Top 20 Under-21 Premier League players in 2025/26: Dorgu 19th, Nwaneri 7th, no Ngumoha

Jason Soutar 05 Sep 2025 7:04 AM

Premier League youngsters Lewis Hall, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Leny Yoro, Nico O'Reilly and Jack Hinselwood

We’ve ranked the 20 best Premier League players under the age of 21, as of September 4. Trust us, it wasn’t easy.

The sheer volume of young talent in the league is outrageous. At one point we considered limiting it to teenagers, but that wasn’t the plan. Still, whittling it down to just 20 has been a migraine-inducing task, and some brilliant prospects have inevitably been left out.

Our first draft was ridiculous; 39 names made the cut initially. Back then, Burnley, Wolves, Leeds United, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest were the only clubs without a representative. By the time we trimmed the list down, Bournemouth, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Sunderland joined them among the Premier League’s youth-neglecting b**tards.

Since we dropped nearly as many players as we kept, we’ll throw in honourable mentions right up until first place (in no particular order). Just to give ourselves extra work. But everything we do, we do it for you.

It’s tough to avoid a so-called ‘Big Six’ bias with lists like this. The best teams usually have the best players: young, prime, or old. That doesn’t mean every talented youngster starts at a big club, but the food chain tends to funnel them there sooner or later.

This is a combination of the best players ranked in terms of ability, but it’s also a bit of a ‘players to watch’ feature. Talent-wise, you might argue that Rio Ngumoha and Max Dowman are shoo-ins, but we’re not convinced they’ll actually start a league game in 2025/26. There’s no need for those two to be added as honourable mentions then. Lovely.

20) El Hadji Malick Diouf (West Ham United)

Signed from Slavia Prague for £19million this summer, Diouf has played every minute for West Ham so far this season. He’s registered an assist in each of his last two appearances, helping the Hammers earn their first win of 2025/26 at Nottingham Forest on matchday three.

Honourable mention: Oliver Scarles (West Ham United)

19) Patrick Dorgu (Manchester United)

From one wing-back to another, we’ve seen Diouf play in a back four already, but every time Dorgu has started for United, it’s been in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1. After costing around £25m, there are high expectations for the 20-year-old. We’re yet to be convinced, but he does seem well-suited to the wing-back role. It’s hard to judge any player while playing in Amorim’s dysfunctional system, to be fair.

Honourable mention: Chido Obi (Manchester United)

18) Stefanos Tzimas (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Brighton completed the signing of Tzimas in February, allowing the striker to stay at FC Nuremberg in Bundesliga 2 for the rest of 2024/25. He scored 12 goals in 24 league appearances last term and made a significant impact on his Albion debut, registering two goals and one assist in 24 minutes off the bench at Oxford United in a 6-0 Carabao Cup second round win.

Honourable mention: Charalampos Kostoulas (Brighton & Hove Albion)

17) Wilson Odobert (Tottenham Hotspur)

Injuries curtailed Odobert’s debut season in north London, but he’s come off the bench in three out of three league games this term. The Frenchman is an exciting winger, as shown in his first few appearances under Ange Postecoglou. After improving Kevin Schade’s game at Brentford, you’d back Thomas Frank to get Odobert flying. Not literally, obviously.

Honourable mention: Ben Gannon Doak (AFC Bournemouth)

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16) Josh Acheampong (Chelsea)

Chelsea have a top talent in versatile defender Acheampong, yet without an injury to Levi Colwill, he’d have likely been sold in the summer transfer window. The 19-year-old can play right-back, left-back and centre-back, and started on matchday one against Crystal Palace, helping the Blues keep a clean sheet. He’s been an unused substitute in the other two fixtures, and even with Colwill out for the best part of a year, we fear for his game time across the campaign.

Honourable mention: Tyrique George (Chelsea)

15) Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool)

Leoni’s chances of playing this season are higher after Liverpool failed to capture Marc Guehi. Possibly the only person to benefit from that transfer falling through, the young Italian will be waiting for Ibrahima Konate’s inevitable injury to take his chance.

Honourable mention: Alex Jimenez (AFC Bournemouth)

14) Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion)

We’ve already seen a lot of young Hinshelwood; 52 times in the Premier League, to be exact. The 20-year-old is naturally a defensive midfielder, but has played a lot of his senior football in defence. His versatility is astonishing, starting up front and scoring a brace against Spurs on the final day of last season. Hinshelwood has seven goal involvements in his last 13 top-flight appearances. He’s a serious talent.

Honourable mention: Tom Watson (Brighton & Hove Albion)

13) Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur)

Gray was milked dry by Postecoglou in 24/25, playing here, there and everywhere as Tottenham finished a dismal 17th in the Premier League, but won the Europa League. There’s no doubting Gray’s ability and he is another player you’d back to thrive under Frank, who wanted to bring the ex-Leeds United teenager to Brentford before he moved to Spurs in 2024.

