Arsenal: Daniel Crowley
There is excitement at the club about this diminutive attacking midfielder, who turns 18 next month and ticks so many boxes for Arsène Wenger. Crowley has excellent close control and technical ability; he can pick a pass and find pockets of space and, above all, he has the X-factor in the final third. He would describe himself as a No10, although he generally played on the left of a narrow front three for the under-21s last season, where he was able to cut inside on to his favoured right foot. Arsenal took him from Aston Villa at the end of his under-16 year and he has been capped by England at under-16 and under-17 level. Wenger has included him in his 27-man squad for the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore. DH
Aston Villa: André Green
An England youth international, who can play on the wing or through the middle as an out-and-out striker, Green is destined to be the next one off the Villa production line. The 17-year-old was training with the first team towards the end of last term, named among the substitutes for the final Premier League game, at home against Burnley, and has travelled to Portugal for the pre-season tour. He is 6ft 2in, quick and powerful, and with Tim Sherwood prepared to give younger players an opportunity, the teenager will fancy his chances of impressing the Villa manager. SJ
Bournemouth: Baily Cargill
Cargill made headlines in bizarre circumstances last December when, during the League Cup match against Liverpool, an accoutrement that appeared to be a ponytail-shaped wig fell from his head. It turned out to have been a protective bandage and Cargill, a 20-year-old central defender or left-back, will hope that his progress next season becomes a more convincing story. He was with Southampton until the age of 13 – also holding a season ticket at St Mary’s – but has developed promisingly since joining Bournemouth and, following loans at AFC Totton, Welling and Torquay, made six appearances in their cup sides last season. Cargill, who was part of the England Under-20 side that finished fourth in this summer’s Toulon tournament, is a composed, technically adept defender in the style preferred by the Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe. A regular Premier League place would be asking a lot at this stage but he has a useful new mentor in Sylvain Distin and, even if a loan to the Championship looks a logical next step, there is genuine hope that he has a first-team future at the top. NA
Chelsea: Bertrand Traoré
The Burkina Faso teenager was granted a work permit earlier this summer and will be with the senior squad for Chelsea’s tour of the United States aiming to prove he can be José Mourinho’s fourth-choice forward. The winger, who had first alerted Chelsea’s scouts to his talents as a 14-year-old at the under-17 World Cup in 2009 while he was still being developed by the French club Auxerre, signed professional terms on a four-and-a-half-year contract at Chelsea in January 2014 but did not receive international clearance to feature. He then spent the last season and a half at Vitesse Arnhem where the head coach, Peter Bosz, successfully converted him into a striker who contributed 17 goals in all competitions last term. Bosz, when confirming Traoré would not be returning to Holland next year, admitted Mourinho “is crazy about him” having coached him first-hand on a similar tour of east Asia two years ago. DF
Crystal Palace: Sullay Kaikai
Alan Pardew should already be acquainted with Kaikai’s talents given the forward scored a last-minute equaliser in a League Cup tie when he brought his Newcastle side to Selhurst Park earlier last season. The 19-year-old, a winger or centre-forward, played 10 times for Palace’s under-21s last term, scoring six goals, prior to a loan spell at Cambridge United which yielded a further six in 30 appearances. The League Two club duly awarded him their young player of the year prize, an accolade that was followed up by Palace’s development player of the year and the vice-presidents’ young player of the year awards for 2014-15. Pardew rewarded him with a place in the travelling party for the trip to Liverpool towards the end of last season and, while another loan spell away probably beckons once the campaign proper begins, he will have opportunities in pre-season to make his mark. DF
Everton: Chris Long
The Huyton-born striker will view Everton’s pre-season as a second chance to showcase his first-team claims to the manager, Roberto Martínez, having impressed last summer only to find opportunities nonexistent once the Premier League campaign began. Long scored a fine goal against the Bundesliga newcomers Paderborn last August but senior outings for the 20-year-old were confined to a late substitute’s appearance in a Europa League dead-rubber against Krasnodar. He joined Brentford on loan in January where, despite injury interruptions, he scored four goals in 10 appearances as the Championship side reached the play-offs. A quick forward and composed finisher, Long has been with Everton since the age of five and represented England from under-16 to under-20 level. With Martínez’s striking options currently limited to Romelu Lukaku and Arouna Koné, there is an opening for Long should he deliver. AH
Leicester City: Ben Chilwell
One of three youngsters to travel with the first-team squad to Austria for the pre-season tour, Chilwell was named Leicester’s academy player of the year last season and has already attracted interest from Arsenal. An England youth international, Chilwell is quick, composed on the ball and has a superb left foot. Aged only 18, the left-back still needs to develop physically but Leicester believe that he has every chance of making the grade at the highest level. He should get a chance to impress in the pre-season friendlies and may well go out on loan after September. SJ
