The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Manchester United duo on the rise as Arsenal gem storms back to top spot

It was a big week for several of the Premier League’s brightest young talents – and that means lots of changes in our weekly Top 10 of the best and most in-form Under-21s in the top flight.

Last week, Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez took top spot once more, but can he hang on under pressure from impressive performances by Arsenal and Manchester United youngsters, and indeed one of his own team-mates?

Before we find out, we have three players whose names need to be mentioned as they slide out of our rankings: Wolves’ Rodrigo Gomes drifts back out after being left on the bench once more, while two Brighton players who impressed last week – Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari – had a rough time of it against Newcastle United and drop away as a result. That leaves room for two returning stars and one brand new entry…

10. Michael Kayode – Brentford (new entry)

The 20-year-old right-back’s form hasn’t been entirely consistent since he signed from Fiorentina over the winter transfer window, but he’s starting to hit his stride now – and an uptick in the quality and consistency of his recent performances was capped by a brilliant outing against Manchester United. Directly involved in three of Brentford’s goals, he picked up an assist thanks to a well-timed run and squared pass for Yoane Wissa and looked the part in defence and attack.

9. Jack Hinshelwood – Brighton & Hove Albion (⬇️3)

Brighton may have escaped with a draw against Newcastle but their midfield was badly beaten up by their counterparts in black and white – Baleba and Ayari drop out altogether, and while Hinshelwood has enough credit in the bank to hang on to a Top 10 spot, he too struggled on Sunday. Too often outpaced and outfought when trying to win possession back, he found next to no space and time to get the ball down and play, meaning he made few dents in the final third. A bad day for a talented and versatile player.

8. Yankuba Minteh – Brighton & Hove Albion (re-entry)

While the Seagulls’ midfield struggled to get a foothold, winger Minteh played himself right back into our Top 10 having only just dropped out – a superb goal, which saw him slalom around Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali before lashing the ball into the far corner, is largely responsible for his return to our ranks, but there were plenty of hard yards on and off the ball to back it up.

7. Nico O’Reilly – Manchester City (⬇️2)

Another extremely exciting young player who had an off-day – O’Reilly was replaced just before the hour mark against Wolves after struggling, having been beaten repeatedly in one-on-ones, missed a presentable chance from around 10 yards out on the angle, and struggled to make a dent with his usually dynamic ball-carrying. Just hitting a bump in the road after some truly exceptional form.

6. Alejandro Garnacho – Manchester United (re-entry)

When Garnacho fell out of the Top 10 back in November, we would never have believed that it would take six months before he’d force his way back in – but after a long, frustrating run of unconvincing form, the Argentine is starting to get back towards his best, and while he displayed more energy than end product against Athletic Club, his stunning long-range goal against Brentford combined with his excellent run and cross for Mason Mount’s opener to push him right back into the running. It’s been a while, but we’re starting to see the Garnacho of the 2024/25 season again for the first time in a surprisingly long time.

5. Patrick Dorgu – Manchester United (⬆️4)

We’ll be honest: Dorgu has largely been pushed up into fifth because it felt harsh to take someone who was ahead of the various new entries and put him behind them despite putting in two pretty good performances against Athletic and Brentford. But while we can’t go much further than ‘pretty good’, it’s good to see the Dane playing more solidly after a couple of less impressive weeks.

Dorgu wasn’t as dangerous in the final third in United’s 3-0 win in Spain as he has proven that he can be, but he put in one of his best defensive displays for his new club, especially in terms of how well he dealt with opposing players dribbling at him at pace, which has looked like his Achilles heel. Against Brentford he was brought on at half-time to help turn the tide and while he didn’t manage that, he was still solid and pretty much fault-free. A decent week, rewarded with an arguably generous ranking.

4. Mateus Fernandes – Southampton (-)

Another week, another dreadful day for Southampton, and another game in which Fernandes manfully tried to propel the rest of a terrible team up towards his own higher standards.

Fernandes was mostly forced to concentrate on his defensive duties during the 2-0 loss to Leicester City, but put in a strong shift (five completed tackles and eight ground duels won) while showing occasional flashes of his class with the ball at his feet going forward. While the Saints crumble around him, Fernandes continues to work hard and outshine his team-mates.

3. Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth (⬇️2)

The Hungarian’s latest rein at the top of our rankings proves to be a brief one. Against Arsenal, the left-back had his moments – a great cross right onto Evanilson’s head for what should have been the opening goal stood out – but ultimately didn’t have his best game in black and red.

He could have been directly responsible for a goal when some lax marking allowed Leandro Trossard to get a header in on goal (well saved by Kepa in the end), but mostly he just wasn’t able to out-muscle and outmanoeuvre Bukayo Saka in the way he has manhandled so many other right wingers, and he didn’t make a real dent in attack either. A middling performance, surpassed by others in our Top 10.

2. Dean Huijsen – Bournemouth (⬆️1)

God knows what the celebration was about, but it was good to see Huijsen get on the scoresheet, with a strong header diverting Antoine Semenyo’s long throw into the goal for Bournemouth’s equaliser – more importantly, however, he was once more rock solid at the back, dealing with pretty much everything thrown at him in composed and measured fashion.

We will have to gently critique his distribution again this week, however. For the second week running, his generally immaculate long-range passing let him down and he complete just three of 13 attempted long balls, giving the ball away more often than he sparked counter-attacks for his own side. Normally a strength of his, but his radar seems slightly off as it stands, and that’s just enough to keep him out of first place despite scoring.

1. Myles Lewis-Skelly – Arsenal (⬆️1)

All of which means that Lewis-Skelly returns to the summit despite being involved in two defeats over the past week – a reward not just for an excellent performance against PSG in the Champions League semi-final, but for consistent excellence, week after week.

Lewis-Skelly scarcely put a foot wrong over the past seven days, completing virtually every pass (literally all of them against PSG), causing headaches with his dynamic dribbling (drawing eight fouls) and nearly providing an equaliser in Europe with a peach of a through ball for Gabriel Martinelli last Tuesday. Arsenal may have lost both games they played, but none of the blame can be laid at the largely flawless feet of the freshly-minted England man, who returns for a second run at the top of our charts.