Honourable mention: Chris Rigg (Sunderland)

12) Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)

Did you know: O’Reilly scored 21 goals and made 17 assists in 26 matches for Man City’s Under-21 side. As has been the case with several young midfielders breaking through, he has been restricted mainly to full-back appearances in the first team, but he has done very well with those opportunities. O’Reilly really grew into that role last season and will have been disappointed to see Rayan Ait-Nouri join, because he’ll be very difficult to dislodge from left-back.

Honourable mention: Lewis Miley (Newcastle United)

11) Mathys Tel (Tottenham Hotspur)

We’re yet to see why Tel is so highly rated, but he is a top talent, and we’re not just saying that because of his Football Manager potential. The 20-year-old only has three goals in 23 matches since leaving Bayern Munich. Come on, fella, don’t make us look silly.

Honourable mention: Eli Kroupi (AFC Bournemouth)

10) Rico Lewis (Manchester City)

Lewis broke into an unmovable force of a Man City side as a teenager and his reputation has somewhat declined as City’s performances as a team took a nosedive. Regardless, we’re not writing him off. Nottingham Forest tried to sign him last month and Pep Guardiola’s side responded by offering him a new contract. After the Spanish manager didn’t sign a right-back in the summer, there’s a great opportunity for Lewis to re-stake a claim.

Honourable mention: Eliezer Mayenda (Sunderland)

9) Leny Yoro (Manchester United)

Yoro is another young Frenchman yet to show us why he’s been deemed a wonderkid, but like Tel, he’s been showcasing his immense talent in a shambolic football team. Spurs are showing signs of competence, while United still look a mess under Amorim. That doesn’t stop us from rating Yoro and backing him to have a grand career. Probably at Real Madrid.

Honourable mention: Ayden Heaven (Manchester United)

8) Tyler Dibling (Everton)

A supreme talent, Dibling was signed by Everton for around £40m following Southampton’s relegation. We say that as if he didn’t leave until August 25. It’s probably unhealthy how much I like Dibling considering he’s 11 years my junior, but he’s an extremely exciting player. The Toffees have got themselves a gem. It’s quite surprising that there wasn’t more interest in the summer.

Honourable mention: Romain Esse (Crystal Palace)

7) Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)

Arsenal’s new starboy might already be behind Max Dowman in the pecking order, though there is a chance Nwaneri has been promised more minutes in midfield than on the right wing, where Dowman came off the bench at Anfield over his fellow Hale End talent. There’s an argument for the 18-year-old to be higher than seventh and out of everyone here, he might have the highest ceiling, but recency bias is kicking in a little.

Honourable mention: Josh King (Fulham)

6) Lewis Hall (Newcastle United)

Recency bias isn’t kicking in with Hall, who seems to be behind Kieran Trippier in the pecking order after the 34-year-old’s renaissance under Eddie Howe. He should be Howe’s long-term left-back, however, with Tino Livramento, 22, on the right. He proved he’s up to the task with a stellar 2024/25 campaign, but injuries hindered that season and will hopefully stop being a burden for a future England regular.

Honourable mention: Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland)

5) Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham Hotspur)

Spurs made FC Barcelona look small to secure Bergvall’s signature in the 2024 winter window, completing the signing in the summer. He played a big role in the club’s Europa League success in May and should be a key player for years to come.

Honourable mention: Noah Sadiki (Sunderland)

4) Jorrel Hato (Chelsea)

One of the highest-rated young defenders in the world, Hato chose Chelsea’s project in the summer after deciding to leave Ajax. His talent is frightening, and like a few on this list, he is extremely versatile. Capable of playing anywhere in defence, Hato can take Colwill’s spot in centre-back and make it his own.

Honourable mention: Antoni Milambo (Brentford)

3) Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)

Zero minutes played in United’s opening two Premier League fixtures triggered serious rumours of a move away before the September 1 transfer deadline, but the Red Devils had no intention of letting him leave, on loan or permanently. In truth, it’s the smartest decision this silly club has made in a long time. Mainoo is bloody brilliant and needs regular football to prove it. After Amorim failed to lure Carlos Baleba from Brighton, we should see the England midfielder become a regular starter after the international break. If he doesn’t, there’s no helping the United head coach…

2) Estevao Willian (Chelsea)

We are very, very excited about Estevao. It’s fun to see a genuine Brazilian wonderkid winger choose the Premier League over Real Madrid and Barcelona, and now it’s on Chelsea and Enzo Maresca to develop him properly. He shouldn’t play too many minutes, and with Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens also signed this summer, he probably won’t, but Estevao can’t be left to rot on the bench this season. His full debut against West Ham gave us a glimpse of Estevao’s talent, and we’re looking forward to seeing him grow at Stamford Bridge.

1) Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal)

Eighteen years old. Three England caps. One England goal. Forty-one Arsenal appearances. One Arsenal goal. Two Arsenal assists. Ten Champions League appearances. One s**thouse celebration. What a talent Lewis-Skelly is. The teenager is another midfielder to play left-back in the first team, and no other player on this list has taken to that role quite like him. Lewis-Skelly has world-class potential and might be the perfect inverted left-back for Mikel Arteta’s system. Seriously, what a talent.

F365 Features Jorrel Hato