Liverpool: João Teixeira
It is testament to the Portuguese midfielder’s determination to force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans next season that he is involved in Liverpool’s tour of the Far East and Australia at all. The 22-year-old broke his leg on 14 April playing for Brighton and Hove Albion against Huddersfield Town. Twelve weeks later he was back in first-team training at Melwood and selected for the pre-season tour, on which he set up two goals against Thai All Stars on Tuesday. Teixeira, signed from Sporting Lisbon in 2013, made an impact on his Liverpool debut, a 3-2 win at Fulham during the team’s title-challenging season, but it was last season at Brighton where his adaptation to the English game gathered pace. The gifted midfielder scored six goals in 35 games under Sami Hyypia and his replacement, Chris Hughton, with his performances encouraging Rodgers’ belief that he would be worthy of inclusion in the Liverpool squad for the 2015-16 season. The leg break appeared to stall that opportunity, but it is back on already. AH
Manchester City: Cameron Humphreys
What an opportunity for the youngest member of Manchester City’s touring squad to soak up the big time alongside David Silva, Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and company. At 16 the Manchester-born defender will eat sleep, train and play alongside the club’s bona fide trophy-laden superstars as Pellegrini’s band visit Australia and Vietnam. Humphreys operates at centre-back and can also play right-back. While it is the longest of long shots for Humphreys to somehow force his way into the senior squad for next term the player who has led England in his age group, represented City under-18s and been involved with the under-21s can gain invaluable experience for his future career. JJ
Manchester United: Sean Goss
The schemer born in Wegberg, Germany, is the sole unknown in Louis van Gaal’s touring party which is packed, surprisingly for a pre-season trip, with more experienced players. Goss joined from Exeter City in 2012 and his passing ability is complemented by an eye for goal. The 13 he struck for Exeter helped gain the move to United and Goss has impressed enough to be compared with Michael Carrick. Van Gaal’s squad is now heavy with central midfielders. The arrivals of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin added to Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind means Goss will struggle to make Van Gaal’s strongest XI by the close of the tour. Yet as a fan of the club who was once a United mascot he is living the dream. “I was picked out of a big draw to be mascot when I was about seven, to walk out at Old Trafford when Exeter drew 0-0 here [in 2005], and I was buzzing. I’d been up a few times with my dad as we’ve got family who live here as well. I remember staying over and watching United play Charlton in the last game of the season. Obviously as I’d been before, I knew what it was like,” he told Manutd.com. JJ
Newcastle United: Jamaal Lascelles
Steve McClaren will look at a handful of Newcastle’s younger players during their pre-season tour of the US, and the former Nottingham Forest centre-back Lascelles will be familiar to him as an adversary from the Championship. Lascelles and the goalkeeper Karl Darlow were signed by Alan Pardew a year ago and loaned back to the City Ground for a year. That deal, worth £7m, caused the former Forest manager Stuart Pearce to fall out with their chairman, Fawaz al-Hasawi, and Pearce has since gone on record as saying that Lascelles is not yet ready for the Premier League. But the 21-year-old has the pace and technical attributes to fit nicely into the McClaren scheme and, having completed 45 minutes in Newcastle’s first pre-season friendly against Gateshead, should receive more opportunities during their four-game tour. McClaren’s centre-back options do not extend too far beyond Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor and Mike Williamson, and Lascelles may well feel that a place is up for grabs. NA
Norwich City: Louis Thompson
Norwich were buying potential when they paid Swindon Town an initial £600,000 for Thompson last September. The 19-year-old was loaned straight back to his old club as they sought to escape League One but a dislocated shoulder curtailed his season in February. Central midfield is Norwich’s strongest area but Thompson, who made his debut for Swindon a month after turning 17, has joined up with them for pre-season and the early noises have been approving. Thompson has all the tools for the box-to-box midfield role – boundless energy, an eye for a pass and a willingness to shoot – and could be a contender to force his way into Alex Neil’s first-team thinking sooner rather than later, especially if Norwich struggle early on. It was Neil’s predecessor, Neil Adams, who signed Thompson but Neil is believed to rate the youngster highly. He has represented Wales at Under-19 level and his older brother, Nathan, is himself a well-regarded right-back at Swindon. NA
Southampton: Will Wood
The 18-year-old left-sided centre-half, who can also play at left-back, has already enjoyed a breakthrough of sorts, having been taken by the manager, Ronald Koeman, to the first team’s training camp in Austria. He came on as a half-time substitute against RB Leipzig last Wednesday, and both Koeman and the assistant, Sammy Lee, were happy with his performance. A member of the team that won the Premier League Under-21 Cup last season, he signed a three-year professional contract the following day. He had a spell, previously, as a left-sided midfielder for the under-18s and he promptly scored five goals in five games. Wood has been at Southampton since the age of 11 and he hopes to be around the first-team squad this season. DH
