From Brighton's next big thing to a future Arsenal star - the youngsters set to shine in the Premier League

By the time you read this, the curtain will have been raised, the first goals will have been scored, and a whole new Premier League season will be underway – and, no doubt, a few new faces will already have made a mark for their clubs. But while it’s the big-money signings that grab most of the headlines over the summer, there are quite a few young talents on the verge of breaking through into the big time and at least a handful of talented prospects will have catapulted themselves into the limelight before too long.

Today, we’re going to look at eight brilliant young players whose names aren’t too well known outside of their own fanbases, and who could leave their bootprints on the Premier League over the next year. Some are firmly established in their squads, others looking to make their senior debuts, but all of them have an exciting future ahead of them.

Amario Cozier-Duberry (Brighton & Hove Albion)

You can always trust Brighton to have some extremely bright sparks on the brink of the first-team squad, and they may have found another gem in the form of London-born Cozier-Duberry, who was snapped up from Arsenal’s academy this summer. It wasn’t necessarily a signing that caught much press attention at the time, but two superb goals in a pre-season friendly against Kashima Antlers has suddenly catapulted him into first-team contention at the Amex Stadium.

An England Under-19 international who scored 11 goals in 19 games for Arsenal’s Under-21s last season, he’s a left-footed winger who usually plays as an inside forward and seems to have excellent technique and a real eye for a finish. Apparently Jack Wilshere, who coaches Arsenal’s Under-18s these days, described him as “unplayable” – and Wilshere would know a thing or two about being that good.

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Dean Huijsen (Bournemouth)

Last season, in just his sixth Serie A game, 19-year-old Dutchman Huijsen picked up the ball in his own half, turned the player pressing him, dribbled all the way to the edge of the opposing area and slammed the ball into the top-right corner. Not bad for a centre-back.

A product of Juventus’ youth system, Huijsen came to prominence with a loan spell at AS Roma – called up as injury cover, he proved himself to be an adventurous, technically-impressive ball-playing defender who wasn’t afraid to get forward and contribute to the attack. Signed by the Cherries in July for a fee which could rise to over £15m, it was a transfer that didn’t generate as much attention as the player himself might if he gets chances in Andoni Iraola’s first team. He could be a laugh for the neutral, too – after scoring that goal against Frosinone, he celebrated in front of the opposing fans, got booked and had to be hauled off by his coach before he got in any more trouble.

Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa)

If you follow Italian football or keep tabs on the youth game, you’ll know plenty about Iling-Junior (not “Iling Jr”, please, whatever Fantasy Premier League might say…) but he remains relatively obscure to the broader footballing public – something which could change very quickly after he moved from Juventus to Aston Villa as a part of the deal which took Douglas Luiz to Turin.

Iling-Junior, now 20 years old, came through the ranks at Chelsea but left for Juventus as a teenager and worked his way into the first-team plans in the 2022/23 season. A pacey and almost old-school style of winger who loves to run at defenders at hook crosses in, he’s played 45 senior games for the Old Lady already, although most came from the bench. Also able to play as a left wing-back, he’ll stay close to the byline and offer width like it’s the 1990s and 4-4-2 is all the rage. An entertaining player who’s already been capped by England’s Under-21s.

Ashley Phillips (Tottenham Hotspur)

A 19-year-old centre-half who was described by former manager Tony Mowbray as having “every attribute” required in a defender, Phillips was signed from Blackburn Rovers last summer and spent last season honing his craft at Plymouth Argyle – and while he won’t be in Ange Postecoglou’s starting eleven from the get-go, he could well be called upon if a few injuries crop up. He looks ready.

Tall, strong, composed and comfortable on the ball, Phillips still has plenty to learn but he’s already got a good positional sense and the extra touch of quality that marks him out as a future star. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he was sent out on loan again at some stage this season, but he could just as easily be pushing Micky van de Ven for minutes in a few months’ time.

Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)

A confession: When we did a similar article a year ago, we mentioned Nwaneri then, too, and perhaps jumped the gun very slightly – but not by that much. A regular on Mikel Arteta’s bench by the time he was 16, the diminutive midfielder has a couple of Premier League cameos to his name but the real breakthrough is yet to come.

It won’t take that much longer. Already the youngest player ever to feature in an English top flight game, he’s a brilliant dribbler with a lovely touch and wonderful awareness of the space around him. Able to play through the middle or out wide, he’ll surely get some more chances to show us what he can do over the coming year, but there’s a reason that he’s regarded by those in the know as one of the biggest talents in England.

Rodrigo Gomes (Wolves)

A Portugal Under-21 international who signed with Wolves this summer for a reported £12.7m, Gomes’ capture was another one of those deals that was largely met with a shrug – but after scoring three times in pre-season, including two against West Ham, the young winger has suddenly got his new fans in a bit of a lather.

Picked up from Estoril, for whom he registered 14 Primeira Liga goal contributions last season, Gomes can also play as a wing-back and can be absolutely electric with the ball at his feet, with plenty of pace and guile and a rapidly-developing eye for a goal. The 21-year-old should be in the first-team picture straight away, especially with Pedro Neto gone.

Abdul Fatawu (Leicester City)

As with Iling-Junior, Fatawu is only an unknown if your horizons don’t stretch too far beyond the Premier League – but the Ghanaian international, who joined Leicester permanently this summer after having a huge impact on loan last season, will still be a new face to plenty of fans, and likely one they won’t forget once they’ve seen him play.

A rampaging left-footed wide forward, Fatawu scored six and set up 13 more during Leicester’s promotion run last year and his pace and movement proved far too hot for most defenders to handle. He’s also extremely hard-working off the ball and carries it extremely well – in other words, he’s pretty close to being the complete winger at the age of 20. If he can carry that form into the top flight, he could easily be Leicester’s most important player.

Josh King (Fulham)

Fulham’s youth academy is not, with the best will in the world, noted as a major producer of top-class talent, but in the shape of 17-year-old King the Cottagers might finally have one of their own that can trouble the first-team in the very near future. He’s a product of the same grassroots team that gave the world Harvey Elliott and seems to be spoken of in the same sort of awestruck tones by those involved.

A central midfielder with lovely balance, a good passing range and the drive and determination to cover every blade of grass as he goes, King was included in Fulham’s pre-season tour and started in a game against Benfica – and he’s also an Under-17 international with a burgeoning reputation in the England set-up. This may just be one season too early for him to really make a name for himself, but watch out for him from the bench.