The new EPL season gets underway on Friday, 16th August, when Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford.
The 2024/25 campaign is threatening to be one of the most open and intriguing in years, with Arsenal primed to win their first title in 21 years, doubts surrounding Pep Guardiola’s future and the ongoing transitions of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea.
As usual, we’ll also see a select number of young starlets make their market during the brand new season. Here’s our take on three of the most likely breakout stars!
Ethan Nwaneri, Arsenal
If you play at 20bet, you’ll see that Arsenal are the second favourites to win the 2024/25 Premier League. The Gunners are also home to a hotbed of young talent, including the precocious midfielder Ethan Nwaneri.
Nwaneri has already made EPL history, of course, becoming the youngest ever Premier League player aged 15 years and 181 days old on September 19th, 2022. He appeared for a few minutes at the end of Arsenal’s 3-0 win at Brentford, showcasing glimpses of his composure and quality in the process.
He also played 13 minutes in the 6-0 thrashing of West Ham in February, with the talented Nwaneri largely operating in an advanced midfield role. He ranked third in the Premier League 2 last year for goals scored (11) too, averaging 0.97 goals contributions per 90 minutes overall. We expect to see more of him in 2024/25.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Crystal Palace
Palace ended last season with six wins in seven matches, including 4-0 and 5-0 home thrashings of Manchester United and Aston Villa respectively. Although they’ve since lost Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, young winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi may offer an in-house replacement for coach Oliver Glasner.
He appeared from the bench six times in 2023/24 under Roy Hodgson, after scoring 15 goals and contributing eight assists for Charlton in League 1 during the previous campaign. When he appeared for the reserves in Premier League 2 last year, he registered five goal involvements in just 229 minutes of action, at a rate of two per 90.
So, although Palace may move for a direct and more seasoned replacement in the transfer market, the talented Rak-Sakyi should get considerably more game time for the Eagles in 2024/25.
Mikey Moore, Tottenham Hotspur
16-year-old Mikey Moore is one of the best Spurs’ academy graduates since Harry Kane, while he looks set to get plenty of game time under the stewardship of fearless manager Ange Postecoglou. He recently scored his second pre-season goal in a 3-2 victory over Vissel Kobe, while his youth team stats compare favourably with the legendary Kane.
In fact, he has played 24 matches for the U18s, scoring 19 goals and contributing 13 assists (equating to 1.5 goal involvements per 90 minutes). Interestingly, Bayern striker Kane also produced 1.5 goal contributions per 90 in 13 games for the U21s, which yielded nine goals and nine assists in total.
An attacking midfielder and forward, Moore also scored four goals from 14 attempts for England during the Under-17 European Championship. He ranked second in the whole tournament for total goal involvements too, while his penchant for special and unexpected goals makes him one to watch this season.
