We’re almost halfway through the Premier League season and the chance to shine has arrived for many of the English game’s promising youngsters. Let’s look at those who’ve delivered so far and those with the potential to be the stars of the future.
- Jordan Pickford
We’re in another good period for English goalkeeping. Joe Hart has settled well at Torino, highly regarded by coaching staff and fans. Injuries over the past year have interrupted the careers of Fraser Forster and Jack Butland. That’s allowed the next generation to shine and Jordan Pickford is taking his chance.
Just 22 years of age, he’s been loaned to six other clubs ahead of getting his chance at the Stadium of Light. Being Sunderland goalkeeper is no easy task for an experienced player let alone one who has been loitering around the National League and Leagues 1 and 2.
But Pickford’s baptism of fire came in last season’s 1 – 3 FA Cup Third Round reverse at Arsenal and he hasn’t looked back. A week later, his Premier League debut came in the 1 – 4 defeat at White Hart Lane yet the Black Cats recognised his talent and extended his deal until 2020.
They say a good goalkeeper is worth a dozen points; Pickford has earned more than that and was instrumental in Sunderland staying the Premier League. This season, he’s proven that the Wearside club were right to tie him down to long-term deal. A string of fine performances has seen them rise to third-bottom and no longer considered relegation fodder.
After this, moving to a big club will be child’s play.
- Gabriel Jesus
Who? Yeah, we heard you ask. €32m of lean, mean Brazilian goalscoring machine. Nineteen and an Olympic gold medallist. He’s won a Brazilian champion, cup winner, ‘best newcomer’; anything a young Brazilian player can win, he has. Including caps for the senior side: six of ‘em with four goals to boot.
In club football, he managed and 21 goals in 46 games for Palmeiras in 2016 – the Brazilian season operates on a calendar basis – following on from 7 in 37 in his debut season.
Make no mistake, if Manchester City can get to within striking distance of Chelsea by the time Gabriel Jesus joins, the title race will be on. This is a young man of immense promise, who along with Gabriel ‘Gabigol’ Barbosa is the future of the Brazilian national team.
City have landed themselves a vibrant talent, a player insistent on making things happen rather than waiting for someone else to do it. He has a strong chance of featuring heavily in Pep Guardiola’s line-up. Leroy Sane boosted his chances of a regular first-team chance with a goal in the 2 – 1 win over Arsenal at the weekend. Put Gabriel Jesus on the other win, with Silva and Sterling flanking Aguero and its goals all the way to the Premier League title.
- Hector Bellerin
Surely we’re not going down this route? The man’s almost a Premier League legend as it is. After a media campaign, even Usain Bolt was forced to admit that the Spaniard had rockets in his heels and would beat him over a 30 / 40 metre race.
Madness. The irrepressible Catalan Cockney has few rivals for the title of ‘Best Right Back in the World’; there simply aren’t any who are able to be as integral a part of the team’s defence and attack.
This guy is seriously quick. Forget the braggadocio about beating Bolt in a short-from race, Bellerin can lose the ball and be back snapping at an opponents’ heels with ten metres. He is that quick.
Don’t believe me? Barcelona in their unsubtle ‘tapping up’ kind of way were told to ‘do one’ by Arsenal. Manchester City’s polite offer of £35m was also given short but considerably politer shrift.
Arsenal aren’t interested in selling; Bellerin is the lifeblood of their side for years to come. No wonder the Gunners tied him down to a long-term deal recently.
- Mason Holgate
Everton are looking to break into the top six at Manchester United’s expense and Nathan Holgate is a bright prospect for the future. The youngster has faced some of the game’s great and good, barely flinching in the face of their reputations.
An uncompromising defender, the youngster is capable of a quick passing game with close control many of his peers, envy.
Having made his debut in the one-all draw against Tottenham on the opening day of the 2016/17 season, he’s just made half-a-dozen appearances for the Toffees to go with the twenty he made for Barnsley but he’s quickly acquired the reputation of a regular in future England sides.
Any doubts that he was highly though of were quickly dispelled after Everton beat Manchester United to the Doncaster-born youngster. Capped at England Under-20, he’s also progressed to the higher age group and is set to represent club and country at the senior levels with a long and bright career ahead of him.
- Marcus Rashford
Oh, come on, you didn’t think we’d leave the England striker out, did you? Manchester United’s hottest property is, according to Jose Mourinho, learning all there is to know from the Swede except for the ego.
Or that’s what the Portuguese hopes. Rashford, with 12 in 40 appearances for United is a striker whose versatility across the front line is much valued for club and country.
Having made his debut last season against FC Mdjitylland, he sprang to fame with a goalscoring run that left may more experienced players wondering what they were witnessing. The culmination of his efforts came with the brace against Arsenal in a 3 – 2 win at Old Trafford in his Premier League debut.
Already a regular for the England senior side, Rashford is highly rated among the senior FA coaches and it’s hoped will have a long future in the England XI.
