Sometimes, a young player’s reputation precedes him. Word begins to spread that there is a special footballer coming through the ranks at a club, a kid who is going to be the next superstar of the game.
There is an intoxication about seeing a footballer at the start of the journey and realising that, if fortune goes their way, you are witnessing the first shoots of greatness.
I felt that way when I saw JJ Gabriel play for the first time for Manchester United U18s at the Kassam Stadium last Wednesday and I have been lucky, over the last 40 years as a fan and then a journalist, to witness it in a series of other sublime talents, too.
10. Myles Lewis-Skelly
September 2024 – Manchester City-Arsenal – Etihad Stadium – 18 years old
Lewis-Skelly was booked before he even made it on to the pitch at the Etihad but when he did get off the bench, he was instantly impressive.
He is one of a clutch of Arsenal youngsters along with Ethan Nwaneri, in particular, to have burst through into the senior team and he, too, impressed because he refused to be overawed by the company he was keeping. Nor did he look out of place.
He can play at full-back but I still believe he might be the best holding midfielder that Arsenal have.
I’m surprised, in fact, that he has been pushed to the margins of the side. Restoring him would do their chances of halting their current uncertainties no harm at all.
Myles Lewis-Skelly refused to be overawed when he came on to face Man City last season
9. Robbie Fowler
December 1993 – Spurs-Liverpool – White Hart Lane – 18 years old.
Fowler was another goalscoring phenomenon, a natural, instinctive striker who took apart senior defences as ruthlessly as he did in age group football.
I didn’t see him score five goals in one of his first senior games, against Fulham, when he was 18 but I did see him score against Spurs.
He stood out for his confidence and his nonchalance as well as his ability. The fearlessness of youth never seemed to leave him.
Robbie Fowler’s confidence and his nonchalance stood out, as well as his goalscoring ability
8. Lamine Yamal
July 2024 – Spain-England – Olympiastadion, Berlin – 17 years old
Yamal is so mature for his age that he is almost other-worldly.
I had never seen him play live for Barcelona before Euro 2024 so even though I had seen him on television, his poise, his maturity, his vision and the difficulties he posed for England’s defence still took me by surprise.
Lamine Yamal’s poise, maturity and vision took me by surprise in the Euro 2024 final
7. Joe Cole
December 1998 – Stockport U18s v West Ham United U18s at Edgeley Park – 17 years old
Joe Cole was one of those kids who was so talented that his legend began to spread long before he broke into the West Ham first team.
The West Ham manager at the time, Harry Redknapp, used to say that whenever he saw Sir Alex Ferguson, the first thing the United boss would say to him was: ‘How’s Joe Cole?’
Cole played in an FA Youth Cup game in Stockport the night before a big Premier League game in Manchester so a cohort of reporters turned up to watch him. He didn’t disappoint.
Like JJ Gabriel, he was slight, physically, but he was so quick in movement and thought that he was away from bigger players before they got close to him. He was a joy to watch.
Joe Cole’s legend had already spread before he had made his first team debut for West Ham
6. Jack Wilshere
January 2010 – West Ham-Arsenal at Upton Park – 18 years old
I didn’t see Wilshere play until he broke into the Arsenal first team and, actually, I wrote a critical piece about him after this FA Cup tie at Upton Park. I soon repented of that, not least because his dad gave me a bit of a (deserved) talking to when he caught up with me.
I came to realise that not only was Wilshere an unusually good kid, in terms of the responsibilities he took with fans who needed help, but he was also a sublime creative midfielder.
He had a fine career but if injuries hadn’t interrupted it, he might be regarded now as one of the best we have ever produced.
I wrote a critical piece about Jack Wilshere after this FA Cup tie against West Ham and I soon repented that, as I came to realise that he was an unusually good kid
5. JJ Gabriel
February 2026 – Oxford United U18s-Manchester United U18s at Kassam Stadium – 15 years old
I’ve heard a lot of people – not least my colleague, Nathan Salt – enthusing about JJ Gabriel but there is nothing like seeing a player as talented as him play live.
It was a bitterly cold, wet night in Oxford last Wednesday but Gabriel’s performance took my breath away. His close control, his awareness of space, his pace, his vision – he’s got it all.
There were some local lads sitting all around him who had come to see one of their mates play for Oxford but they were talking about Gabriel in hushed tones, too.
He’s the best young English talent I’ve seen since Wayne Rooney.
JJ Gabriel’s performance against Oxford last Wednesday night took my breath away
4. Paul Moulden
April 1986 – Manchester City U18s-Manchester United U18s at Maine Road – 18 years old
Moulden is an example, I suppose, of a player whose senior career did not quite live up to his youthful promise.
He was a goalscoring phenomenon when he played for Bolton Lads. He scored 289 goals in 40 games and so when I saw him play for City Under 18s in the second leg of the FA Youth Cup final in 1986, he was already a legend.
He was a wonderful instinctive striker but he had bad luck with injuries and a manager, Mel Machin, who wanted to go in another direction.
3. Norman Whiteside
May 1982 – Manchester United-Stoke City at Old Trafford – 16 years old
Whiteside was my hero when I was a teenager. When he broke into the United first team, I found it hard to comprehend that he was only a year older than me.
Like Rooney, he was a boy in a man’s body but his vision and his talent for scoring goals on the big occasions were astonishing.
I never felt he quite got the appreciation he deserved but being there at Wembley in the United end when he scored the winner against Everton in the 1985 FA Cup Final made up for that.
2. Wayne Rooney
June 2004 – England-France at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon – 18 years old
This wasn’t the first time I saw Rooney play but it was the match where it felt as if he could become the greatest player in the world.
That seems fanciful now but France were a fine side and Rooney ripped them to pieces. England still contrived to lose the game but Rooney’s impact was breath-taking.
Wayne Rooney’s performance against France at Euro 2004 was the match where it felt as if he could become the greatest player in the world
Lionel Messi showing as an 18-year-old against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was the start of 22 years of being mesmerised by the Argentine
1. Lionel Messi
February 2006 – Chelsea-Barcelona at Stamford Bridge – 18 years old
Messi had made his debut for Barcelona as a 17-year-old in October 2004 so his reputation as a stellar talent was already established by the time I saw him play in the Champions League at the Bridge.
It didn’t exactly take a trained eye to see his quality, even if, at that time, Ronaldinho was the star of the show. Messi drove Chelsea left-back Asier del Horno to distraction that day and the defender was sent off before half-time.
It was the start of 22 years of being mesmerised by Messi.
