Top 5: Talented Premier League teenagers

Soccer Football - FA Cup Fourth Round - Yeovil Town vs Manchester United - Huish Park, Yeovil, Britain - January 26, 2018 Manchester United's Angel Gomes in action Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

Shoot! loves predicting the future and picking out those starlets shining bright at Premier League clubs who we think will take the top-flight by storm for years to come.

So, we have picked out our Top 5 Talented Premier League teenagers to keep a close eye on in the near future, as they look to nail a first-team place for club and country.

Supporters love an academy graduate bursting onto the first-team scene with raw talent and bundles of energy in a bid to impress their manager and fanbase.

Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson in action with Crystal Palace’s Bakary Sako.

But before wheeling off our Top 5 contenders, here are some other notable names you should make note of: including Manchester City midfielder Brahim Diaz, Manchester United winger Tahith Chong, West Bromwich Albion forward Jonathan Leko, Arsenal ace Reiss Nelson and striker Eddie Nketiah, Chelsea gem Callum Hudson-Odoi and defender Dujon Sterling, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Stoke City striker Tyrese Campbell.

Hint: They are worth signing on FIFA 18!

Anyway, without further ado, here is Shoot!’s Top 5 Talented Premier League teenagers to look out for…

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

With Manchester City flying high at the top of the Premier League, their youth sides seem to be reaping the benefits too, with a number of youngsters knocking on Pep Guardiola’s door for a first-team chance.

None more so than England Under-18 international starlet Phil Foden.

The 17-year-old, who won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year back in December, has made his first-team debut for the Citizens after replacing Yaya Toure against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League last November – becoming the youngest English player to make an appearance in the European elite competition.

The midfielder has since made four further outings for Guardiola’s table toppers, including a Champions League start versus Shakhtar Donetsk, and his Premier League bow against Tottenham Hotspur shortly before Christmas.

Rhian Brewster (Liverpool)

Top goalscorer at the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup finals in India last October, highly rated striker Rhian Brewster is yet to make his first-team debut for Liverpool.

However, the 17-year-old is playing marvellous football beyond his years for The Reds’ Under-23 side, where he has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 11 Premier League 2 appearances this season.

Unfortunately for the former Chelsea youth player, Brewster suffered ankle ligament damage against Manchester City last month, and is expected to be ruled out for the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign.

Angel Gomes (Manchester United)

Another World Cup winner with England’s Under-17 squad late last year was Manchester United gem Angel Gomes, who is gradually working his way into Jose Mourinho’s first-team plans at Old Trafford.

The 17-year-old, who joined United’s academy at the age of just six, made his Red Devils debut against Crystal Palace on the final day of the 2016-17 Premier League season, replacing legend Wayne Rooney.

In doing so, attacking midfielder Gomes became the youngest player to represent United since Duncan Edwards back in 1953, as well as the first player born in the 2000s to feature in the Premier League.

This season, Gomes enjoyed a brief substitute appearance against Yeovil Town in the FA Cup in late-January, and has scored five goals in United’s youth sides this campaign.

Ethan Ampadu (Chelsea)

The teenager enjoying the most first-team action among our Top 5 shortlist is Chelsea talent Ethan Ampadu, whose career has followed a seriously steep and successful trajectory in the last nine months.

At just 16 years of age, the highly rated defender racked up 13 first-team outings for League Two outfit Exeter City, having made his debut aged just 15 years, 10 months and 26 days old against Brentford in the League Cup.

Premier League champions Chelsea closely monitored the record breaking centre-half and snapped him up last July, where he has already starred seven times for Antonio Conte’s side.

On September 20, 2017, Ampadu made his Blues bow against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup, replacing majestic midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

In doing so, he became the first person born in the 2000s to represent Chelsea, and also was the youngest player to debut for the club in over a decade.

Exeter-born Ampadu made his Premier League debut against Huddersfield Town back in December during Chelsea’s 3-1 away victory.

Ben Woodburn (Liverpool)

And finally, Wales wonder Ben Woodburn completes our Top 5 shortlist of Talented Premier League teenagers.

The 18-year-old, who already has six senior caps for The Dragons, endeared himself to his home country after scoring the only goal of the game against Austria back in September 2017 during Wales’ 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Woodburn, who has been with Premier League side Liverpool since his Under-7 year, has been tipped as the club’s brightest prospect for many years having excelled at every youth level.

Having put pen to paper on his first professional contract at Anfield in November 2016, the left winger made his first-team bow for The Reds against Sunderland just a few weeks later in the Premier League.

In doing so, the Chester-born talent became Liverpool’s third youngest debutant of all-time at the age of 17 years and 42 days, and the club’s second youngest ever in the Premier League, only behind Jack Robinson.

And to top off a whirlwind few weeks, just three days after his top-flight outing, Woodburn wrote his name into The Reds’ record book again by becoming the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer when he came off the bench to net against Leeds United in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, surpassing Michael Owen’s milestone.

Nominated for the 2017 European Golden Boy award, which Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe won, wideman Woodburn has struggled to work his way into Jurgen Klopp’s senior side this term, despite featuring against Leicester City in the League Cup.

However, it is very easy to forget he is still only 18-years-old after his lightning start to life in senior football, and he has scored four goals and provided four assists among Liverpool’s youth sides this term.

Exit mobile version