Premier League's Rising Stars: Teenagers Set to Shine

The Premier League’s next wave isn’t creeping into view this summer. It’s kicking the door down.

Across pre-season tours and hastily assembled squads shorn of World Cup stars, teenagers are being thrust into the spotlight at England’s biggest clubs. Some are already carrying heavy reputations. Others are about to acquire them.

What links them is simple: this summer, excuses disappear. The stage is theirs.

Liverpool: Abe steps into Salah’s shadow

Liverpool supporters still talk about Trey Nyoni and Amara Nallo, but it was Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas last year, and more recently Trey Nyoni and Lewis Koumas. Now, another name is starting to echo around Kirkby: Josh Abe.

Abe is only 16. Yet he already knows what it feels like to be dragged out of the academy and dropped into Arne Slot’s sessions with the senior pros. That first taste came last season, when he was still 15, as a reward for a ruthless spell with the Under-18s: eight goals and three assists in just 10 league games.

Then injury stopped him cold.

Liverpool’s reaction told its own story. Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all circled, sensing an opportunity while he recovered. The club fought hard to keep him on Merseyside, tying down a player they believe can be a first-team option by the time this cycle of the squad matures in 2027 or 2028.

Abe is a left-footed winger who loves to start on the right and slice inside, the sort of profile Liverpool have leaned on for a decade. With Mohamed Salah gone and new signing Victor Munoz arriving late after Spain’s World Cup triumph, the right flank is open in pre-season. Abe will travel with the squad to the United States knowing there is space in the pecking order, and that this is his window to climb it.

Chelsea: Emenalo Jr and a new left side

On the other side of the divide, Chelsea’s rebuild has left a different kind of vacancy.

Marc Cucurella has gone to Real Madrid, leaving a gap on the left flank that Xabi Alonso must solve whether he settles on a back three or a back four. Jorrel Hato and Levi Colwill are obvious options. Valentin Barco can play as an adventurous wing-back. Geovany Quenda can operate there too, though he is more at home on the right.

Into that traffic steps Landon Emenalo.

The surname is familiar. His father, Michael, once reshaped Chelsea’s recruitment from the boardroom. Landon is trying to do his work on the grass. A midfielder who can also slot in at left-back, he stands out for his calmness on the ball, a poise that has marked him out at youth level for both Chelsea and England.

Alonso is expected to take him on the club’s tour of Australia and Asia, where academy prospects will get real minutes rather than token cameos. Emenalo will not be alone. Reggie Walsh, Shim Mheuka and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen are also set to travel, each of them tipped internally for big futures in west London.

The opportunity is clear: an unsettled senior squad, a new manager with fresh ideas, and a left side waiting for someone to claim it.

Manchester United: ‘Little Messi’ steps into the light

At Manchester United, the noise around one teenager has been building for years.

JJ Gabriel has lived with the nickname ‘Little Messi’ since his early teens in the academy, a tag that could easily crush a young player. Instead, he has grown with it. Last season, despite only turning 15 in October, he tore through the U18 Premier League, scoring 23 goals in 23 league games and being named the competition’s Player of the Season.

He then led the line as United reached the FA Youth Cup final. By spring, he was an England U17 international. Inside Carrington, they talk about his ceiling in the same breath as the best prospects the club has produced in the past two decades.

Now comes the real test.

United’s pre-season is a rapid-fire tour of Europe, with stops in Dublin, Gothenburg and Wroclaw. Gabriel did not feature in the opening friendly against Wrexham, but Michael Carrick is expected to hand him chances as the summer wears on. Whether he plays as a central striker or drifting in from wide, the expectation is not that he will merely survive. There is genuine belief he can make an immediate impact.

The nickname will follow him. The question is whether defences will be able to keep up.

Everton: Graham chasing goals and Europe

Everton’s recent seasons have been defined by struggle and survival. Their ambitions, though, are quietly stretching beyond that.

With Beto and Thierno Barry improving but still inconsistent, there is a clear need for more goals if the Toffees are to return to European competition for the first time since 2017-18. Braiden Graham has put himself forward as a potential answer.

Last season, across Everton’s youth sides, the 18-year-old scored 25 times in 34 games. That output earned him a first call-up to the senior Northern Ireland squad for their June friendlies, a significant marker for a player yet to make his club debut.

Now he joins David Moyes’ group for pre-season, edging closer to senior football.

Graham spent most of his development as a central striker, but his slight frame has nudged him out towards the left wing over the past year. From there, he has found ways to hurt defences, drifting in, attacking the box late, and continuing to catch Moyes’ eye.

If Everton are serious about chasing Europe again, they may need one of their own to drag them there.

Aston Villa: Madjo fights FIFA and rust

Some stories barely register in England, but they matter a great deal inside dressing rooms.

Early last season, a 16-year-old English striker was starting Ligue 1 matches for Metz. His name was Brian Madjo. He made five appearances in France’s top flight, showed enough to convince Aston Villa to pay £10 million for him in January, and then everything stopped.

FIFA blocked his registration.

Madjo, who turned 17 shortly before the move, had already played three senior games for Luxembourg before switching allegiance to England, where he was born. Under FIFA rules, those caps make him a foreign player who cannot be transferred outside his ‘home nation’ until he turns 18. Villa have taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the process drags on.

