The EFL has seen some fantastic young talent hone their craft throughout the leagues, with many of them going on to play Premier League football, whether through a transfer to an EPL side or their club winning promotion from the Championship.
Some top names were made in the EFL — the likes of Dele Alli and Kyle Walker both spent the early years of their respective careers in the EFL and have gone on to play top-tier football.
More recently, players like Alex Scott, who recently joined Premier League Bournemouth from Bristol City, and Ethan Brierley, who earned a move to Brentford after impressing in League Two with Rochdale — provide us with more examples. And, of course, numerous players have spent time on loan in the EFL from a Premier League club, with Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane probably being the most famous in that category in recent years!
This scout report will look at five current players in the Championship aged 21 and under who have had an impressive start to the 2023/24 campaign. It will provide a tactical analysis of their involvement in critical areas.
The analysis will include players in various positions and will also involve players who are on loan from top-tier clubs and some who aren’t on loan. The analysis of each player will provide insight into how they fit their respective clubs’ tactics and look at some of the stats behind their notable starts to the season.
All data included is, of course, current at the time of writing. An additional disclaimer is that while there will be a few names not on this list, one name in particular that may be expected to be included is Norwich City’s Jonathan Rowe. Rowe, however, is included in another article in this month’s magazine, so keep your eyes peeled!
Dexter Lembikisa — Rotherham United (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Wolves loanee Dexter Lembikisa, aged 19, made quite the impression during his loan spell at Rotherham United in the early weeks of the season. You may remember the young full-back if you watched Wolves last season as he made one Premier League appearance, and the club wanted to give him the chance of regular first-team football to aid his development.
He has been an essential part of Rotherham’s season so far, excelling in several areas in a team that, with all due respect, is expected to be battling hard for safety to stay up in the Championship.
As you can see from his heatmap, Lembisika likes to get involved up and down the pitch, demonstrating several critical traits of a modern full-back. There is data to back his performance up, too, both on and off the ball. He has a good amount of technical ability — his average of 3.58 dribbles per 90 indicates confidence in his play, and a win rate of 60% suggests that he is more than capable on the ball.
His defensive ability, considering his age, already has a strong foundation. Thanks to his fantastic athleticism — his quick feet, agility, and pace — he can react quickly and act accordingly in 1v1 situations, as seen in the image above. His defensive data is promising, too: 11.36 defensive duels per 90 with a 67.17% win rate shows some real potential.
You can also see an example of Lembisika’s footballing brain in pressure situations as he plays a pass to a nearby midfield teammate after winning his 1v1 duel instead of just clearing the ball long, ultimately giving his team a chance to build an attack of their own.
Pierre Ekwah — Sunderland
21-year-old former France U20 international Pierre Ekwah has had a fine start to life in the north-east since joining Sunderland from West Ham. Ekwah has been a vital cog for Sunderland in the early parts of the season and comes with defensive versatility — his primary position is as a defensive midfielder, but he is also experienced as a CB and LB.
His heatmap paints the picture of a midfielder who likes to operate with an energetic defensive presence, which is also present in his 4.58 interceptions per 90 statistic. He also impresses when it comes to defensive duels — he has so far averaged 7.77 per 90, winning 74.36% of them — the highest win rate of any U21 player in the Championship.
Not only is Ekwah a strong defensive presence for Sunderland, but he is also an accomplished player on the ball, particularly when it comes to passing. This is demonstrated in the image above as Ekwah executes a delicate pass through the sea of opposition shirts to send his running teammate in on goal — a chance created from quite an unlikely situation.
His data within passing is excellent as well. Starting with the basics, he averages 53.76 passes per 90, with 91.85% being accurate. Digging deeper than the base metric, we better understand his passing range — he boasts a 76% accuracy from 9.96 progressive passes per 90, shown in the image above.
Moving the ball forward is a strength of his, too, as evidenced by his average of 7.33 passes to the final third per 90 — 94.49% of them being accurate, which is the highest of any U21 player in the division.
Charlie Patino — Swansea City (on loan from Arsenal)
Arsenal youngster Charlie Patino enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Blackpool in the 2022/23 campaign, and this season has hit the ground running at fellow Championship club Swansea City. He has caught the eye on multiple occasions throughout his two loan spells as he continues to gain match experience at a strong level. He is best used as a creative midfielder, and as you can see from his heatmap above, he is no stranger to getting about the pitch, favouring the left side.
The analysis image above captures some of his top creative traits. He collects the ball just inside his own half, surrounded by opposition players. His attacking instincts kick in, and he immediately looks to drive into the opposition’s half, showing a decent ability to move quickly with the ball (more insight into his dribbling with the image below.
