Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest Premier League player ever when he appeared for Arsenal in September 2022 versus Brentford. Here, we look at the youngest players in the history of the competition.
Top 20 Youngest Premier League Players
Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) – 15 years, 181 days old
Max Dowman (Arsenal) – 15 years, 235 days old
Jeremy Monga (Leicester City) – 15 years, 271 days old
Harvey Elliott (Fulham) – 16 years, 30 days old
Matthew Briggs (Fulham) – 16 years, 68 days old
Izzy Brown (West Bromwich Albion) – 16 years, 117 days old
Aaron Lennon (Leeds Utd) – 16 years, 129 days old
Jose Baxter (Everton) – 16 years, 191 days old
Joél Drakes-Thomas (Crystal Palace) – 16 years, 194 days old
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (Aston Villa) – 16 years, 198 days old
Gary McSheffrey (Coventry City) – 16 years, 198 days old
Jake Evans (Leicester City) – 16 years, 234 days old
Reece Oxford (West Ham United) – 16 years, 236 days old
Jack Robinson (Liverpool) – 16 years, 250 days old
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) – 16 years, 256 days old
Angel Gomes (Manchester United) – 16 years, 263 days old
Mark Platts (Sheffield Wednesday) – 16 years, 263 days old
James Vaughan (Everton) – 16 years, 270 days old
Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur) – 16 years, 277 days old
Antwoine Hackford (Sheffield United) – 16 years, 288 days old
Ethan Nwaneri – 15 years, 181 days old
Arsenal vs Brentford (19 September 2022)
Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history in September 2022, when, at 15 years and 181 days old, he was introduced as a last-minute substitute in Arsenal’s 3-0 away win at Brentford.
Becoming the first player under 16 years old to play Premier League football, as well as for Arsenal in any competition, he shattered the competition record previously set by Harvey Elliott in May 2019.
Nwaneri – younger than Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium – was born in 2007. The Arsenal club record for the youngest player to make their debut in a competitive fixture was previously held by Cesc Fàbregas (16 years, 177 days), while he takes over from Jack Wilshere (16 years, 256 days) as the youngest player to play a league match for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta showed faith in Nwaneri to step up to the first team after some impressive performances for the Arsenal under-18 side, and his appearance came just a week after the British record was broken by Northern Irish schoolboy Christopher Atherton, who became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom when he played for Glenavon aged 13 years, 329 days old.
Ethan Nwaneri Youngest Premier League Player
Max Dowman – 15 years, 235 days old
Arsenal vs Leeds United (23 August 2025)
Max Dowman became the second youngest player to make a Premier League appearance in Arsenal’s win over Leeds United on 23 August 2025.
After an impressive pre-season, Dowman was given his chance in Arsenal’s second match of the 2025-26 campaign despite being aged just 15 years and 235 days old.
Coming on in the 64th minute with Arsenal already 4-0 up, Dowman won his side a penalty in added time, which Viktor Gyökeres converted to make the score 5-0.
Jeremy Monga – 15 years, 271 days old
Leicester City vs Newcastle United (7 April 2025)
It was a night to forget on 7 April 2025 for Leicester City. On a run of seven consecutive league defeats going into their home clash with Newcastle, they found themselves 2-0 down by the 12th minute, and 3-0 behind by half-time, with the added salt in the wounds of former player Harvey Barnes scoring the third.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side had also passed the 12-hour mark since they had last scored a league goal. They were staring Premier League relegation in the face.
One moment that caused a rare bit of joy for the home fans was seeing the introduction of 15-year-old academy talent Jeremy Monga, who came on in rather difficult circumstances to say the least for the Foxes in the 74th minute at the King Power Stadium, replacing Bilal El Khannouss.
Monga, a winger, was unable to make much impact as Leicester suffered another demoralising loss, but he did become the second youngest player in Premier League history. Every cloud, and all that.
Harvey Elliott – 16 years, 30 days old
Fulham vs Wolves (4 May 2019)
Harvey Elliott became the youngest Premier League player to make an appearance in May 2019 when he came on as an 88th-minute substitute during Fulham’s 1-0 away defeat to Wolves at Molineux Stadium – a record that was broken in September 2022 by Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri.
Now a fully established Premier League player, Elliott was only 16 years and 30 days old on the day of his first appearance, but Fulham boss Scott Parker decided that he was worthy of a place in the matchday squad for the already-relegated side.
Just under three months after making this appearance, Elliott signed for Liverpool for an undisclosed fee and made his league debut for the Reds in their 2-0 win over Sheffield United in January 2020 as a 90th-minute sub. In doing so, he became the second-youngest player to play for Liverpool in the Premier League (16y 273d) after Jack Robinson in May 2010.
The English youngster finally made his first Premier League start on the second weekend of the 2021-22 season, during Liverpool’s win over Burnley.
