The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Chelsea, Ipswich & Man City starlets among this week's risers

Every week, we at 3 Added Minutes set ourselves the same question – who is the best young player in the Premier League? And every week, we dig through the highlight reels and the stats to put together our latest top ten of the top flight’s talent based on their form at the very highest level.

Last time out, we gave Jhon Durán the benefit of the doubt and kept him in top spot despite drawing a blank, but will his Champions League goal against Bologna be enough for him to keep his throne this time around? We’ll find out very shortly.

Before that, however, we have to do our admin, and that means telling you about the two players who lose their spots in our list this time around. Firstly, Yankuba Minteh falls away as he wasn’t fit enough to play for the second week running, and secondly we say goodbye to Rasmus Højlund, who had only just forced his way back into the rankings but drew a blank in his two outings for Manchester United over the past week. All of which means spots for a brand new entry and a returning favourite…

10. Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth (-)

The Hungarian full-back holds his tenuous place at the bottom of our top ten after a solid if unspectacular showing in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. He wasn’t involved as often as he usually might be but did his defensive duties soundly enough and showed improvement with his delivery in the final third, completing both of his crosses and putting in a couple of promising direct passes. The final pass has been Kerkez’s weak suit so far in his Premier League career, but there was signs of movement in the right direction.

9. Malo Gusto – Chelsea (new entry)

The Frenchman was a regular feature of last season’s top ten but has hovered just outside the rankings for most of the campaign so far, never really stringing two or three truly strong performances together – but he edges in after an enterprising outing against Newcastle United, during which he got into plenty of dangerous positions in the final third (even getting four shots away) without making any mistakes when asked questions in his own half of the pitch. After a relatively slow start to the season, one of the best young wing-backs in the division seems to be getting back up to speed.

8. Liam Delap – Ipswich Town (⬆️1)

If anyone has shown signs of being able to make the difference in Ipswich Town’s uphill struggle for survival, it’s Delap, who scored his fifth goal of the season in the ding-dong 4-3 defeat to Brentford and crashed a fine effort off the woodwork right at the very death of a brilliant match. Once again, Ipswich went away empty-handed, but at least in Delap they have a striker who has scored more goals than any other top flight summer signing. Some hope.

7. Levi Colwill – Chelsea (⬇️1)

The England centre-back followed up his first sub-par display of the season against Liverpool with a decent but not necessarily inspiring showing against Newcastle. He was typically effective at dealing with crosses and balls over the top, notching up nine clearances over the course of the game, but wasn’t at his imposing best and was beaten a couple of times in the air – and it’s fair to ask whether he could have dealt with the cross that found Alexander Isak for an ultimately futile winner. In Colwill’s defence, it came quickly and at an awkward height, but was perhaps enough to justify knocking him down one peg in our top ten.

6. Facundo Buonanotte – Leicester City (⬇️1)

No goals or assists for the in-form Argentine this time around, but he was still heavily involved in the eventual 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest, getting four shots away and putting in several dangerous passes to test the opposing defence. The only criticism was that he proved a bit of a soft touch off the ball and was dribbled past repeatedly, unable to put in a telling tackle, and the space afforded to Forest as a result was worrying.

5. Savinho – Manchester City (RE)

Since returning from injury, Savinho has been steadily getting more minutes and touches and was just starting to look like a significant threat again, but he comes roaring back into our rankings now thanks to an absolutely sparkling pair of performances over the past week against both Sparta Prague and Southampton.

He generated over 1.3 expected goals’ worth of chances for his team across the two games (and assisted the opener in the Champions League), looked deadly accurate with his passing and his dribbling was quite exceptional, particularly against Southampton when he looked almost untouchable at times. A brilliant week for a hugely gifted youngster.

4. Destiny Udogie – Tottenham Hotspur (-)

A disappointing defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace meant that Tottenham Hotspur’s week was far from perfect, but little of the blame can be placed at the feet of Udogie, who put in a solid all-round performance and was equally impressive against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.

The Italian was superb in close-quarters situations, with the statisticians crediting him with winning 14 of his 19 one-on-one duels across the two matches while he didn’t get dribbled past a single time. He offered plenty of width going forward too, drawing a string of fouls against Palace and creating some dangerous moments. His fault so far has been that he tends to either be strong at the back or good in attack but rarely both – over the past few weeks, he showed that he can do his duties at both ends without compromising.

3. Rico Lewis – Manchester City (-)

Another non-mover at the top end of the table. Lewis, a player who almost never seems to misplace a pass, was yet again absolutely rock steady for Manchester City, losing possession just nine times in two full matches, which is a remarkably low number by any standards.

There were few truly standout moments for Lewis this time around, but equally few were needed – he kept it economical, simple, and scarcely put a foot wrong. Every time Lewis steps onto the field, he looks more assured, and his passing range is growing by the game.

2. Lewis Hall – Newcastle United (-)

For the second week on the bounce, Hall comes within an inch of top spot. The left-back was superb once more against Chelsea in a losing cause, providing the aforementioned cross which evaded Levi Colwill and found its way to Isak for Newcastle’s equaliser.

He was mostly very effective in defence as well, beaten on the run once but also forcing three turnovers and blocking a goalbound shot. The only real strike against Hall, and the reason he misses out on first place once again, is that his passing was unusually inaccurate and he gave possession away no fewer than 17 times. Still, all told, a very strong outing.

1. Jhon Durán – Aston Villa (-)

We’ve never had the top four places stay the same before, but this was a case of yet another week, yet another goal and yet more deserved time on top of our rankings for the Colombian striker, who scored Villa’s second goal against Bologna in the Champions League.

That fine hooked finish from close range was, admittedly, balanced out by the missing of a presentable chance against Bournemouth after he came on for Ollie Watkins, but at the end of the day, if a striker gets to first place and keeps scoring, he stays there. Durán continues to do just that.