‘Ones to watch’ players for the next Premier League season
By Josh Mayne
With the Premier league set to make its imminent return for the 2023/24 season, there will be lots of young players desperate to make their mark for the benefit of their careers. In the 22/23 season, players such as Kaoru Mitoma, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia established themselves as top talents, with an abundance of Premier League appearances between them in their ‘breakthrough’ seasons. This season will be no different, and there are plenty of talented youngsters ready to set the Premier League alight and establish themselves as more than talented youngsters. Here we will look at some players who have every chance to make a name for themselves this season.
Kobbie Mainoo
Kobbie Mainoo is an English, 18-year-old central midfielder who plays his football at Manchester United. He currently just has 3 senior appearances for the first team, however, he has performed exceptionally well in Manchester United’s pre-season, earning him a place in manager Erik Ten Hag’s plans for the season, highlighted by Ten Hags reluctancy to let Mainoo leave on a season-long loan spell. Mainoo has impressive ball carrying skills from the midfield, is press resistant, has an excellent range of passing and is tenacious when working off the ball. Pairing United’s ever-busy schedule with these sort of attributes makes it understandable why Ten Hag has this young talent in his plans for the season. Also, playing for such a high-profile club like Manchester United, fans will all quickly get to know who Mainoo is and what he’s all about.
Levi Colwill
Levi Colwill played his football last season on loan with Brighton and Hove Albion, making 22 appearances for the Seagulls. The has been exceptional since making his debut and is looking to keep this momentum going back at his club Chelsea, who have made it clear he is staying at the club this season, playing under new manager Mauricio Pochettino. Colwill played a every minute of the 5 games he was involved in with England U21’s successful triumph in the U21 European Cup, where they proceeded to win the tournament whilst also managing to not concede a single goal. His close ball control, ability to pass the ball forward, one-on-one defending and physicality means he has perfect attributes for a Centre-Back in the modern game, therefore it wouldn’t be surprising if Colwill quickly starts to become a regular for Chelsea in their starting lineups.
Alejandro Garnacho
Alejando Garnacho announced himself onto the scene last season for Manchester United, making 36 first team appearances last season within Manchester United’s busy schedule. The 19-year-old Argentine is one of the few players lucky enough to have played with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, even at such a young age. Garnacho resembles that of a young Cristiano Ronaldo; he is a skillful winger with lots of pace and directness to his game, whilst also having the ability to find the back of the net, which he proved on five occasions for the Red Devils last season. This year, Garnacho will be looking to push on from last season and really make a name for himself in the starting line-ups; with already 36 appearances to his name, it’s clear that Erik Ten Hag is willing to give the youngster plenty of opportunities to shine for United.