Above, you can also see a fine example of Patino’s vision and pass execution as he plays a perfectly weighted pass into the path of his teammate, who makes the run in behind the last defender. Superb technique in the pass is not a rarity for Patino. He already has three assists in the five appearances he’s made for the Swans this season, and his passing data offers positive insights on a deeper level.
Shifting the ball into attacking areas is a strong point of Patino’s game, as evidenced by his average of seven passes to the final third per 90 (55.6% accurate). He also shows a talent for progressive passes, in which he is accurate 79.41% of the time (2nd highest of U21 players in the Championship) — this form 8.82 progressive passes per 90.
From central areas, Patino prefers to pass the ball before moving into another supporting position rather than dribbling through midfield, as you can see from the visual above, with the majority of his dribbling and progressive runs occurring on the left flank. Patino has displayed a talent for running with the ball, with a success rate of 60% from an average of 2.59 dribbles per 90.
Matheus Martins — Watford (on loan from Udinese)
Brazilian youngster Matheus Martins has dazzled in a Watford shirt so far this season, in what is his second loan spell with the Hornets following a brief stint at the club last season. After impressing at Brazilian club Fluminense, he joined Udinese (his parent club) in 2022. As the heatmap above shows us, Martins is most active as a left-winger and likes to get involved in the penalty area, too — 4.06 touches in the box per 90 backs this up.
This image gives us some idea of his technical ability, which he has in abundance. Just a brief watch of Martins will provide you with the sense that he is a high-calibre player destined for success if he can capitalise on his opportunities.
He is seen taking the ball from a distance, ignoring the obvious close passing options to test the opposition’s defence by running at it. Utilising a combination of agility, quick feet and excellent ball control, Martins could skip through the first oncoming opponent before cutting inside and avoiding the next two opponents before unleashing an exquisite strike into the far corner. Ultimately, Martins took the ball from range and scored from practically nothing — a trait only gifted players have. This was one of two goals the Udinese loanee has scored for Watford this season.
The visual above shows us how effective Martins can be on the ball and how consistent he is at carrying the ball into dangerous areas. With 36 penetrating carries already this season, he could turn out to be one of the deadliest attacking players in the league this campaign.
We mentioned his consistency on the ball, which applies to his total dribbling, not just his carrying the ball into the box — from an average of 8.9 1v1 dribbles per 90, he wins an astonishing 73.91%. He is a nightmare for opposition full-backs.
Sam Bell — Bristol City
21-year-old Sam Bell is a product of Bristol City’s youth academy, and the club are starting to put their faith in the forward. Following various loan spells in non-league, he broke into City’s first team in the 22/23 season, where he contributed six goals in 29 appearances in all competitions.
While Bell can play as a centre forward, most of his time this season has been spent playing as a left-winger, but he has still contributed well in front of goal. Expect him to go from strength to strength this season – he is already a regular feature in Bristol City’s team, having played 626 minutes so far – the second-highest of any U21 player in the league.
He has demonstrated good qualities found in wingers, including dribbling and chance creation, both of which are visible in the image above. Bell receives the ball in the midfield third and proceeds to drive towards the box, showing good speed to evade the opposition defender.
Running with the ball is a skill that Bell executes to a reasonable level — he averages 3.31 1v1 dribbles per 90, which comes with a respectable success rate of 43.5%. As he got into the box, he demonstrated the required composure and technical ability to find a well-executed pass to set his arriving teammate up for a shot on goal.
Creating chances has the potential to be a positive part of Bell’s game, and while he is yet to record an assist in the Championship this season, his xA register of 1.11 indicates that he is making progress in this area.
Three goals so far for the Bristol City academy product – the second-highest goal tally for an U21 player in the Championship at the time of writing.
As the visual above shows us, Bell is currently overperforming his xG of 2.12 (the highest xG for a U21 player in the league), so it could be argued that he is taking his chances well.
Despite his young age, he has adapted well to life in the Championship and seems to have a cool composure in front of goal – having 40% of his shots hit the target is a promising number. However, he will want to improve on his average of 2.16 shots per 90, although this could also be down to the frequency of chances his team creates.
But, in fairness, he does have a strong attacking involvement, especially in the box – we know this thanks to his average of 4.6 touches in the box per 90, which is the second-highest register of a U21 player in the league.
Conclusion
Truthfully, there are many other names we could have covered in this scout report, as there is an abundance of young talent featuring in the Championship so far this season, which is always good to see at any level.
In this scout report, we have discussed five players who could make a genuine difference in their respective teams’ seasons while boosting their own stock.
While it is early days in the season if these five players can keep fit, train well, and most importantly continue to perform on matchdays, who knows what trajectory their career will take?
