perfectly by winning the ‘Young Hammer of the Year’ award following the game. That award came after a strong season for the U21 side, in which he was involved in 19 goals (10 goals, 9 assists) in 21 appearances as the Hammers finished second in the regular Premier League 2 season.
Wolves
Leon Chiwome
One player looking to kick on in 2024-25 after making an unexpected debut in the first half of the year is Wolves’ forward Leon Chiwome. The 18-year-old was pinpointed as the best young talent at Wolves by The Guardian back in September 2022, but only now is he starting to force his way onto the fringes of the senior squad.
Following an injury crisis at the club in the second half of last season, his Premier League debut came in March against Aston Villa, when he was 18 years and 80 days old. With that appearance, he became the third-youngest player to play for Wolves in the Premier League after Fábio Silva in 2020 and Anthony Forde in 2011.
Gary O’Neil had earlier included Chiwome in their winter training camp in Abu Dhabi after Christmas, but with first teamers back from injury ahead of the new season, Chiwome is once again having to make do with U21 football in pre-season with the hope of impressing enough to get another first-team chance.
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