The Barclays Premier League is home to young exciting prospects with unbelievable talent. With the new league season commencing in less than two weeks, young players across all of the leagues’ teams will be looking to show their importance to their respective team. The following article looks at 5 young players who will aim to establish themselves as a key member to their team and who will want to make a big impact and take the Premier League by storm this league season.
Saido Berahino
First and foremost, versatile 21 year old striker Saido Berahino from West Bromich Albion is looking to replicate his form from the previous season. In the 2014/15 Premier League season he scored an impressive 14 goals in 38 league appearances for West Brom. For a side that lacked creativity and chances to score goals, Berahino’s goals were able to help West Brom finish 13th by the end of the season. An impressive display from Berahino in the league has allowed him to attract interest from top English clubs including Tottenham and Liverpool. Rumours also suggested that Manchester City were once interested in signing the young striker.
Last season, Berahino was an enjoyable player to watch. His finishing ability proved to be very impressive for a young player, allowing him to score from a range of distances. In addition, Berahino also has a lot of pace, causing trouble for the oppositions defenders. His finishing ability and pace together can help him in future to score more goals and become a better overall striker. Saido Berahino was named as West Brom’s Player of the Year due to his brilliance in the West Brom side. This season will test him to see if he can replicate his form from last season and become an even better player. Whether it is under Tony Pulis at West Brom or if he does leave for a bigger club, Berahino will look to shine once again in the league this season regardless of which club he is at.
Jordan Ibe
Versatile English winger Jordan Ibe looks set to be Liverpool’s new breakthrough talent. Last season, Ibe made an impression to the Liverpool team with 14 appearances following a loan spell at Derby County where he scored 5 goals in 24 appearances. The departure of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City could open the door for Jordan Ibe to fight and make his impact on the Liverpool team and also the Barclays Premier League. This season, the 19 year old will aim to make a better impression at Liverpool and show others the talent that he possesses. Ibe has also shined during Liverpool’s pre season, supporting his chances of making it to the first team.
Since joining Liverpool, Jordan Ibe has been heavily praised by current manager Brendan Rodgers. Ibe has been described as a player with ‘a bright footballing brain’ due to his versatility as he can play as a winger on either flank and also as a playmaker. Ibe has many attributes as a player but one of his biggest strengths is his dribbling ability. His strong dribbling ability allows him to link with his pace to cause problems for the oppositions players and become an overall threat, whether he drives himself forward or picks out another player to add to the pressure. Jordan Ibe is an exciting prospect to watch who will look to take the Premier League by storm next season.
Jack Grealish
Aston Villa midfielder is Jack Grealish is another individual who will want to make his impact to the Premier League in the coming season. Last season showed small success for Grealish where he won both FAI Under-21 International Player of the Year and Aston Villa Young Player of the Season. In addition, both the Republic of Ireland and England national teams are trying to get Jack Grealish to join their first teams despite him playing for the Republic of Ireland since U17 level. Jack Grealish began his impact at Villa towards the end of the season where he helped the club in their relegation battle and stay in the league. Grealish made 12 league appearances and also earned a starting position in the FA Cup final. This season, Grealish will look to make a bigger impact on the Aston Villa side and show the Premier League his talent.
Jack Grealish has great talent which makes him a player to watch in the league this season. Grealish has great passing ability from short to medium range and he ended the season with 92.7% pass completion. Grealish has been known in the past to make key passes that can change the game. One example of this includes his assist to Fabian Delph in the FA Cup Semi Final game against Liverpool, helping them to win and progress to the final. Along with his great passing ability, Grealish also possesses strong dribbling ability, allowing him to be a threat to the oppositions players.
Kurt Zouma
Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has already began to make an impact on the Chelsea team after securing 15 league appearances last season. Signed by Chelsea in 2014, Zouma was named as one of the ten most promising young players in Europe by The Observer and has also already been compared to the likes of Marcel Desailly. For a player of his age to already be given this much recognition reveales the talent he has and that this season could become the season he makes his impact to the Premier League. In addition to this, the young defender could also aim to replace either Gary Cahill or John Terry in the Chelsea first team this season and become a vital part of the team.
Kurt Zouma already has many attributes that can help him in future to become a world class defender. He’s a very quick player, good at clearing the oppositions play and is also good at passing from different ranges. Furthermore, one of his biggest strengths would have to be his aerial threat. Whenever the ball is in the air, it is likely that Zouma will win the duel and carry on the play for his team. Zouma’s aerial threat is supported by his 6ft 2 height and also his strength, both of which assist him when in the air. Last season he recorded a 67% record in headed duels won, the season previous at St Etienne this percentage was much higher at 80%. For a young player to already have so many strong attributes and to have lots of potential, it shows why Zouma will be ready to make his impact on the Premier League this coming season.
Jack Butland
The final player to look at is 22 year old Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland. This transfer window, Stoke City sold their first choice keeper (Asmir Begovic) to last years Premier League winners Chelsea. With the first choice position open, Butland will look to step up and proclaim his position in the Stoke City team; fighting off competition from other keeper Shay Given. Butland has made glimpses of appearances in the Stoke first team this season with 8 league appearances which include clean sheets performances against Tottenham and Burnley.
During his professional career, Butland has been sent out on loan to a number of clubs in order to gain first team experience. This season will be the ultimate test for the young keeper to see how he copes playing first team Premier League football on a regular basis. Butland’s uprise to becoming a top keeper is slowly becoming a reality, however, this season could be his season to prove whether this “dream” will make it to reality. Playing against other top Premier League teams will be the greatest test for Butland to handle.
John Smith 