Teenage Talents to Watch in Premier League Pre-Season
The Premier League’s biggest clubs will scatter across the globe this summer, but a familiar story runs through every itinerary. World Cup fatigue, late returns, holes in star-studded squads – and into that space step the teenagers who have been waiting for a crack at the stage they’ve been told is theirs.
Some are already whispered about in academy circles. Some have transfer fees and international caps behind them. All of them are about to find out how real the step from promise to proof actually is.
Liverpool’s next wide hope
Liverpool have seen this movie before. A teenager turns up to pre-season, shrugs off the badge, and suddenly looks like he belongs. Last year it was Trey Nyoni and Amara Nallo catching eyes; more recently, Rio Ngumoha set a fierce standard for what a 16-year-old can do in front of senior pros.
Now the talk at Kirkby is whether Josh Abe can follow that path – even if his real breakthrough might not arrive until 2027 or 2028.
Abe will get his first sustained spell with the first team on Liverpool’s tour of the United States. He has already dipped a toe in the water, joining some of Arne Slot’s sessions last season as a 15-year-old. That invitation came on merit: eight goals and three assists in 10 league games for the Under-18s before injury cut his campaign short.
The injury didn’t cool the market. Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all circled, forcing Liverpool to fight to keep him on Merseyside. They succeeded, and earlier this month Abe turned 16 as a Liverpool player with a clear pathway in front of him.
He’s a left-footed winger who loves starting on the right, drifting infield to cause trouble. With Mohamed Salah gone and new signing Victor Munoz arriving late after Spain’s run to the World Cup title, there is room in those American friendlies for a fearless wide player to make noise. Abe now has the window every academy forward dreams of.
Chelsea’s new left-side puzzle and the rise of Landon Emenalo
Over at Chelsea, the gap is on the opposite flank. Marc Cucurella’s move to Real Madrid has left a vacancy on the left, and Xabi Alonso must decide how he wants to fill it – and in which shape.
Whether Alonso settles on a back three or a back four, he has options. Jorrel Hato and Levi Colwill are obvious candidates from the existing squad. New signings Valentin Barco and Geovany Quenda can both operate at wing-back, though Quenda is more naturally suited to the right in that role.
Lurking beneath that senior shuffle is Landon Emenalo, a name that carries weight at Stamford Bridge. The son of former Chelsea director of football Michael Emenalo has quietly built a reputation of his own in the academy and with England’s age-group sides.
Comfortable in midfield and capable at left-back, Emenalo stands out for how relaxed he looks with the ball at his feet. That composure is exactly the sort of trait Alonso, a metronomic midfielder in his playing days, tends to value. On Chelsea’s tour of Australia and Asia, Emenalo will hope that elegance translates when the tempo rises.
He is expected to be joined by Reggie Walsh, Shim Mheuka and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, three more teenagers tipped for big futures in west London. The shirt numbers might be high, the minutes might be scattered, but the chance is real.
‘Little Messi’ steps towards the Manchester United spotlight
At Manchester United, one name has been bubbling away for years. JJ Gabriel. The nickname came first – “Little Messi” – whispered inside the academy during his early teens and quickly escaping into the wider conversation. With that kind of label, the wait for his senior bow has felt longer than it really is.
That wait looks close to ending. United’s pre-season schedule will take them on a short, intense 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 give him chances before the Premier League season begins.
He only turned 15 in October, yet he owned the U18s last season: 23 goals in 23 league games and the U18 Premier League’s Player of the Season award. He also led the line as United reached the FA Youth Cup final, confirming that his numbers carry weight on big nights too.
Already capped by England at Under-17 level, Gabriel can play as a central striker or drift in from wide. Inside the club, there is a belief that his ceiling ranks with the very best academy graduates of the past couple of decades. Now comes the hard part: showing that talent translates when the shirt is heavier and the stadium louder.
Everton’s quiet finisher with a loud record
Everton finished last season with signs of life from Beto and Thierno Barry, but goals remain a problem for a club with ambitions of returning to European competition for the first time since 2017-18. That’s why the numbers attached to Braiden Graham demand attention.
Graham, 18, scored 25 goals in 34 games across Everton’s youth sides last term. That return earned him a first call-up to the senior Northern Ireland squad for their June friendlies and put him on the cusp of senior club football.
Now he joins David Moyes’ squad for pre-season, aiming to turn academy form into first-team trust. Once a central striker, his slight frame has seen him pushed wide over the past year. Off the left is where he has flourished, driving inside and timing his runs to keep catching Moyes’ eye.
Everton need someone to convert half-chances into points. Graham’s summer will show whether he can be that player sooner than expected.
Aston Villa, CAS and the 6'4" striker stuck in limbo
Few teenage stories this summer are as tangled as Brian Madjo’s.
At the start of last season, he was a curiosity on the continent – a 16-year-old English striker starting games in Ligue 1 for Metz. Five appearances later, Aston Villa arrived with £10 million in January, convinced they had found one of Europe’s most interesting young forwards.
Then everything stalled. Madjo, who turned 17 shortly before moving to Villa Park, had already earned three senior caps for Luxembourg before switching allegiance to England, where he was born. In FIFA’s eyes, those caps mean he counts as a foreign player who cannot be transferred outside his “home nation” until he turns 18.
