Young guns take centre stage
2007-08-06 10:21
London - Every year a host of star players arrive in the Premiership touted to be the league's main attraction only to find themselves upstaged by a teenage prodigy with talent to burn.
Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack were expected to provide goals and assists as well as name recognition when they joined Chelsea, but they were completely outshone by Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugal winger was voted Footballer of the Year after inspiring United's title success. But now Ronaldo is an established name himself, so which young upstart will take his mantle?
If the likes of big money signings like Fernando Torres and Owen Hargreaves are to be kept in the shadows, it's a safe bet the new wonderkid will come from north London.
Arsenal and Tottenham have amassed the Premiership's greatest concentration of promising players.
Tottenham manager Martin Jol has made no secret of his plan to snap up Europe's most promising starlets and this close-season he signed Younes Kaboul, 21, Gareth Bale, 18, Adel Taarabt, 18, Kevin-Prince Boateng, 20.
Jol has compared Taarabt to Zinedine Zidane and believes the Moroccan-born French midfielder, who he signed from Lens, could become the best player at the club.
Bale, the youngest player to win a full cap for Wales, was courted by United before deciding a 10 million pound switch from Southampton to White Hart Lane offered him a better chance of immediate first-team action.
The left-back's deadly free-kicks have earned favourable comparisons with David Beckham and that weighty fee is likely to look a bargain by the end of the season.
At the opposite end of the Seven Sisters Road, Arsene Wenger presides over a remarkably prolific youth academy at Arsenal.
Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboue are the cream of the crop and have the potential to emerge as major players this season.
That trio have only just established themselves as first-team regulars, but there are plenty of eager new recruits already pushing them for their places, including Brazilian midfielder Denilson, 19, and Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner, 19.
Manchester United and Liverpool opted to look abroad for an injection of youth this close-season.
Sir Alex Ferguson knows United cannot afford to stand still after winning a first title in four years, so he spent over a combined 32m pounds on Porto's Brazilian playmaker Anderson, 19, and Sporting Lisbon winger Nani, 20.
United's success in the 1990s was built on a crop of brilliant homegrown players and Chris Eagles, 21 and Lee Martin, 20, have been ear-marked by Ferguson as the best of his British youngsters.
Few of Liverpool's Youth Cup-winning team are regarded by Rafa Benitez as first-team calibre yet, so he spent 11.5m pounds on 20-year-old Ajax winger Ryan Babel, who has the power and skill to be a big hit.
Outside the top three, there are some intriguing prospects on the verge of becoming household names.
Sven Goran Eriksson has spent big money to a host of new players, but he may come to rely more on the graduates from Manchester City's youth academy.
Micah Richards, 19, has already been capped by England, while Stephen Ireland, 20, and Michael Johnson, 19, have showed glimpses of the skill they will bring to midfield if allowed to blossom.
Two other young English players could take a great leap forward this season.
Aston Villa's lightning-quick winger Gabriel Agbonlahor, 20, should thrive under Martin O'Neill's astute coaching, while at Derby, Giles Barnes, a 19-year-old winger, has the chance to show why he is already been watched by the several leading clubs.