Best young players to watch in the 2024-25 Premier League season

As players born just before the turn of the millennium enter the prime years of their career, those who came into the world post-2000 are beginning to establish burgeoning reputations in the world's top divisions.

The Premier League has always been a place for exceptional embryonic talents to burst onto the scene, with many a fledgling player helping to turn their side's season around after being fast-tracked into first-team action.

The 2024-25 Premier League season - which kicks off on Friday evening with Manchester United's showdown against Fulham - ought to be no different, as junior stars endeavour to make their mark in English football following standout Euro 2024 or Olympic campaigns, or previous phenomenal feats at youth level.

Here, Sports Mole picks out some of the best players aged 20 and under to watch in this season's Premier League.

Leny Yoro (Manchester United | CB | 18)

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While donning the Lille strip, teenage centre-back Leny Yoro plugged the gaps left by the departures of Jose Fonte and Newcastle United-bound Sven Botman, who partnered up during Les Dogues' memorable 2020-21 Ligue 1 title triumph.

A marquee move to Real Madrid was seemingly inevitable for Yoro, but as Los Blancos opted against pursuing a summer swoop due to their Kylian Mbappe outlay, Manchester United swooped in to bring the 2005-born talent to Old Trafford.

Standing at 6ft 3in tall and playing 60 senior matches for Lille in his teenage years, Yoro was immediately integrated into Erik ten Hag's first team in pre-season, only for a severe foot injury to cruelly curtail his summer preparations.

It will be another couple of months at least before Yoro is ready for his Premier League debut, but the prospect of a central pairing with fellow new boy Matthijs de Ligt is an incredibly exciting one for those of a Man United persuasion.

Savinho (Manchester City | RW | 20)

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On the other side of Manchester, Pep Guardiola has added some South American flair to his frontline with the summer capture of 20-year-old winger Savinho, who has already represented two of Manchester City's sister clubs in Troyes and Girona.

However, Savinho never actually made an appearance for the French side, instead excelling with Girona last season as he produced nine goals and 10 assists in La Liga, helping Michel's men to the most unforeseen Champions League qualification.

The 2004-born protege caught the eye on his Man City debut in the Community Shield too, completing three of his four dribbles on the left flank and also converting his penalty during the critical shootout.

Oscar Bobb, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku are all vying for minutes on City's wings too, but Savinho's cameo at Wembley sent tongues wagging, and rightly so.

Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace | DM | 20)

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Several months on from his upgrade to Premier League football, Crystal Palace enforcer Adam Wharton can undoubtedly be described as a steal at just £18.1m, having seamlessly slotted into Oliver Glasner's Eagles system.

The former Blackburn Rovers prospect took to Premier League battles with consummate ease and provided three assists as Palace made a fantastic end to the campaign, earning himself a place in Gareth Southgate's good books in the process.

With 3.33 tackles per game over the past year, Wharton ranks in the top 5% of midfielders across the big five European leagues for that metric and boarded the plane with the England squad for Euro 2020.

The midfielder may not have played a single minute in Germany, but with Under-21s boss Lee Carsley now at the helm - at least temporarily - more opportunities in a Three Lions shirt will surely come his way should he keep on going from strength to strength.

Chido Obi Martin (Man United* | ST | 16)

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* Deal yet to be confirmed

The latest prolific phenom to emerge from the Arsenal academy ranks, Chido Obi Martin hit national and international headlines as an Under-16s player by scoring an astronomical 10 goals in one match against a beleaguered Liverpool.

Still just 16 years of age, Obi Martin took the Under-18 Premier League by storm as well last season with a tremendous 32 strikes, form which inevitably caught Mikel Arteta's eye as he invited the striker to train with the first team.

However, in spite of Arsenal's desperate efforts to tie Obi Martin down to scholarship terms before his 17th birthday in November - when he will be able to sign a professional contract - the Denmark youth international saw a clearer pathway to the first team at Manchester United, who should wrap up his signing imminently.

While Obi Martin is expected to continue his development in the Red Devils' academy ranks, he will supposedly be Erik ten Hag's third-choice striker behind Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, so a Premier League baptism cannot be ruled out.

Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal | AM | 17)

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From a Hale End graduate who snubbed Arsenal's contract advances to one that did put pen to paper at the Emirates, Ethan Nwaneri is already in the Premier League history books ahead of what could very well be his breakthrough year.

The 17-year-old became the youngest player to ever feature in the competition in September 2022, when he came on as a substitute against Brentford at a mere 15 years and 181 days old to chants of 'He's got school in the morning', a statement that would have been true had there not been a bank holiday for the Queen's funeral.

