Our latest countdown of the best young players in the Premier League - with Manchester City, Liverpool & Wolves starlets earning praise this week.
After every round of Premier League fixtures, our journalists comb through the stats and watch the tape in order to pull together our latest Top 10 of the best young players in the top flight right now: The Wonderkid Power Rankings.
Last week, a resurgent Kobbie Mainoo earned top spot for a second consecutive week, but can he maintain his grasp at the top of our countdown of the finest Under-21s in the top flight? Or will a member of the chasing pack reel him in?
We have one youngster dropping out of the rankings this time out: Crystal Palace’s Jaydee Canvot has been immensely impressive since taking Marc Guéhi’s spot but had a rough week and got a particular working over against Manchester City, so he makes way for a returning star. Let’s get cracking…
10. Rio Ngumoha – Liverpool (-)
There are some fair critiques of Ngumoha’s playing style, not least the fact that he will probably need to come up with an alternative to cutting inside and shooting from 18 yards at some point in his career, but the immense energy and excitement he brings to Liverpool’s otherwise flaccid attack is undeniably impressive. He was just about the only player on his team who tested Aston Villa’s defence at all last Friday, and while there was no end product on this occasion it wasn’t for want of trying.
9. Mateus Mané – Wolverhampton Wanderers (re-entry)
After an explosive start to life as a Premier League starter, Mané became a little bit becalmed through the spring – all those quickfire dribbles and audacious shots started to disappear and the spark he provided Rob Edwards’ side dimmed as relegation became a certainty. He seems to have got some of the fire going again over the last couple of weeks, however, and after a couple of spirited outings against Sunderland and Brighton he confirmed his return to form by lashing a ferocious opening goal past Bernd Leno on Sunday. His confidence seems to be coming back.
8. Abdukodir Khusanov – Manchester City (⬆️1)
Khusanov has played no fewer than three times since we last updated our rankings, and was pretty consistent – perhaps not spectacular, and one can question his positioning for Eli Junior Kroupi’s crucial goal at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday night, but for the most part Khusanov was calm, composed, confident on the ball and managed to do his defensive duties without getting himself into trouble, even if few would have picked him out as the star of the show.
7. Yankuba Minteh – Brighton & Hove Albion (-)
There was a fairly lively debate about how to rate Minteh’s ultimately fruitless performance in the 1-0 defeat to Leeds – on the one hand, he was incredibly busy, putting 11 crosses into the box and teeing up a big chance for Jack Hinshelwood inside the six-yard box. On the other, he missed the mark with most of his deliveries and didn’t get a single shot away. Minteh huffed and puffed but ultimately failed to blow Elland Road down, rather summing up the Seagulls’ weekend. Eventually, we decided to leave the Gambian where he was in seventh place.
6. Jack Hinshelwood – Brighton & Hove Albion (⬇️1)
The player who passed up the glaring chance at the near post which Minteh created – and another respectable opportunity from near the penalty spot with 10 minutes remaining – does lose a spot however. Hinshelwood probably should have found the back of the net for the fourth game in a row but also created a couple of presentable chances of his own, even if he wasn’t necessarily the most obviously dynamic presence in a Brighton side that had all the chances they needed to win but simply couldn’t put them away.
5. Nico O’Reilly – Manchester City (⬆️1)
We finally arrive at the first member of our current Top 10 to be nominated for the Premier League’s Young Player of the Year award, and deservedly so – although he won’t have helped his chances of picking that particular trophy up after missing Manchester City’s best chance against Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.
Not that anyone with any sense will be blaming O’Reilly for the fact that City missed out on the title. That bad miss aside, he was excellent in defence both at the Vitality Stadium and during the FA Cup final, consistently pressuring opposing players and forcing turnovers while progressing the ball downfield with his sharp runs and quick passes. The form he found in the final third a little while ago may have deserted him, but he’s been highly effective back in the left-back role, and has presumably done enough to be England’s first choice there this summer.
4. Rayan – AFC Bournemouth (⬇️2)
Another player whose formidable scoring streak came to an end this week: Rayan had hit the back of the net three times in a row over the past few weeks but drew a blank against Manchester City after contriving to hit the post from point-blank range on the hour mark – according to xG, the single best chance of the entire match.
That forgettable moment aside, the Brazilian had a pretty quiet match, unable (for once) to find any joy in the final third, creating no shooting chances and even proving to be a little less effective than usual when pressing and tracking back. A relatively rough day for the teenager, although one wonders how Rayan might have done with the golden opportunities presented to David Brooks, who came on in his place, at the death.
3. Mateus Fernandes – West Ham United (⬆️1)
Rayan having a relatively poor game means that Fernandes moves up a spot despite West Ham’s 3-1 defeat to Newcastle, a game in which the Portuguese midfielder worked hard, defended well and did his best to get something going around the opposing penalty area – but ultimately failed.
Fernandes forced six turnovers, blocked a shot and made three clearances as he did his best work closer to his own box, and ran himself into the ground trying to get the ball upfield as best he could, but was ultimately limited to a couple of half-chances from the edge of the area and wasn’t able to create a clear-cut opportunity for anyone else. A game of hard graft but no cutting edge, but one worthy of a continued place in our top five - and a Young Player of the Year nomination, which each member of our top three picked up.
2. Kobbie Mainoo – Manchester United (⬇️1)
Mainoo’s two-week reign at the top of our table comes to an end, not that the 21-year-old did a damned thing wrong against Nottingham Forest – he was, as has been the case since Michael Carrick came in and started using him properly – perfectly effective in defence and used possession extremely well.
In truth, we’re almost running out of new things to say about Mainoo from week to week. He’s been so much more effective tracking back in Carrick’s system, his ability to get play moving downfield is crisp and clever, and he created three shooting chances against Forest (although none of them were especially good ones in fairness). This was just another efficient, economical and energetic display for a player who is not only back to his best but seemingly more consistent than ever.
1. Eli Junior Kroupi – AFC Bournemouth (⬆️2)
There was only one choice for number one this week: The striker who not only bagged his fifth goal in seven matches, a run which has seen him break the record for most goals by a teenager in their first Premier League season, but who ultimately decided the destination of the title with his magnificent strike against Manchester City.
Yes, Kroupi has much to learn about how to get involved in the build-up and player a broader role in his team’s success, but his finishing is simply so staggeringly good that it really doesn’t matter that much. The speed of thought and precision which he demonstrated when he curled the ball into the far corner of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal would shame most strikers 10 years his senior. An incredibly bright future awaits, and he richly deserves his first week at the top of the Wonderkid Power Rankings.
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