The result: a registration block and a court case. Villa have taken FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to overturn the decision. While the lawyers argue, Madjo waits.
He can at least play in friendlies, and he wasted no time reminding everyone what he offers, scoring twice against Walsall in Villa’s first pre-season outing since lifting the Europa League. At 6'4" and physically dominant, he has drawn comparisons to Romelu Lukaku and is widely seen as one of the top striker prospects in the English pool.
Whether he can feature in the first half of Villa’s season remains uncertain. What is clear is that Unai Emery will use this summer to learn exactly what kind of weapon he has on his hands, even if competitive minutes have to wait.
Manchester City’s new Maresca era and the calm of Stephen Mfuni
With so many of Manchester City’s stars having gone deep into the World Cup, Enzo Maresca’s first pre-season in charge will lean heavily on youth. The headline teenager is likely to be Jeremy Monga, signed from Leicester City after City beat Arsenal to his signature.
Yet the most intriguing prospect might be a centre-back: Stephen Mfuni.
Mfuni, 18, made his City debut in January before heading out on loan to Watford. At Vicarage Road he impressed in the Championship, adapting quickly to the physical and tactical demands of senior football. An injury cut that spell short, but he returns fit and ready to pick up where he left off.
Left-footed, composed and sharp in reading the game, Mfuni looks built for the modern City blueprint. He is comfortable stepping into midfield, happy with the ball at his feet and aggressive in his defending. Premier League clubs are already queuing for a loan if City open the door.
Over the next few weeks in Asia, City supporters will hope to see why some inside the game quietly talk about him as a future England international.
Arsenal’s other 16-year-old: Marli Salmon steps forward
Most of the noise around Arsenal’s academy has centred on Ethan Nwaneri and Chido Obi-Martin, but Hale End has not stopped producing. Another 16-year-old, Marli Salmon, is pushing his way into Mikel Arteta’s thoughts.
Salmon made four first-team appearances last season, a remarkable tally at his age in a title-winning squad. Circumstances now offer him a bigger window. William Saliba is unavailable, while Ben White and Jurrien Timber are still working their way back from injuries.
That leaves minutes to be claimed when the Premier League champions start their pre-season friendlies in early August, and Salmon is well placed to take them. He can play at right-back or in his preferred role at centre-back, and within the club he is rated highly for his maturity and composure on the ball.
Arsenal’s defence has been the bedrock of their resurgence. Breaking into that unit is no small task. Salmon’s summer will show how close he really is.
Newcastle’s Ajax import with a pass-first mentality
Newcastle’s transfer window has been messy, high-profile exits clashing with the need to stay within financial limits. Under the surface, though, they have quietly stocked up on youth, and Sean Steur might prove one of the shrewdest additions.
Signed from Ajax for £23m after breaking into the Dutch club’s first team, Steur caught the eye in the Eredivisie with his passing range and control of tempo. Only 18, he was linked with several top Premier League sides before choosing Tyneside, where he is expected to help plug the gap left by Sandro Tonali and, potentially, Bruno Guimaraes.
With a number of senior midfielders still on post-World Cup breaks, Steur should see plenty of action as Newcastle spend most of pre-season in the UK. If he dictates games the way he did in Amsterdam, Eddie Howe will find it hard to send him back to the fringes.
Tottenham’s Luca Williams-Barnett pushes for a real role
Tottenham’s recent years have been turbulent, but beneath the surface the academy conveyor belt is starting to hum. Roberto De Zerbi has a growing list of homegrown players to work with, and Luca Williams-Barnett sits right near the top.
The 18-year-old made his first-team debut last September, then had to wait and watch. Patience might finally be rewarded. Williams-Barnett impressed in Spurs’ win over MK Dons on Wednesday and has secured a place in De Zerbi’s squad for the club’s tour of Australia and New Zealand.
He is an attacking midfielder who can also operate out wide, sharp between the lines and eager to receive under pressure. With fellow academy talent Mikey Moore again a candidate to leave on loan, there is a genuine opening for Williams-Barnett to compete for Premier League minutes this season.
Pre-season often flatters young playmakers. The test now is whether he can turn flashes into a role that lasts beyond August.
Brighton spend big on Zadok Yohanna
Brighton have made a habit of spotting teenagers before anyone else and paying modest fees. This summer, the model remains – but the numbers have changed.
As well as landing Tottenham centre-back Luka Vuskovic in a £46m deal, the Seagulls spent £21.5m to sign winger Zadok Yohanna from AIK. For a 19-year-old with only 11 club appearances since the turn of the year, that is serious backing.
Yohanna’s output explains some of it: five goals and four assists in those 11 games. Chelsea tracked him, but Brighton moved decisively, convinced his blend of pace and flair fits their attacking identity.
He is a winger with tricks to spare and acceleration that leaves full-backs off balance. As Brighton head to France for the first leg of their pre-season, Yohanna will be desperate to show he can carry that threat into a higher level.
Across Liverpool, Manchester, London and beyond, these teenagers will board planes with oversized tracksuits and oversized expectations. Some will be back with the Under-21s by September. One or two might change the shape of their club’s season.
The question now is simple: who will turn this pre-season opportunity into something their managers can no longer ignore?