Nwaneri has only made played one more competitive senior match since - appearing in the 6-0 demolition of West Ham United - but shone at the Under-17 Euros with three goals, including a stunner against Italy in the quarter-finals before England lost on penalties.

Arsenal have seen a few talented academy graduates depart this summer, but Nwaneri was rewarded with his first professional contract in March and is being tipped to truly make his mark in the top flight this term.

Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur | LW | 17)

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A fascinating battle of the North London wonderkids could materialise in the 2024-25 season between Nwaneri and Tottenham Hotspur's Mikey Moore, who provided the assist for the Arsenal man's effort against Italy at the Euros after scoring four himself earlier in the tournament.

The rising attacker became Spurs' youngest-ever Premier League player when he featured in the loss to Manchester City towards the end of last season, and Moore more than justified Ange Postecoglou's faith in him during pre-season.

The 17-year-old scored against Hearts and Vissel Kobe either side of setting up Dane Scarlett's goal against Queens Park Rangers, and as was the case with Nwaneri, the Tottenham man also celebrated his 17th birthday with a maiden professional contract.

Staying grounded amid the media and fan frenzy, Moore has insisted that he has "done nothing" in a Tottenham shirt so far, although many members of the Lilywhites faithful may beg to differ.

Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United | CM | 19)

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One of the more straightforward picks on this list but an inarguable one nonetheless, Kobbie Mainoo is the jewel in both Manchester United and England's crown after shining for both club and country in the first half of 2024.

Already hailed as a top prospect before an ankle injury plagued the first half of his 2023-24 season, the teenager quickly leapfrogged Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay in the Man United midfield pecking order last term, starting 24 Premier League matches and scoring a sensational winner in a seven-goal thriller with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After Southgate initially struggled to find the optimal midfield formula at the Euros, Mainoo - who also netted in Man United's FA Cup final success over Man City - started all four knockout games up to and including the final, becoming the youngest male English player to start a major tournament semi-final in the process.

While Ten Hag is thought to be keen to add a new central midfielder to his ranks before the window shuts, a prospective arrival would no doubt be a replacement for Casemiro rather than Mainoo, who is undoubtedly more indispensable than the five-time Champions League winner.

Lewis Miley (Newcastle United | CM | 18)

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Sticking with the theme of Northern midfield prospects who already made their mark last season, Newcastle United's local lad Lewis Miley became the talk of the Toon in 2023-24, making 27 firs-team appearances in total.

Where to start with Miley's history-making feats last season; from the youngest Newcastle player to score in the Premier League, the youngest Magpies player to set up a Premier League goal and the youngest player to provide a Champions League assist for an English club, the midfielder set St James' Park alight.

Miley's frequent first-team exposure did lead to concerns about a possible overload injury, though, and true enough, the 2006-born lynchpin missed the end of the season with a back injury before also fracturing a metatarsal in pre-season.

As a result, it may be another three months or so before Miley is back in the black and white strip, but if he is to replicate or improve on his breakout 2023-24, it will be worth the wait.

Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur | RB/CM | 18)

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Supposedly attracting interest from several European superpowers - namely Bayern Munich, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool - the versatile Archie Gray decided that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the best location to continue his rapid development.

Equally competent as both a right-back and central midfielder, Gray made 47 Championship appearances for Leeds United last season - including playoff games - but the Whites' failure to return to the big time led to an acceptance that he would leave Elland Road for a European-competing team.

Sure enough, Spurs made Gray one of the most expensive 18-year-olds in football history, only behind Brazilian trio Endrick, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, when they splashed out £34.9m to bring him to North London.

The teenager has since featured in a variety of roles in pre-season, from right-back to centre-back and central midfielder, and the early indications are that Postecoglou has got his hands on a real gem.

Alejandro Garnacho (LW | Man United | 20)

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Forming part of the youthful Man United trilogy last season alongside Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho memorably channelled his inner Wayne Rooney at Goodison Park last season with an outrageous bicycle kick against Everton.

That unbelievable strike unsurprisingly won Garnacho the Premier League's Goal of the Season prize and was one of 10 strikes he managed in 50 appearances across all competitions, in addition to five assists; the former list also includes his opener in the FA Cup final.

The 20-year-old repeated his Wembley feats against Man City in this year's Community Shield too, propelling the Red Devils to within touching distance of the crown with a fabulous driving run and finish in the dying embers.

While that occasion ultimately ended in heartache for the Red Devils, Garnacho's cameo was rightfully praised, and if Amad Diallo - another talented youngster - makes the right-wing spot his own next term, the former could very well move above Marcus Rashford permanently in the pecking order should the Englishman flatter to deceive once more.

Written by
Ben Knapton