The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Man Utd & Man City starlets battle for top spot

Welcome to 3 Added Minutes’ weekly Wonderkid Power Rankings – our regular ranking of the ten best young players in the Premier League based on their form at the very highest level of the game.

Last week, Leicester City’s Abdul Fatawu took top spot after the first games of the season following his impressive contribution to a 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, but can he cling on to top spot for a second week running, or will another young buck take the throne?

It hasn’t been the best week for the top flight’s under-21s – indeed, we didn’t get a single goal from an eligible player to celebrate, and this week’s top ten cobbled together the grand sum total of one assist between them. Good news, at least, for some defensive players, who get their time in the sun. We also have two new entries to gush over this time around, with Chelsea’s Roméo Lavia dropping out after getting just six minutes of playing time over two games and Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento punished for a poor game away to Bournemouth. No doubt both will be back later in the season.

10. Alex Scott – Bournemouth (⬇️1)

Despite a very solid outing last weekend, Scott was relegated to the bench for the 1-1 draw against Newcastle but came on with a little under half an hour to play and put in a solid performance with few mistakes to fuss about, even if he wasn’t quite as heavily involved as he might have liked. Presumably his minutes are being managed to an extent as he gradually integrates into the first team following an injury-interrupted first season at the Vitality Stadium, but on the basis of what we’ve seen so far it won’t be long before he’s a full-blown regular.

9. Adam Wharton – Crystal Palace (⬇️2)

Crystal Palace haven’t got off to the best start to the season, and while you can’t place too much of the blame for that at the feet of Wharton it’s fair to say he wasn’t at his best in the defeat to West Ham United, especially on the defensive side – he was dribbled past five times and was outmuscled at times in the centre of the park, which is rather out of character for the precocious England international. There were a few very neat passes, at least, in particular an inch-perfect through ball which put Eberechi Eze through down the left channel for what was probably Palace’s best chance of the first half.

8. Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth (new entry)

The Hungarian full-back was often impressive going forward with the ball last season but there was a sense that he needed to develop his defensive game a little – so while he didn’t have too much impact in the final third this time around, it’s encouraging for Cherries fans that he was so much more solid at the back this weekend. He was responsible for three turnovers, four clearances, and for keeping Josh Murphy almost completely quiet.

7. Jhon Durán – Aston Villa (⬇️4)

The tricky part of being an impact sub for your side is that you often only get a very limited window of opportunity to make an impression, especially when you’re playing against a team like Arsenal – and in the case of Durán, that chance turned out to be just one shooting opportunity, well blocked, and that was that. For the remainder of the 25 minutes he was on the field, the Colombian was more or less anonymous, but he retains his place in the top ten on the strength of last week’s game-winning goal at the London Stadium.

6. Facundo Bunonanotte – Leicester City (NE)

The Brighton loanee was on the cusp of the top ten last week and breaks in after a good showing in the Foxes’ defeat at Craven Cottage, which the 19-year-old capped with a brilliant in-swinging corner which landed bang on top of Wout Faes’ head and resulted in the equalising goal. Apart from that he worked hard off the ball and played a handful of very dangerous passes into his fellow forwards, and although his decision-making with the ball is far from perfect as yet he showed plenty of highly encouraging flashes.

5. Yankuba Minteh – Brighton & Hove Albion (⬇️3)

Last week’s number two drops a few slots despite a decent outing against Manchester United in which we saw a few flashes of genuine quality, especially in terms of his crossing and knack for finding space down the right side of the field.

The reason for his slight shuffle down the table was his nasty habit of losing the ball, especially in one-on-one situations where he often either lost the ball going forward or failed to deal with United’s players when tracking back – indeed, he ended up conceding possession 22 times this week, which is a bit much for us to laud the young Gambian to the rafters. It’s still pretty clear that Brighton have yet another big talent on their hands.

4. Rico Lewis – Manchester City (⬆️ 6)

Lewis barely scraped into the top ten last week but played very nicely indeed during what turned out to be a straightforward 4-1 win over Ipswich Town. There were criticisms that could be made – he clattered Aro Murić’s bar when he should probably have scored, for starters – but this was a very good display which ensured Manchester City really didn’t miss the resting Rodri.

His touch, technique and movement were simply a bit too good for the Ipswich midfield and he drew five fouls as he continually skipped away from them, making space for himself and others and keeping possession moving along with very few impediments. A fine outing for the generously-haired utility player.

3. Abdul Fatawu – Leicester City (⬇️2)

Last week’s winner couldn’t hang on to top spot for a second week on the bounce, despite a hard-working display down the Leicester right which saw him find space quite a few times without being able to contribute a telling final ball – he didn’t complete a single cross and made only 52% of his passes successfully over the course of the game.

But he was very effective when tracking back and registered seven turnovers to help his team stay in the game and keep Fulham at arm’s length, even it proved to be a futile effort in the end. A game with more graft than productivity, but which still featured occasional flashes of his playmaking talent.

2. Kobbie Mainoo – Manchester United (⬆️ 3)

A remarkably consistent player given his young age, Mainoo once again went through a difficult game without missing a beat and while he couldn’t influence the final result, he was solid, economical and superb in close-quarters situations against Brighton’s energetic midfield.

As he so often does, he kept the ball moving almost continuously, broke the lines with the ball at his feet and made everything ten times easier for those around him. A booking mildly blotted his copybook, but to go through a full match and only concede possession eight times underlines just how good he is with the ball. A remarkable player.

1. Savinho – Manchester City (⬆️ 3)

The brilliant young Brazilian may well have ended up on top last week if he hadn’t been taken off early due to an injury scare, but he was back for 70 minutes this week and ran Ipswich ragged, turning defenders inside out and creating chances throughout.

Not long after Sammie Szmodics’ unexpected opener he tempted Leif Davis into a foul inside the box to tee up Erling Haaland’s equalising penalty and was then credited with an assist for hassling Murić off the ball and allowing Kevin de Bruyne in to get the scoreboard going in City’s favour. He was no slouch off the ball, either, making four tackles and pressing hard. An exceptionally impressive and impactful performance.