A look at five young players who could break through in the Premier League this season:
JAMES McATEE (Manchester City)
McAtee is a left-footed, technically gifted attacking midfielder who has been promoted to City’s senior squad by manager Pep Guardiola for this season after spending the last two years on loan at Sheffield United, which was relegated from the Premier League last season. The 21-year-old McAtee impressed on the preseason tour of the United States — when he was handed plenty of game time with many regulars still absent after Euro 2024 — and could be seen as a replacement for the soon-to-depart Julian Alvarez, negating the need for City to dip into the transfer market instead. That’s quite a show of faith by Guardiola.
AMAD DIALLO (Manchester United)
After joining United for around 20 million pounds ($25.5 million) in January 2021, Diallo — a 22-year-old winger from the Ivory Coast — had loan stints at Rangers in Scotland and then Sunderland in the English third tier amid concerns he didn’t quite have the talent to flourish at Old Trafford. Things changed in the second half of last season, though, while wingers Marcus Rashford and Antony were out of United’s team. Diallo was given more playing time by manager Erik ten Hag and didn’t look out of place, even scoring a 121st-minute winner in a classic FA Cup quarterfinal match against United’s big rival, Liverpool. Diallo will start this season with hopes of more matches now Ten Hag is staying.
CONOR BRADLEY (Liverpool)
Bradley’s development at Liverpool this season will depend much on where new manager Arne Slot sees Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future. Alexander-Arnold has long been Liverpool’s preferred right back but might eventually be pushed into midfield under Slot, giving backup Bradley more chances in the right-back role. Of all the Liverpool kids handed game time last season amid an injury crisis, Bradley stood out mainly because of his attacking dynamism, which showed itself with a goal against Chelsea. The 21-year-old Northern Ireland international was embraced by Liverpool’s fans, too, who clearly see Bradley as a future star.
LUCAS BERGVALL (Tottenham)
With his shock of blond hair, Bergvall — an 18-year-old Swede — isn’t hard to miss. He also stands out because of his touch and quality on the ball that made Tottenham spend 8.5 million pounds ($10.8 million) on a player who, in just one season at senior level, quickly became too good for his own country’s top league. So, after joining from Djurgarden, will Bergvall go immediately into the Tottenham team? It’s a big ask, given he is competing against fellow playmakers James Maddison and compatriot Dejan Kulusevski but Bergvall has done well in preseason and looks set to be part of Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou’s plans earlier than expected.
ROMEO LAVIA (Chelsea)
Last season was a washout for the 20-year-old Lavia, who made just one appearance in all competitions — as a 58th-minute substitute — because of ankle and thigh injuries following his move to Chelsea from Southampton for 58 million pounds ($74 million). He has regained his fitness and will now look to show why he was the subject of a bidding war between Chelsea and Liverpool for his services in the offseason of 2023, despite having only played 29 times in the Premier League by that point. The midfield anchorman was previously at Manchester City and has played for Belgium, so the quality is undoubtedly there. The presence in Chelsea’s squad of Moises Caicedo, another defensive midfielder bought around the same time, threatens Lavia’s potential game time, however.
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