Since the First Division was rebranded as the Premier League in 1992, there have been more than 100 hat-tricks. Eric Cantona was the first player to net three times in a single game, then playing for Leeds United, and five players have scored five or more hat-tricks in the division since then.
Despite that, young players who have scored hat-tricks in English football’s top flight is slightly rarer than you might expect, and finding 7 players aged under 23 to have managed the feat took us back more than a decade.
Here are the last 7 U23 players to score Premier League hat-tricks: Where are they now?
7. Raheem Sterling – Manchester City
The most recent player under the age of 23 to score a Premier League hat-trick was Raheem Sterling in October 2015. Having arrived at the Etihad only a few month earlier for a potential £49 million, Sterling was facing heavy criticism at the time. He has gone on to more than justify both his decision and that price tag though, and despite accusations that he has no final product, his output in terms of goals and assists is nothing short of superb. Sterling’s hat-trick came against Bournemouth when he was only 20, and now an established star of the Premier League, Sterling will turn 24 this week.
6. Romelu Lukaku – Manchester United
Romelu Lukaku of Man Utd battles with Alfie Mawson of Fulham during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford on December 8, 2018 in Manchester, United…
A player who divides opinion, there’s one thing that no-one can question about Romelu Lukaku, and that is that he scored an awful lot of goals at a very young age. Only Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane reached 100 Premier League goals at a younger age than him, and he became Belgium’s all time record goal scorer at the age of 24. His Premier League hat-trick memorably came in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game in charge of Manchester United, a 5-5 draw whilst Lukaku was on-loan at West Brom from Chelsea. He ended up joining Everton, where the goals continued, before joining Manchester United in a £75 million deal the summer before last. His goal scoring record isn’t bad for United either, but he isn’t quite at the level of a Kane or an Aguero, and his performances against the top teams have often been called into question.
5. Christian Benteke – Crystal Palace
Christian Benteke scored 3 goals in 17 minutes as Aston Villa thrashed Sunderland 6-1 in 2013, which is the same number of goals as he has scored in all of this season and all of last season combined for Crystal Palace. Making it two Belgian centre-forwards in a row in this seven, it’s easy to forget just how good Christian Benteke was in his first season at Villa Park. He scored 23 goals in his debut campaign, and made a £32.5 million move to Liverpool three seasons later. Now aged 27, Benteke’s career has taken something of a backwards step. Well, a backwards step off a cliff. He left Liverpool for Crystal Palace, where he had a good first season, but he’s scored fewer goals than Chris Smalling in the last 18 months.
4. Mario Balotelli – Nice
Mario Balotelli of Italy looks on during the UEFA Nations League A group three match between Italy and Poland at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on September 7, 2018 in Bologna, Italy.
Mario Balotelli arrived at Manchester City on his 20th birthday having twice hit double figures for Inter Milan and having already won the Golden Boy award. Despite his obvious ability, Balotelli was a mercurial talent, and indeed – he still is. His Premier League hat-trick, which came when the Italian was 20, takes us all the way back to December 2010, and a cold Tuesday night at the Etihad against Aston Villa. Balotelli struck three times, twice from the spot, in a 4-0 home win. Since then, the now 28-year-old has impressed with AC Milan, flopped at Liverpool, returned but struggled this time at AC Milan and signed for Nice in Ligue 1. Balotelli has scored 43 goals in 68 goals during his time on the French Riviera, but he isn’t quite at the heights some expected of him in his prime years.
3. Andy Carroll – West Ham
A man who just returned from injury, and what seems like his 300th injury of the last 12 months alone, Andy Carroll famously had a very good half season in the Premier League with Newcastle United. The powerful forward bagged 11 goals in 19 Premier League games, prior to an enormous £35 million transfer to Liverpool. It was during that period, aged 21, that Carroll scored his top flight hat-trick, once again coming against Aston Villa. Carroll ended up looking like a poor fit at Anfield, joining West Ham in 2013 for less than half of what the Reds had paid for him. Since then, Carroll has managed 33 goals in 128 games, often looking very effective when he’s been on the pitch, but rarely staying fit for an extended period of time.
2. Theo Walcott – Everton
Theo Walcott (L) of Everton and Ayoze Perez of Newcastle compete for the ball during the Premier League match between Everton and Newcastle United at Goodison Park on December 5, 2018 in…
Just one day separated Andy Carroll’s hat-trick against Aston Villa and Theo Walcott’s hat-trick against Blackpool. Walcott was of course a teenage sensation, making England’s squad for the 2006 World Cup and making a big money move to Arsenal at the age of 16. He bagged his first Premier League hat-trick four years later, although his first hat-trick for England had come two years before that in his virtuoso display away at Croatia that many of you will recall. The Englishman has gone on to have a very, very decent career, but not quite the awe-inspiring trophy-laden one some had expected of him. Now aged 29, he has been with Everton since January 2018.
1. Gabriel Agbonlahor – Free Agent
The final entrant in this seven takes us all the way back to August 2008, a time when Gabriel Agbonlahor was one of the hottest young strikers in the Premier League. Bizarrely, four out of our seven hat-tricks featured in this video were either for or against Aston Villa. At the age of 21, Gabby Agbonlahor had searing pace and presented a real threat alongside the likes of John Carew, Ashley Young and James Milner. His hat-trick came in a 4-2 win against Manchester City, in a result which seems barely fathomable now, given the fate of both teams over the last 10 years. Agbonlahor’s last few years have perhaps been even more disappointing than Villa’s, managing just one goal in each of his last three seasons with the club. He is 32 now, and currently a free agent, with Celtic the only club who seem to have been linked.
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