The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Man City & West Ham starlets shine in our latest Top 10placeholder image
The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Man City & West Ham starlets shine in our latest Top 10 | Getty Images/Iconic Media
Ranking the 10 best young players in the Premier League right now - with West Ham & Manchester City stars impressing this week.
Another week of action is in the books, and that means that it’s once again time for our journalists to watch the tape, comb through the data and put together our ranking of the 10 best young players in the Premier League right now.
Last week, West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes wrestled top spot away from Michael Kayode, but can he cling on after his side’s defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend? Or will any of the chasing pack impress enough to seize the crown and be recognised as the finest Under-21 player in the top flight based on their form at the highest level?
We have one member of last week’s Top 10 making way this week – Yankuba Minteh’s lean run of form has seen him slip out of our list, making this the first Wonderkid Power Rankings not to feature a single Brighton player for as long as we can remember. We suspect that won’t last very long.
10. Estêvão Willian – Chelsea (⬇️4)
If there’s one thing we can be sure of with Estêvão, it’s that as soon as he impresses us he’ll spend most of the following week on the bench. Chelsea played twice since our last rankings but the Brazilian wonderkid only got 9 minutes of total time on the pitch between those matches, not enough time to have any impact to speak of.
9. Eli Junior Kroupi – Bournemouth (re-entry)
Young centre-forwards are ultimately judged on one thing – whether or not they’re scoring goals. Kroupi lost his place in the Top 10 during a period in which he failed to trouble the scoresheet for six consecutive games, but his instinctive and accurate finish against Manchester United in Monday night’s 4-4 humdinger puts him back in. An honourable mention should go to his team-mates Álex Jiménez, too, whose candidacy was discussed at length for this week’s list. Let’s say that he’s 11th for now.
8. Jamie Gittens – Chelsea (⬆️1)
Gittens didn’t have his most impactful week in terms of goals and assists – he didn’t get any, come to that – but he was a persistent threat against Atalanta and his dribbling, movement and final ball all caused problems even if he didn’t get his name up in lights in the end. He looked lively as a second-half substitute against Everton, too, but the real reason he gains a place this week is his strong work out of possession. He forced seven turnovers over the course of 115 minutes of football, which is a lot for a winger. Hard work deserves some reward.
7. Noah Sadiki – Sunderland (-)
Sadiki was a solid presence throughout Sunderland’s 1-0 win over arch-rivals Newcastle, winning possession back from the opposition four times, carrying the ball well and holding his nerve defensively. It would be a stretch to say that he was the most impactful player on the pitch at the Stadium of Light, but this was a very decent seven-out-of-ten sort of outing which keeps him in place this week.
6. Lewis Miley – Newcastle United (⬆️2)
Miley had a perfectly good game against Sunderland despite the final score with lots of good work on the ball and some suitably threatening passes, but wasn’t able to make a telling contribution in the end – but he did, at least, manage that against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, with a well-timed run and header allowing him to score his second goal in four matches. A rapidly improving player and a good week all told, even if it wasn’t for his club.
5. Lewis Hall – Newcastle United (⬇️1)
Another Newcastle player who was largely impressive despite Newcastle’s defeat in the Tyne & Wear Derby and their failure to take all three points home with them from Germany – but Hall drops a spot partly because he struggled to make much of a dent going forward, and partly because of impressive performances elsewhere.
Hall was at least very good at the back, which in fairness is where he needs to improve the most to establish himself as a truly first-rate full-back. Over the course of two matches, he racked up seven turnovers, five interceptions, 10 clearances and was credited by the statisticians with winning 10 of his 11 one-on-one duels. That’s not bad at all, even if he couldn’t find a killer cross this time around.
4. Michael Kayode – Brentford (⬇️1)
Another talented young full-back who falls a place despite not really doing a whole lot wrong – and like Hall, he was excellent defensively against Leeds, winning all five attempted tackles, seven of his eight one-on-ones and forcing 12 turnovers in total. That’s an exceptional stat sheet by any standards.
Also like Hall, however, he wasn’t quite as dynamic or dangerous going forward as is usually the case. All three of Kayode’s crosses missed their mark, and ultimately the chances he did generate added up to the sum total of 0.02xG’s worth of opportunities for his team-mate. Still a fine day, and his losing a place should again be seen mostly as credit being given to a player climbing the ranks rather than anything the Italian did wrong.
3. Adam Wharton – Crystal Palace (⬇️1)
For the third entry in a row, we almost feel like we owe a player an apology for docking them one place in our countdown – because Wharton really didn’t do much wrong and was, perhaps, the width of the post away from keeping second place after he narrowly missed the target against Manchester City.
Mostly, though, it was steady going for Wharton against City and Shelbourne this week rather than a case of his doing anything especially spectacular. There were 12 turnovers to celebrate across the course of a game-and-a-half, plenty of typically solid work off the ball and some very nice passes, but no dents made in the goal contributions column at the end of the day.
2. Nico O’Reilly – Manchester City (⬆️3)
The reason for all three players being pegged back after perfectly respectable performances is O’Reilly, who was superb both against Real Madrid and Crystal Palace, both fluid on the ball and rock steady off it – especially in the Champions League, where he shone throughout and helped City on their way to an impressive win at the Bernabeu with a goal.
Granted, he could barely have missed if he tried given that Thibault Courtois’ save from a header landed squarely at his feet, but a goal is a goal, and all the excellent defensive work he did in the Spanish capital (which included succeeding with every tackle he tried) deserves to be given credit. A very fine week indeed and another page added to the portfolio as he battles for a space in the World Cup squad.
1. Mateus Fernandes – West Ham United (-)
A deserved second week at number one for the battling West Ham midfielder, who continues to shine regardless of whether his team are able to win any of their games or not – and whose superbly-taken first-minute goal against Aston Villa, fired home from a narrow angle to punish a defensive mistake, set the tone for another fine performance.
Fernandes was, admittedly, unusually unsuccessful in one-on-one battles, winning just two of 14 such duels, but that’s the only bad mark on his record. As well as the goal and his usual intelligent, economic passing, he forced an absolutely massive 11 ball recoveries, underlining his superb defensive work. One can only imagine how much West Ham would be struggling without him. A wonderful young player on top form.
Continue Reading