sport

Other Teams Have Teenagers Too...

While all the focus might be on Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott, we were sure that every Premier League club had a teenage hope. And we were (kind of) right...

ASTON VILLA: Nathan Delfouneso (17)
England Under-17 striker who made it onto the pitch for his Aston Villa debut in Iceland against FH Hafnarfjordur and was also on the bench against Litex Lovech. Given the number 14 shirt last season in a gesture of faith when he signed his first professional contract, with Villa hoping he's the new Gaby Agbonlahor rather than the new Jamie Ward.

BLACKBURN: Alan Judge (19)
Republic of Ireland Under-21 midfielder/striker given the no 25 shirt this season by Paul Ince after a reserve season that reaped seven goals from just 15 games. Spent time with the Rovers' first-team squad in pre-season and made his debut against Grimsby in the first round of the League Cup.

BOLTON: Temitope Obadeyi (18)
Five goals for England's Under-19s tells you all you need to know about striker Obadeyi, who has been given the number 35 shirt at Bolton. He featured against Rochdale in pre-season but has not figured since. Gary Megson is hardly known for taking a chance on the Wanderers' youngsters.

CHELSEA: Franco di Santo (19)
This boy is supposed to be special. An Argentine signed from Chilean side Audax Italiano, he joined Chelsea last season and immediately scored seven goals in eight reserve games for the Blues. In an unprecedented and unexpected move, Phil Scolari gave him the first-team No 9 shirt and he's since played a massive two minutes against Spurs and a few more against Portsmouth in the League Cup.

EVERTON: Jose Baxter (16)
At the age of 16 years and 191 days, Baxter became the youngester-ever Toffee (taking over from James Vaughan) when he came on for Nuno Valente against Blackburn - missing the target with a free header. With Everton struggling badly with injuries in the midfield department, Baxter then started against West Brom but since then he's been put back in cotton wool. An England youth international, great things are expected of the boy Baxter.

FULHAM: Matthew Briggs (17)
Defender who became the Premier League's youngester-ever player when he came off the bench against Middlesbrough in May 2007 at the age of just 16 years and 65 days old. A centre-half who also interested Chelsea as a promising kid, Briggs is a regular for England youth teams, having just been called up to represent the Under-19s. Still can't get a game for Fulham though.

HULL: Jamie Devitt (18)
Republic of Ireland youth international who was voted the club's Young Player of the Year last season and was awarded the number 36 jersey for this season. But with 12 midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order, he will almost certainly have to wait for a first-team chance.

LIVERPOOL: David Ngog (19)
Five goals in six games for France's Under-16s and three in three games for France's Under-19 side - no wonder Rafa Benitez spent £1.5m to bring him to Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain. Scored twice in pre-season and then made his debut off the bench against Aston Villa and looked very lively. Started against Crewe in the League Cup.

MAN CITY: Ched Evans (19)
A massive step ahead of most of the other players on this list, Welshman Ched Evans is already a Welsh international and has a season-long loan at a Championship club under his belt. Scored his first goal for City against Portsmouth last weekend and Mark Hughes has made all the right noises about giving him chances despite his vast array of talent.

MANYOO: Rafael da Silva (18)
It was the Brazilian's performances in pre-season that apparently prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to give up on signing a new right-back, sure that one of the twins from Fluminense would be Gary Neville's long-term successor. Assigned the no. 21 shirt, he made his debut off the bench against Newcastle in the Premier League and then started against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup.

MIDDLESBROUGH: Nathan Porritt (18)
The latest off the production line is a left-sided forward who has already been linked with the likes of Lyon, Monaco, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Chelsea, with Frank Arnesen's alleged approach being featured on the infamous Panorama programme. He signed his first professional contract with Boro on June, after his agent accusing them of pricing him out of a move to a bigger club. So far, Gareth Southgate has resisted the urge to unleash him on the Premier League.

NEWCASTLE UTD: Ben Tozer (18)
Signed for an initial £250,000 from Swindon Town in January by Sam Allardyce, the centre-half may now be regretting his decision to choose that particular Premier League club after interest from Everton and Portsmouth. Tozer is yet to make his first-team debut but has at least been on the bench in recent weeks. Come on...he can't be worse than Claudio Cacapa.

PORTSMOUTH: Omar Koroma (18)
Not a club that has recently had a lot of time for teenagers, Portsmouth brought in the Gambian striker after a succesful trial and immediately sent him on loan to Norwich. He has figured three times off the bench in the Championship but has started his Canaries' reserves career in scoring form.

STOKE CITY: Ritchie De Laet (19)
Belgian defender/midfielder who joined Stoke from Royal Antwerp in the summer of 2007 for a six-figure fee and is a regular in the Potters' reserve side. He is yet to make his first-team debut but he did make it onto the bench for their League Cup win over Reading.

SUNDERLAND: Martyn Waghorn (18)
A product of the Manchester United School of Excellence, he joined Sunderland at the age of eight and progressed through the youth teams to make his debut against United in December 2007, with Roy Keane praising his efforts despite a 4-0 defeat. He has now played four times for the first team but is currently in the middle of a ten-week spell on the sidelines.

TOTTENHAM: Gareth Bale (19)
Already a £5m player and a full Welsh international, the left-sided defender/midfielder signed from Southampton in May 2007 and has established himself as a regular when fit. A year later he was signing a new four-year deal as Spurs realised just what a talent they have on their hands. Outside of Arsenal, he's probably the Premier League's most accomplished teenager.

WEST BROM: Lateef Elford-Alliyu (16)
Striker called into West Brom's FA Cup squad last January at the age of only 15 after scoring a goal aged only 15 years and 61 days in a pre-season friendly against Stafford Rangers. An England youth international, Elford-Alliyu is the current star of the Baggies' reserve and Academy sides and is surely already better than Craig Beattie.

WEST HAM: Freddie Sears (18)
After the League Cup defeat against Watford, new Hammers' boss Gianfranco Zola took the time to commend Freddie Sears on his performance in the absence of several senior strikers. Sears had already made his mark for West Ham's first team - scoring the winner against Blackburn just 5 minutes and 16 seconds into his first-team career. He has now chalked up 12 games for the Hammers and a call-up to the England Under-19 set-up.

WIGAN: Tomasz Kupisz (18)
Polish Under-19 winger/striker who signed for Wigan in February 2007 after a successful trial and has been handed the no 28 shirt. He made his Latics debut in the League Cup game against Notts County and scored the final goal in their 4-0 win. He has since been on the bench in the Premier League but will have to wait for his chance.

Sarah Winterburn