What makes Estevao so interesting is that he seems to already have this part of the game developed to a high level at only 18 years of age. It's worth noting that executing these final third actions consistently at a high level requires two things: a brilliant footballing brain and technical quality. You need a brilliant footballing mind to be able to analyse situations and see what needs to be done in split seconds, but you also need high technical ability to execute what you see in your mind with your feet. Estevao possesses all this as well as copious amounts of flair and pace. And with injuries piling up at Chelsea, it should be easier for the Brazilian to have a starting spot in the first team going forward. He's definitely one to watch.

That goal against Chelsea (starts at 0:47) had it not been overturned by VAR — and wrongly so — would have really set the tone for Josh King's season. Pacy, tricky, composed under pressure, and he's still only 18 years old.

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Josh has had to force Emile Smith-Rowe out of the team to secure a starting spot. There is almost no better indicator of a young player's future potential than their ability to secure a starting spot over a more established player. Smith-Rowe was brought in to offer Fulham more creativity through the middle and take some of the creative burden off Iwobi's shoulders, but Marco Silva has decided that Josh King has more to offer in that regard. Nowhere is this clearer to see than watching Fulham in buildup this season. Fulham typically play two very functional midfielders in Sander Berge and Sasa Lukic, whose strengths don't particularly lie in creatively progressing the ball. In the previous years, Iwobi would have had to drop deeper to help progress the ball, leaving Fulham creatively lacking up front. But this season it's been more common to see the young Josh King dropping in to help progress the ball, meaning Iwobi can stay high and Fulham can now have creative outlets in buildup and in the final third simultaneously.

However, for such a talented player, he does have the tendency to be a bit of a mixed bag. The disallowed goal against Chelsea was a moment of controversy (albeit a positive one), but it was soon followed by other negative moments. He was penalised by VAR for diving against Aston Villa, and then he gave away the ball rather cheaply for Brentford's goal in Fulham's 3-1 win over Brentford. There are areas of his game that need to be improved, but that is to be expected as he's still young. The important thing right now is that Marco Silva trusts this young man. His qualities off the ball especially demonstrate why he's such a good fit for this hard-working Fulham side. For a player who begins every game in the no. 10 position, he is in the 94th percentile for tackles per game, and the 99th percentile for blocks per game per FBRef data. He not only brings in creativity to the team, but he will work hard and put in a shift for his team. And that's why we think he's one to watch this season.

When Southampton got relegated, I believe most of us thought Tyler Dibling wouldn't be away from the Premier League for long, and we were absolutely right. This summer, the talented 19 year old returned to the Premier League after signing for Everton as part of the new project under David Moyes.

Although he played mostly as a right-winger for Southampton, Dibling is nevertheless one of those players who are not constrained by the dictates of their position. Indeed, his most interesting trait to me is his physicality, something you don't typically associate with wingers. However, the Premier League is a notoriously difficult league to adapt to physically, and watching an 18-year-old Dibling bully experienced players physically at Southampton should have alerted us to his potential.

It's hard to get the ball off Dibling when he has it, to put it simply. When you watch comps of his appearances last season for Southampton, about 70% of them involve Dibling running forward with the ball while surrounded by three or four players and holding all of them off. His power and pace when progressing the ball are very reminiscent of Yaya Toure. And yet, for someone so physical, he is also a very elegant footballer to watch. His dribbling and close control are very good, and he strikes the ball quite well. It's not altogether impossible that he forces himself into the mix of set-piece takers at Everton before the season is over.

Iliman Ndiaye currently occupies the right-hand side of the Everton attack with Grealish on the left. However, there is a case to be made that, despite Grealish's superb start to the season, Everton could get more out of him in a free 10 role. And with Ndiaye able to play off the left as well, it could pave the way for Dibling to lay claim to that right-hand role. Whichever way it happens, we expect Dibling to play a significant part in Everton's season and remind everyone why his former manager said his left foot alone costs 90 million.

When a 20-year-old nicknamed "Mini Kante" is signed by an illustrious English club returning to the top flight after several years away, you sit up and take notice. And indeed, Noah has been a small revelation for Sunderland as they've kicked off their return to the Premier League in better fashion than they could have ever imagined. I could go on to post a bunch of stats (and I will), but few things tell you how important a player is to a club more than reactions like the one below to the news of a potential injury to the player.

Now, the stats. I think all you need to do to get a sense of why Sadiki is being compared to Kante is to look at his stats for the season so far. He's an all action, does a bit of everything midfielder with an incredible physical engine. He's in the 90th percentile of midfielders for progressive passes received and in the 78th percentile for progressive carries, showing that his team trust him as an outlet for getting them up the pitch. However, he's also in the 86th percentile for interceptions and 70th percentile for blocks, which shows that he is heavily involved in the defensive aspect of Sunderland's game. And mind you, this is against ALL THE PREMIER LEAGUE MIDFIELDERS AT THE MOMENT! And to top it all off, per FotMob data, he currently ranks 18th among all the players in the Premier League this season for distance covered per 90 (he covers an average of 5.6km per 90). Oh, and he's also 2nd for total distance covered. Mini Kante indeed.

To put it mildly, Sunderland has a gem of a midfielder on their hands who is still young and has plenty of room for growth in the future. We believe Noah will have a standout season.

Brajan Gruda reminds me a lot of Arsenal's Martin Odegaard. He's a creative attacking player who likes to operate off the right side and has a stronger left foot; his eye for a pass is brilliant, and most importantly, he puts in a serious shift out of possession for his team. Very Odegaard-esque.

However, it's his qualities on the ball that make him one of the most exciting talents right now. His ball carrying is one of his best qualities, and his physical ability means that he can be really difficult to get off the ball when he's on the move. Those who remember Brighton's game against Liverpool last season remember that Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson struggled to cope with him, and we all know that Dominik is no slouch physically. Perhaps a bigger example of his strength on the ball is his goal against Manchester City this season to win the game for Brighton. You can see how he casually holds Ait-Nouri off the ball before twisting him and Trafford to slot the ball away on his weaker foot.

This progressive ball-carrying attribute is especially useful in a Brighton side that is very focused on verticality and passes between the lines under Fabian Hurzeler.

His movement off the ball is also really good, often either finding space himself or dragging other players away with him to free up space for his teammates. See, for example, this goal against Wolves (4:11 in the video below) where he holds his run just right until his teammate can find him with the pass.

What is so impressive is not just that he has to hold his run, it's how long he has to hold it for until his teammate releases the ball. Most players in that position move quickly and receive the ball when they are in an offside position. That kind of instinct at this age is surely an indicator of good things to come in the future, and we are tipping Brajan Gruda to have a standout season.

We'd like to highlight some names that almost made it into this list, and you should probably be watching as well. It's worth noting that the last edition's honourable mentions section contained many names we passed up on, but who went on to have better seasons than even the names we finally picked. So, keep an eye out for these lads as well.

That being said, we think Mathys Tel, Jair Cunha, Mateus Fernandes, and Lewis Miley are all talents who could have breakout seasons for their clubs.

Also, because we've adhered very strictly to our 21 and under metric, there are a number of 22 year old players who would have been in contention if we'd just altered our parameters a little and we wanted to include some of those names here. Diego Gomez, Yasin Ayari, Elliot Anderson, and Harvey Elliott could also have brilliant seasons for their respective clubs.

Whatever happens, we are in for an interesting season, and hopefully, we will see some young players find their level and take the league by storm.

Five Young Players To Watch This Season

All the potential breakout stars for the 25/26 English Premier League season

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