Stoke City: Moha El Ouriachi
Following in the footsteps of Bojan and Marc Muniesa, both of whom swapped the Camp Nou for the Britannia Stadium, is Moha El Ouriachi, a 19-year-old who arrived from Barcelona at the back end of last season. Blessed with quick feet and a change of pace, Moha played on either flank while coming through the ranks at Barcelona but is predominantly left-footed. A Spanish youth international who is also eligible to play for Morocco, Moha is seen by Mark Hughes as capable of making the transition from under-21 football to the first team in the near future, with the Stoke manager including him his party for the Asia Trophy in Singapore. SJ
Sunderland: Duncan Watmore
Like Cargill, Watmore was prominent in England Under-20s’ Toulon campaign – and was named “revelation of the tournament” after a successful first international call that brought two goals. Watmore, a 21-year-old winger who is the son of the former FA chief executive Ian Watmore, is yet to play a league game for Sunderland but was named the Under-21 Premier League’s player of the year last season and his claim for a place in Dick Advocaat’s squad is a convincing one. The purposeful, direct Watmore was signed two years ago from non-league Altrincham after scoring 14 times in the 2012-13 season. He subsequently spent time on loan at Hibernian and would not be short of suitors for a similar stint at Championship level if playing time became hard to come by in the coming months. He should be given his chance to impress in pre-season and his rapid progress in the past 12 months suggests that he could bring the kind of energy and excitement that Sunderland have lacked. NA
Swansea City: Modou Barrow
The 22-year-old burst on to the scene last November when he made his debut as a second-half substitute against Arsenal and had a hand in one of the goals in a 2-1 win. Pacey and direct, Barrow can play through the middle but is more likely to be used as a wide man at Swansea. Garry Monk, Swansea’s manager, has described the Gambia international as “fearless”. Signed from the Swedish club Ostersunds FK last summer, Barrow was given an improved four-year contract in January – a measure of how highly Swansea rate him – and the Premier League club hope he can make an impact this season. SJ
Tottenham Hotspur: Dele Alli
This 19-year-old is a more established prospect, given he made 62 appearances in League One for MK Dons, and it took a £5m fee to get him to Tottenham but it will be interesting to see whether he can handle the step up and make an impression early on. Alli is confident he can. He has no intention of going out on loan; merely of forcing his way into Mauricio Pochettino’s first-team plans. A driving, old-school, box-to-box midfielder, he has goals in his repertoire, too, and the capacity for one or two screamers. He is desperate to impress and he has torn it up so far on the pre-season fitness tests. With Paulinho and Etienne Capoue sold and doubts over the future of Benjamin Stambouli, opportunity could knock in central midfield. DH
Watford: Tommie Hoban
The closest Watford have to a prodigy is Hoban, an assured centre-back who at 21 and four years after his debut has made 54 league appearances, precisely half of those coming last season. That he was such an important part of a promotion-winning squad is testament to his character as well as his ability: Hoban missed a year’s action from February 2013 to February 2014 after sustaining an ankle injury that required surgery. He has also appeared for Ireland at youth and Under-21 levels and, prior to that period on the sidelines, was linked with a number of top clubs. Watford have already signed another central defender this summer in Sebastian Prödl, an Austria international, leading Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Charlton among others to attempt to convince Hoban’s employers to allow him to leave on loan, but he certainly has the potential to play in the top flight. SB
West Bromwich Albion: Jack Fitzwater
Albion are blessed with some promising youngsters, including Jonathan Leko and Tyler Roberts, both of whom have only just finished school and featured in the 3-1 defeat against Red Bull Salzburg last week, but Jack Fitzwater’s emergence has slipped under the radar a little. A 17-year-old centre-half who can also play at right-back, Fitzwater came on in the friendly in Austria and also made the cut for the 21-man pre-season tour in America. Named academy player of the year last season, he reads the game well, uses the ball intelligently and, more than anything, enjoys putting his body on the line and defending. SJ
West Ham United: Reece Oxford
Oxford became West Ham’s youngest ever player at the age of 16 years and 198 days when he made his debut in their 3-0 win over Lusitans in the first leg of their Europa League first-round qualifier, breaking Billy Williams’s 93-year record. The England Under-17 captain was on the bench on a couple of occasions last season and he is highly regarded at Upton Park. He is primarily a centre-back, although he produced a composed performance as a defensive midfielder against Lusitans, even if he was booked for a heavy challenge in the first half. Oxford, who has been watched by a number of big clubs, should get a few more chances to impress West Ham’s new manager, Slaven Bilic, throughout the summer. JS
