Every year, young footballers continue to surprise us. The likes of Anthony Martial, Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling have all enjoyed relatively impressive starts to the new campaign and various other young players will aim to emulate these stars in the future. However, there are plenty of talented youngsters that simply aren’t being utilised enough. We take a look at five young players who need more playing time.
Adnan Januzaj
At the start of the season, many expected Adnan Januzaj to get more game time at Borussia Dortmund but that simply hasn’t materialised so far. The Manchester United winger, who burst onto the scene during David Moyes’ torrid tenure, has struggled to inspire Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford and was loaned out to the Bundesliga side in the hope that the Belgian may break into Dortmund’s first team. However, Januzaj has failed to shine when given the opportunity and has found himself sitting on the bench for most of their league matches this season.
Jack Grealish
Grealish has fallen out of favour at Villa Park in recent weeks, mainly due to the arrival of new manager Remi Garde. The former Lyon boss is trying to put his own mark on proceedings at relegation favourites Aston Villa and has dropped Grealish from the starting line-up. With a number of off-field reports suggesting that Grealish’s life away from the football pitch is seriously affecting his position at the club, the youngster should place all of his focus on improving his game if he is to stand any chance of playing international football in the future.
Reece Oxford
At the start of the campaign, many tipped Reece Oxford to stand out as one of the Premier League’s brightest young talents. In his domestic debut for West Ham, the 16-year-old shone in the Hammers midfield in a 2-0 victory away at Arsenal – however, he may have peaked too soon. It seems that Slaven Bilic has almost forgotten about Oxford in recent months but his time is yet to come. The West Ham manager should give the youngster an opportunity to slot back into their midfield and he could feature occasionally throughout the remainder of the campaign.
Jerome Sinclair
Who? Sinclair is currently plying his trade in the Liverpool under-18s side but could earn a place in Jurgen Klopp’s squad if he continues to impress for the youth team. Sinclair has bags of talent and if Daniel Sturridge cannot shake off his most recent injury issue, he could earn a call up to the senior squad. While it may be foolish to throw the young forward in at the deep end, Klopp is brilliant at nurturing promising talents and the Reds could prosper if Sinclair is given the opportunity to prove his worth on the big stage.
Matt Targett
Southampton are widely regarded as one of the best clubs in the Premier League for producing quality, young talent and Matt Targett should certainly be considered as one of their future stars. Previously, Saints have given opportunities to Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Luke Shaw – with all three moving on to elite European clubs after showcasing their talent at St Mary’s. Targett may not fall into the ‘world class’ bracket just yet but there is plenty of potential and Ronald Koeman should strongly consider giving him a regular run of matches in the first team. Until that happens, we won’t know just how good Targett is.
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