The one small mercy: he can play in friendlies. He wasted no time reminding people who he is, scoring twice against Walsall in Villa’s first pre-season outing since becoming Europa League winners.

At 6ft 4in, physically imposing and direct, Madjo has long drawn comparisons to Romelu Lukaku. Within the England setup, he is regarded as one of the standout striker prospects of his age group. Whether he is available for the first half of Villa’s season remains unclear, but this summer still gives him a stage to convince Unai Emery exactly what he can offer once the paperwork finally catches up with his talent.

Manchester City: Mfuni, the composed enforcer

Manchester City arrive in pre-season with a familiar problem: too many internationals who have gone deep into a major tournament, not enough time to rest them.

Enzo Maresca will have to lean on youth. Jeremy Monga, signed from Leicester City after City beat Arsenal to his signature, will draw plenty of attention. Yet inside the club, there is just as much intrigue around centre-back Stephen Mfuni.

The 18-year-old made his City debut in January before heading out on loan to Watford, where he impressed in the Championship, finally tasting senior football week after week. An injury cut that spell short, but he is fit again and back in Maresca’s plans for the tour of Asia.

Mfuni is a left-footed centre-half, comfortable on the ball, with the kind of reading of the game that makes defenders look older than they are. Premier League clubs are already queuing up to take him on loan this season.

If Maresca gives him minutes, City fans will see why some inside the England setup believe he has the tools to become a full international and a long-term top-flight regular.

Arsenal: Salmon steps up in a thin defence

Hale End has rarely been as productive as it is now. Chido Obi-Martin and Ethan Nwaneri grab the headlines, but Marli Salmon is forcing his way into the conversation.

Still only 16, Salmon made four first-team appearances for Arsenal last season. He is trusted, and not just for emergency cameos. That trust will be tested again this summer.

With William Saliba unavailable and both Ben White and Jurrien Timber still working back from injuries, Mikel Arteta’s defensive options are thinner than he would like as the Premier League champions head into their early August friendlies.

Salmon can cover at right-back but prefers to play in the middle of the back line. In both roles, he is valued for his maturity and composure on the ball, traits that Arsenal’s possession-heavy style demands. The pathway is clear: deliver again in pre-season, and he can cement himself as a regular member of Arteta’s matchday squads.

Newcastle: Steur to stitch the midfield back together

Newcastle’s summer has been chaotic. Key players have gone, financial realities have bitten, and Eddie Howe has had to juggle ambition with restraint.

Amid the noise, the club have quietly added serious talent to the squad’s younger tier. Sean Steur is the most eye-catching of them.

Signed from Ajax for £23m after breaking into their first team and impressing in the Eredivisie, the 18-year-old arrives with a reputation for elite passing and control. Several top Premier League clubs tracked him before Newcastle won the race, seeing him as a midfielder who can help bridge the gap left by Sandro Tonali’s absence and, potentially, Bruno Guimaraes’ eventual departure.

With senior midfielders still on extended post-World Cup breaks, Steur is expected to see heavy minutes as Newcastle spend most of pre-season in the UK. His task is simple and brutal: show he can handle the pace and physicality of English football, and he may find himself central to Howe’s plans sooner than anyone expected.

Tottenham: Williams-Barnett ready to stop waiting

Tottenham’s future has been talked up for years, but the academy is finally matching the rhetoric.

Roberto De Zerbi has a senior squad built to attack, and beneath it sits a group of youngsters ready to join in. Among them, Luca Williams-Barnett stands out.

The 18-year-old made his Spurs debut last September, then had to wait. Opportunities were scarce, his name slipped from the headlines, and others grabbed the spotlight. That may be about to change.

Williams-Barnett caught the eye in Wednesday’s win over MK Dons and will travel with De Zerbi’s squad to Australia and New Zealand for the next phase of pre-season. An attacking midfielder who can also drift wide, he is expected to compete for first-team minutes this season, especially if fellow academy star Mikey Moore heads out on loan again.

For a club desperate to turn potential into tangible progress, Williams-Barnett’s next steps could be pivotal.

Brighton: Yohanna, the latest big bet

Brighton have made a habit of finding rough diamonds, polishing them, and selling them on. This summer, they have paid full price for the jewels.

Luka Vuskovic has arrived from Tottenham in a £46m deal. Alongside him comes Zadok Yohanna, signed from AIK for £21.5m, a fee that underlines just how highly Brighton rate the 19-year-old winger.

Yohanna has been electric since the turn of the year, scoring five goals and providing four assists in just 11 club appearances. Chelsea tracked him, but Brighton moved decisively to bring him to the south coast.

He is quick, direct, and armed with a full bag of tricks. Defenders hate that combination. Brighton’s staff love it.

As the Seagulls head to France for the first leg of their pre-season, Yohanna will have the chance to show why the club were willing to push their spending model to new levels. If he hits the ground running, he could be the next name that leaves Brighton with a swollen bank balance and a reputation enhanced.

Across England’s elite, the pattern is unmistakable. Financial constraints, World Cup fatigue, tactical evolution – all of it is pushing clubs towards youth, towards risk, towards players who have only just learned to drive.

Some will fade. Some will fly.

By the time this season ends, how many of these teenagers will still be spoken about as prospects, and how many will have forced their way into the heart of the Premier League’s story?