Matthew Briggs – 16 years, 68 days old
Fulham vs Middlesbrough (13 May 13 2007)
Upon entering the pitch during Fulham’s 3-1 Premier League away defeat to Middlesbrough on the final day of the 2006-07 season, Matthew Briggs became the youngest player to make an appearance in the competition at 16 years, 68 days old. That record has since been broken, but it stood for 12 years until Elliott’s appearance in May 2019.
He had to wait over three years longer to get his first Premier League start – and his next appearance in the competition – in Fulham’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Left-back Briggs went on to play 13 times in the Premier League across five different seasons – all for Fulham – but spent most of his time at the club out on loan before eventually dropping down the leagues for regular playing time.
Isaiah Brown – 16 years, 117 days
West Brom vs Wigan (4 May 2013)
Big things were expected of midfielder Izzy Brown following his Premier League debut at just 16 years old in May 2013. This game for West Bromwich Albion in a 3-2 home defeat to Wigan was his only league appearance for the Baggies before he made a move to Chelsea just months later.
He would go on to make just one Premier League appearance in his eight years at Chelsea, but did appear 13 times for Brighton in the competition in 2017-18 while on one of his many loan deals from the Blues. Brown made more appearances in the Dutch top flight (22) while on loan at Vitesse from Chelsea in 2015-16 than he ever did in the Premier League.
On 6 April 2023, Brown was forced to announce his retirement from professional football, due to recurrent injury problems.
Aaron Lennon – 16 years, 129 days old
Leeds United vs Tottenham (23 August 2003)
Aaron Lennon went on to make the most appearances in the Premier League of the 10 youngest players, finishing his career on 416 games.
Lennon’s first appearance in August 2003 came for boyhood club Leeds United against the team he’d go on to make the most appearances for in the Premier League: Spurs (266). At 16 years, 129 days old, it was a Premier League record at the time, but has since been overtaken many times. However, Lennon remains the youngest player in Premier League history to assist a goal, which came in his eighth appearance in the competition against Arsenal in November 2003 at the age of 16 years, 199 days.
The former Tottenham Hotspur winger remains one of only 12 players to have scored a Premier League goal as a child and as an adult.
Jose Baxter – 16 years, 191 days old
Everton vs Blackburn (16 August 2008)
If you were asked to guess Everton’s youngest ever Premier League debutant, Wayne Rooney would probably be first to come to mind, but you’d be wrong.
You’d also be wrong to guess James Vaughan, with the former Toffee still the youngest scorer in Premier League history at 16 years, 270 days. Not many of you would guess Jose Baxter.
Baxter was just 16 years, 191 days old when he debuted against Blackburn Rovers in August 2008 – 79 days younger than Vaughan and 106 days younger than Rooney on their Premier League debuts for Everton.
Baxter went on to make three top-flight appearances in the opening month of the 2008-09, but then only made four more subsequently and never appeared in the competition outside his teenage years.
Joél Drakes-Thomas – 16 years, 194 days old
Crystal Palace vs Leeds United (20 December 2025)
Joél Drakes-Thomas became the youngest player to play for Crystal Palace in the Premier League in December 2025, making his debut as an 86th-minute substitute in a 4-1 defeat at Leeds United.
A product of the Palace academy having been with the club since he was six years old, Drakes-Thomas was only three years old when the Eagles won promotion back to the Premier League in 2012-13.
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy – 16 years, 198 days old
Aston Villa vs Sunderland (14 March 2015)
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy made his Premier League debut for Aston Villa in March 2015 as an 83rd-minute substitute during their 4-0 win over Sunderland. With this appearance, he became the second-youngest player to appear for Aston Villa in league competition behind only Jimmy Brown (15 years, 349 days) back in September 1969. His appearance came as a replacement for striker Christian Benteke but, unfortunately for Villa, he wasn’t able to replicate the Belgian’s feats for the club.
He made just one more Premier League appearance for Villa, over a year later in May 2016 against Newcastle before their relegation to the Championship, where he played 10 more times in league competition ahead of his release in the summer of 2020.
Gary McSheffrey – 16 years, 198 days old
Coventry City vs Aston Villa (27 February 1999)
Gary McSheffrey is the joint-ninth-youngest player to ever make their debut in the Premier League, at the same age as Rushian Hepburn-Murphy. The forward appeared in Coventry City’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa in February 1999 at the age of 16 years, 198 days old as an 89th-minute substitute.
This match was also the last time that a side named a full starting XI of English players, with Aston Villa’s John Gregory selecting 11 Englishmen – a tactic that clearly didn’t work well considering the heavy defeat, and something that hasn’t been repeated in the Premier League since.
McSheffrey didn’t score in any of his four Premier League appearances for Coventry as a teenager, but eventually netted his maiden goal in the competition nearly nine years later for Birmingham City at Spurs in a 3-2 victory for the Blues. He went on to only score two more times in the Premier League – versus Middlesbrough and Man City – across 41 top-flight appearances in England.
Premier League Stats Opta
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