The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Bournemouth, Newcastle & Man City starlets battle for top spot
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Once again, we’ve poured over the footage and dug through the stats to answer a classic football question – who is the best young player in the Premier League? Yes, the Wonderkid Power Rankings is back with its second edition of 2025.
For those unfamiliar with the format, every week we put together a Top 10 of the best Under-21s currently in the top flight based on a combination of stats, science and the opinions of our writers. Last time out, Lewis Hall took the crown for the first countdown of the New Year, but can his tenure at the top survive Newcastle United’s stunning 4-1 home defeat to Bournemouth?
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWe’re losing three players from last week’s rankings this time out – Archie Gray and Liam Delap had a pretty rough ride over the past seven days, while debutant Tyler Dibling sadly picked up an injury that will keep him out for at least a month. As always, players who don’t (or can’t) play can expect to see their ranking suffer as a result. Sad news for that trio, but it’s good news for two returning starlets and one brand-new entry...
10. Jhon Durán – Aston Villa (⬇️3)
The Colombian striker, now the target of a £57m bid from West Ham, has been consistently impressive when he’s playing – but having returned from a red card suspension, he was given just 10 minutes of game time over the past two games and our former number one stands on the cusp of falling out of the rankings altogether. It was a pretty rough 10 minutes, too: He touched the ball seven times, made one pass, got fouled once and gave the ball straight to the opposition on every other occasion. Which may be why Ollie Watkins got the nod despite Durán’s wildly impressive scoring record.
9. Yankuba Minteh – Brighton & Hove Albion (re-entry)
It’s good to see the Gambian winger back in our standings – the former Newcastle man started the season off at lightning pace before struggling with form and injuries, but he’s back in the Top 10 having picked up a goal and an assist against Manchester United, which made it three goal contributions in three games. His delicious dinked cross for Kaoru Mitoma was probably the highlight this week, but it was largely just exciting to see a player who can drift out of games getting into good positions and finding ways to get involved.
8. Mateus Fernandes – Southampton (RE)
Dibling might have dropped out due to injury but the Saints still have a man in our rankings – summer signing Fernandes has forced his way back in with some consistently strong performances, and he was perhaps Southampton’s best player during their 3-2 defeat away to Nottingham Forest. His passing, in particular, stood out, and he created two or three thoroughly presentable chances before his corner was headed home by Paul Onuachu for a late consolation goal. Fernandes has been on the fringes of the Top 10 for much of the season, and now gets a chance to make a run up the table. Something that Southampton probably won’t do, unfortunately.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad7. Levi Colwill – Chelsea (⬇️1)
You can’t pin much of the blame for Chelsea’s poor recent form on Colwill, who has been rock solid throughout a poor run of games and was strong again during the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, making three interceptions, three clearances and winning five aerial duels. It wasn’t necessarily a memorable outing, but an undeniably solid one – basically, the problems are other players right now. Injury kept him out of the win over Wolves, but he should be back next week and therefore keeps his place in the Top 10.
6. Lucas Bergvall – Tottenham Hotspur (new entry)
So much pressure has been placed on some of Spurs’ less experienced players between the injury list and recent poor results, but Swedish midfielder Bergvall, who only arrived this summer, seems to be thriving under difficult circumstances. He’s been consistently impressive both on and off the ball of late, and was especially immense in the North London Derby, not only playing a couple of killer balls but also registering six tackles and two blocked shots while winning 10 of 14 one-on-one duels – most players don’t contest 10 duels in a game, less still win them. There are rough edges to sand off but his work ethic and ability to keep the ball moving deserve recognition.
5. Rico Lewis – Manchester City (-)
Normally, if a player was only given 18 minutes of action over the course of two games, they’d see their ranking slide – but Lewis holds firm simply because all the players below him last week failed to make a case to be elevated into the top five, and because Lewis did exactly what he always does during his brief cameo, which is be impeccably tidy with the ball.
Thirty passes attempted, thirty completed, and he didn’t concede possession once in any fashion, which is harder to do than it might sound. He offers so much control with the ball and has been one of the few Manchester City players who has played consistently well this season. We assume he’ll get his starting spot back soon, otherwise we really will have to start shuffling him down the board.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad4. Savinho – Manchester City (⬇️2)
The Brazilian winger was rested for the 6-0 win over Ipswich Town, which is a shame as one imagines that he could have scored a hatful based on the way he’s played of late – and he was just as dangerous against Brentford during midweek as he has been for a few weeks now, albeit without the end product.
His ability to get into dangerous areas, test the goalkeeper and create chances for others is pretty remarkable at such a young age, and he worked his way into positions to get five shots in on goal against Thomas Frank’s team, unluckily hitting the post with one. He slides a few places due to failing to hit the back of the net, missing a game and impressive performances by other players, but Savinho is still firmly deserving of a high ranking right now.
3. Lewis Hall – Newcastle United (⬇️2)
Although Hall has spent more weeks at the top of our table than any other player so far this season (only Durán comes close, but it’s been a while), he won’t kick-start 2025 with back-to-back number ones – this was not Hall’s best week as a Newcastle player, even if he did set up the Magpies’ only goal against Bournemouth with a well-targeted corner.
Hall has a weakness when challenged one-on-one by players on the run and it showed worse than usual this time – he was beaten by dribblers three times against both Bournemouth and Wolves, which is quite a lot, and struggled in ground duels while also failing to make as many impactful forays forward as usual. A fine player who was a little bit off the boil over the past seven days.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad2. Dean Huijsen – Bournemouth (⬆️2)
It’s strange to think now that the Spaniard wasn’t even getting first-team minutes just a few weeks ago – but since earning a starting spot, the former Juventus centre-half has made it abundantly clear that the job both should probably will be his for the foreseeable future.
Huijsen put up some frankly ridiculous statistics over the course of the games against Chelsea and Newcastle – a total of 11 tackles and interceptions, seven blocked shots and eight clearances, one of them from off the goal line. His impact, physical dominance and raw numbers are redolent of what Jarrad Branthwaite did for Everton last season. Bournemouth have got themselves a hell of a player.
1. Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth (⬆️2)
There are no fewer than two Cherries on top of our rankings this week, which is as good a testament as any to the remarkable work that Andoni Iraola has done so far this season. Frankly, we could have picked either Kerkez or Huijsen as our winner this time out, but we gave the Hungarian his second week at the peak due both to long-term consistency and his cracking strike at St. James’ Park.
His angled, inch-perfect finish across the face of Martin Dúbravka’s goal was just the garnish for a brilliant all-round effort by both Kerkez and his team, and the left-back didn’t put a foot wrong all week – he did everything at the back tidily and effortlessly and his driving forward runs helped to carry Bournemouth into dangerous areas on a regular basis. Kerkez has taken a massive step forward this season both in terms of end product and the quality of his performances, and richly deserves to be perched at the summit of our Top 10. Two weeks, two left-backs… let’s see what happens next week.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.