Youth has always been an integral part of the premier league. Most of the teams give an ample amount of importance to their youth academy so that it can produce talents which can knock the doors of the first team. We have seen the likes of Class of 92’ doing it for Manchester United, John Terry do it for Chelsea, Micheal Owen do it for Liverpool, Ashley Cole do it with Arsenal and many more. Coming to the current season, we can find a huge number of young players that are plying their trade in the premier league. Few of them have stepped up big and drawn either a huge price tag on them, or comparisons with likes of some legends. Here are my top five picks for youngsters who have over achieved in premier league.
Hector Bellerin
A product of the Arsenal youth academy (Well, a mixed of Arsenal and Barcelona), Bellerin made it to the first team in 2013. The Spaniard made his competitive debut away to West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the League Cup on 25 September 2013, coming on in the 95th minute as a substitute for Mikel Arteta in a penalty shootout victory after a 1–1 draw. Bellerín made his Champions League debut on 16 September 2014 in a 2–0 away defeat to against Borussia Dortmund. However, it is in the current season that he has really shown some mature performances.
One of his standout performances would be the 3-0 home win against Manchester United. While most articles focused majorly on Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez and how United’s defence was left wide open for a period of 15 minutes, Bellerin somehow escaped the limelight. If you analyse that match closely you’ll find that it was his runs down on the right that caused the first major problem for United, and while putting two defenders to mark him United left gaps in the centre and there in stepped the likes of Ozil and Sanchez.