Pre-season performances should usually be taken with a pinch of salt.
Iago Aspas scored four times in his first few weeks as a Liverpool player, Yaya Sanogo looked the business at Arsenal while, at Manchester United, Andreas Pereira’s ‘pre-season Pirlo’ nickname told it’s own story.
Nonetheless, the sprightly performances of these baby-faced starlets suggests that we could be getting an intriguing into a very bright future at Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.
William Saliba – Arsenal
Better late than never, right? Three years after they snatched one of Europe’s most promising young central defenders from under Tottenham Hotspur’s nose, £27 million Saliba is finally ‘ready’ to make his mark in the Premier League. At least, that’s what Mikel Arteta things.
“I am really pleased to see the way he is playing,” Arteta said following Arsenal’s 4-0 destruction of Chelsea in Florida. “The way he has adapted to the team, the maturity that he’s shown at 21-years-old…
“We will keep developing him. He has a huge potential. He’s already a top player and we have to make him even better. He looks ready to me.”
Saliba is the current holder of Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year award, following a fine loan spell at Marseille last term. Could he claim England’s version of the same award in 2023?
Albert Sambi Lokonga – Arsenal
Another Arsenal starlet who made his mark against the Blues. Lokonga’s clever header in stoppage time lathered a thick layer of icing onto an already tasty cake. And his eye-catching displays in a more attacking midfield role give Arteta plenty of food for thought.
Lokonga’s ball-carrying ability has always been his main strength. But he’s adding a real cutting edge to his game now, providing two assists in three games as a roving number eight.
Fabio Carvalho – Liverpool
Overshadowed perhaps by the club-record arrival of Darwin Nunez, former Fulham teenager Carvalho is going about things in the right way as he looks to prove n that he’s more than just ‘one for the future’ at Anfield.
Carvalho’s gliding movement and an ability to cause havoc cutting in onto his left foot have already led to comparisons with a certain Philippe Coutinho.
“He’s got bags of talent,” former Liverpool ace Jason McAteer tells LFCTV. “We saw that when he was at Fulham; A great prospect with loads of potential.
“I’m not sure he’s quite ready yet, but he looks like Coutinho to me.”
Luke Plange – Crystal Palace
Wayne Rooney knows a talented centre-forward when he sees one. And while Plange’s sudden emergence as a first-team player at Derby County may have been borne out of necessity, the 19-year-old England U20 international already appears to have outgrown the sterilised world of reserve team football.
Plange scored a hat-trick in Crystal Palace’s 4-2 pre-season victory over Ipswich Town; Three tidy finishes which suggest Jean-Philippe Mateta and co should be glancing nervously over their shoulders.
A natural goalscorer if we’ve ever seen one.
Malcolm Ebiowei – Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace already have one dizzying wideman who makes Manchester United supporters wish they could turn back the clock. In Ebiowei, they could have a second.
The fleet-footed 18-year-old turned down Old Trafford before following Plange from Derby to Selhurst Park this summer (Fabrizio Romano). His dizzying footwork have already drawn comparisons with Wilfried Zaha. Ebiowei’s elegant stride, however, arguably makes him more reminiscent of Eberechi Eze.
According to The Athletic, Patrick Vieira is already planning to include Ebiowei – who nearly scored a stunning solo goal against United during the Australian pre-season tour – in his first-team plans.
Elliot Anderson – Newcastle United
Newcastle United are one of the richest football clubs on planet earth. But that has won’t stop supporters clamouring for a Whitley Bay-born teenager to be fast-tracked into Eddie Howe’s senior squad. It seems they will be in luck too.
The lavishly talented Anderson has picked up where he left off during a talismanic loan spell at Bristol Rovers, with The Telegraph indicating that he’ll be donning black-and-white stripes next term.
Newcastle’s academy has been criminally underused in the 21st century. Anderson’s rapid rise, however, should give hope to an all-new generation of Magpies.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
