This week’s countdown of the Top 10 best young players in the Premier League
Every week, our journalists dig through the stats, pore over the highlights and have a brief but reasonably polite argument in the hopes of answering a simple question – who is the best young player in the Premier League right now?
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Getty Images/Iconic Media
The result is our weekly Wonderkid Power Rankings, our attempt to track the form of the very best young talent in the top flight and rank them based not on their potential, but on their actual performances at the very highest level.
Last week, we handed the number one spot to Liverpool’s summer signing Jérémy Jacquet after a hugely impressive start to life at Anfield, but can the Frenchman hang on, or will a member of the chasing pack overtake him? Let’s get stuck in to our latest (and slightly belated) Top 10 to find out…
10. Tyrique George – Everton (new entry)
The only new entry this week, George takes the place of last week’s number 10 Nico O’Reilly thanks to the ferocious near-post strike which helped to earn Everton a point against Manchester United over the weekend – a match in which the former Chelsea winger’s sharp dribbling skills and creative instincts also created plenty of headaches. George created three shooting chances for his team-mates and was arguably his side’s most dangerous and dynamic player. A very promising performance indeed.
9. Myles Lewis-Skelly – Arsenal (⬇️6)
Myles Lewis-Skelly struggled against Chelsea despite Arsenal's 2-1 winplaceholder image
Myles Lewis-Skelly struggled against Chelsea despite Arsenal's 2-1 win | Getty Images
It was a pretty rough week for Lewis-Skelly, who struggled defensively against Chelsea – he lost six of his seven one-on-one duels and committed five fouls – before he was dropped for the Champions League win over Napoli. If he was hoping to persuade Mikel Arteta to keep him in the first team over Bruno Guimarães, he didn’t really go about it the right way.
8. Jorrel Hato – Chelsea (⬆️1)
Hato didn’t get everything right in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, but did most of his defensive duties well enough and ended up with the assist for Morgan Rogers’ goal – although the Dutchman didn’t find it easy to get anything going on attack outside of that, and his attempt to carry the ball actually resulted in possession going a total of 2.5m back towards his own goal.
7. Harrison Armstrong – Everton (⬇️2)
Harrison Armstrong nearly signed for Nottingham Forest before the transfer deadline - but stayed put after fan protestsplaceholder image
Harrison Armstrong nearly signed for Nottingham Forest before the transfer deadline - but stayed put after fan protests | Getty Images
Armstrong drops a couple of places after a pretty forgettable match against Manchester United – forgettable in the truest sense, that is, because while he didn’t do much wrong he simply didn’t make all that strong of an impact on proceedings at all. There were a few useful defensive contributions and he kept possession ticking over well enough, but neither dictated play nor broke much of it up when Everton’s opponents had the ball. A very five-out-of-ten sort of outing for the 19-year-old.
6. Malick Yalcouyé – Brighton & Hove Albion (-)
Brighton’s latest breakthrough player didn’t get on the scoresheet against Leeds, but he still showed off the well-rounded skillset which earned him his move to the Amex Stadium – his dribbling was dangerous, his passing direct and to the point, and he put a fine shift in out of possession as well as creating a couple of chances by himself. The production wasn’t there this time, but both the threat and the work ethic certainly were, and we continue to be distinctly impressed.
5. Lewis Miley – Newcastle United (⬇️3)
Lewis Miley was below par against Bournemouth - and slides down our rankings as a resultplaceholder image
Lewis Miley was below par against Bournemouth - and slides down our rankings as a result | Getty Images
Much like Lewis-Skelly, Miley was a midfielder who endured a pretty indifferent week after an impressive start to the season, and while he didn’t have quite as tough of a time against Bournemouth as the Arsenal youngster did against Chelsea, he still didn’t impact proceedings anywhere near as positively as he so often does.
His defensive impact in the 2-2 draw against the Cherries was negligible, his passing a little imprecise in the opposing half, and Matthias Jaissle’s decision to take him off for Jacob Ramsey proved to be a rather good one. Miley ended up only getting a cameo appearances in the EFL Cup against Millwall – we’ll see if he’s back in the starting XI this weekend.
4. Luka Vušković – Brighton & Hove Albion (⬆️2)
Vušković has stepped into Jan Paul van Hecke shoes with ease since arriving from Tottenham Hotspur and scored his first goal for the Seagulls with a point-blank header against Leeds - from a corner which was, as it happens, forced by Yalcouyé – earning his side a point and himself a move into this week’s top five.
As it happens, he actually had an uncharacteristically tough time in the air when he wasn’t scoring from a yard away, but his work on the ground was good and his positioning pretty much impeccable. There are the odd moments in which you can see the inexperience, but the 19-year-old has been just as impressive as promised since signing over the summer.
3. Joshua King – Fulham (⬆️5)
Joshua King has already equalled his goal tally from the entire 2025/26 seasonplaceholder image
Joshua King has already equalled his goal tally from the entire 2025/26 season | Getty Images
King scored Fulham’s opener in their eventual 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace and showed good composure and tenacity to do so, even if he did get the good fortune to have a deflection go in his favour – but the teenager’s second goal in three games isn’t the only reason we’ve moved him back into our top three.
Even if the real impact he made on the game came in front of goal, his work off the ball caught our panel’s eye as well. King forced five turnovers, an unusually high number for an attacking midfielder, and his constant harassment of Palace’s defence was a testament to both his willing and effectiveness as part of Fulham’s high press. There are signs of real strides forward since last season, and the goals are just reward for his hard work and his improvement more broadly.
2. Jérémy Jacquet – Liverpool (⬇️1)
There really aren’t too many holes to be picked in Jacquet’s performances since singing for Liverpool. You could perhaps pick at his work in one-on-one situations against both Ipswich Town and Atlético Madrid this week, and there is certainly room to improve his defending when faced with high-level ball carriers running towards him, but that’s a pretty minor gripe considering the quality of his work in just about every other department.
Jacquet has the knack, usually seen in more experienced centre-backs, of being in the right place at the right time and dealing with the situation, as a total of nine ball recoveries and six clearances over the past week suggests. He’s also ludicrously comfortable with the ball at his feet and a crisp, precise passer who simply looks like he’s been doing this, at this level, far so much longer than he has. In honestly, we feel harsh knocking him down to number two this week – but we had some final flowers to hand out to a regular of our rankings…
1. Lewis Hall – Newcastle United (⬆️3)
Lewis Hall gets the better of Bournemouth's Rayan - and got the better of every rival wonderkid to earn our number one spotplaceholder image
Lewis Hall gets the better of Bournemouth's Rayan - and got the better of every rival wonderkid to earn our number one spot | Getty Images
Perhaps there’s a degree of sentimentality in our decision to hand top spot to Hall this week, because this will be his last time in our Top 10 – the Newcastle left-back turned 22 a couple of days ago, meaning that he has now aged out of eligibility after spending the majority of the last couple of years troubling our judging panel. But assists in back-to-back games helped to make his case for the crown too.
Hall was especially good against Millwall, when he not only created the goal but also won all seven of his one-on-ones, forced five turnovers and completely shut down the opposing team’s right flank from first minute to last. Against Bournemouth he did get beaten on the outside a couple of times but still set up Harvey Barnes’ goal and recovered possession a massive 13 times. Not many players will hit that mark even once this season. A brilliant week, and a very high note indeed for Hall to bow out on.