During the summer transfer window, most of the talk in modern football is about big fees and superstar imports.
English teams don’t look into their academies enough despite the significant talent increase in recent years. Players like Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Ross Barkley are making strides for their boyhood clubs and saving their owners a pretty penny as well.
Premier League rules regarding home-grown players have inflated English player transfer fees to an eye watering amount, even though the best solution to filling the quota is promoting players through the academy.
Not every young player is going to make the immediate impact that Rashford did, so slowly working them into the first team is common. But there comes a point where a manager needs to place his confidence in a young player and ask them to make more than just a cameo.
Here are six players, aged 20 and under, that played bit-parts last season but could be in for more serious roles in this upcoming Premier League season…
DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN
Everton signed forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin for £1.5 m from League One side Sheffield United on Deadline Day last summer.
The Sheffield-native made 12 total appearances for his hometown club and grabbed Ronald Koeman’s attention with a 26 game, eight goal loan spell with Northampton Town before joining the Toffees.
Calvert-Lewin made his Everton debut in December against Arsenal and became a regular contributor during the second half of the campaign.
The 20-year old is best as a secondary striker but can play on the left wing as well. He appeared in 11 league games for the Toffees with six starts, never playing the full 90 minutes, and scored his first Premier League goal against Hull City in March.
Calvert-Lewin is currently with the England squad at the U20 World Cup in South Korea, where he has started all four matches and opened the scoring in the 3-0 victory over Argentina.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman is willing to give young players a chance in the first team so the Englishman could become a key player this season.
CAMERON CARTER-VICKERS
No player in the Premier League made the bench more times without an appearance this season then 19-year old Tottenham centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers.
The dual-national made the first-team bench in 16 league games and four times in the Champions League but never came onto the field. The defender did make his professional debut, starting twice in each domestic cup competition, so he has some established trust with Mauricio Pochettino, who has no fear in playing youngsters.
Carter-Vickers is eligible to represent his birth nation of England and the United States through his father, and while his homeland has shown interest, the centre-back has been a part of the US youth set-up since 2014.
He was called into Jurgen Klinnsman’s final US squad last November but did not make an appearance and is currently with the American squad at the U20 World Cup. Carter-Vickers has been a Tottenham player since 2009 and his first-team presence last season sparked rumours that Kevin Wimmer was looking to leave the club, but the Austrian has recently reaffirmed his commitment to Spurs.
Carter-Vickers will have trouble pushing Jan Vertonghen or Toby Alderwierld out of the line-up, but either would be a perfect mentor for the 19-year old.
ALEIX GARCIA
Pep Guardiola was hired to win Manchester City titles and also to find stars from Manchester City’s academy. Only one player really got a chance under the Catalan this season, and defensive midfielder Aleix Garcia looks every bit a Premier League player.
The 19-year old Spaniard moved to Manchester City ahead of the 2015-16 season after making his professional debut with Villarreal. He made his first City appearance against Chelsea in the FA Cup that season but was given more of a chance in 2016-17.
Garcia appeared in eight games this campaign, including starting and scoring the winner with a well-placed finish in the EFL Cup victory at Swansea City, his first professional goal. The midfielder made four appearances in the league for a total of 76 minutes and made a surprise start in the April draw against Middlesborough after not appearing in the league’s previous 23 games.
With Yaya Toure one year older, Ilkay Gudogan’s body unreliable and Fernando no longer of acceptable quality, Garcia should establish himself in Guardiola’s team in 17/18.
JONATHAN LEKO
Tony Pulis has never been the type of manager to put much faith in young players, but 18-year old Jonathan Leko is poised to break that trend. The DR Congo-born, England raised Leko made his Premier League debut in April 2016 against Sunderland, aged 16 years and 344 days. The winger made six appearances that season but disappointed by adding only nine more this past campaign, all as a substitute.
He registered one assist, from a corner, in 110 minutes under Pulis this season. As the team fell apart after securing Premier League safety, fans wondered why the youngster wasn’t given a chance to impress especially with Nacer Chadli and James McClean in poor form.
Should the pair be unable to turn it around this summer, Leko will be right on their heels waiting for the chance.
DOMINGOS QUINA
It was widely considered a coup when West Ham snatched young midfielder Domingos Quina from Chelsea last summer, but the Portuguese youth must wait a little longer for his chance.
Only 17-years-old, Quina signed for West Ham on July 1 and made his professional debut only 27 days later, coming on as a substitute in both of West Ham’s Europa League qualifiers against Slovenian club NK Domzale. Those were his only senior appearances, however, as he made the bench 12 times in the league and once in the FA Cup but never got called on by Slaven Bilic.
A native of Guinea-Bissau, he has represented Portugal at various youth levels but hasn’t ruled out playing for England one day. If he scores more goals like the above worldie, he’ll be a key part of the first team set-up sooner rather than later.
JULIEN NGOY
Stoke City’s main two strikers this season were 36-year old and leading goalscorer Peter Crouch and 33-year old Jonathan Walters. Wilfried Bony was brought in to revive his career but somehow managed to contribute less than he did at Manchester City.
Marko Arnautavic’s form dipped severely after an exhilarating 2015-16 campaign with the Potters to the point contract rebel and forgotten man Saido Berahino was signed in January.
19-year old forward Julien Ngoy could help make a difference and offset the age gap. He made the Stoke bench for the first time in August before making his debut for Mark Hughes in December’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal. The Belgium youth international went on to make five more substitute appearances, four in the league and one in the FA Cup.
Ngoy moved to Stoke from Beligum in 2013 and was one of Stoke’s best young players this season, scoring seven goals in 11 reserve appearances. A solid summer could prove to Mark Hughes that Ngoy is the perfect player to supplement Stoke’s ageing strike force.