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The 2020-21 Premier League season has once again been a good one for young players. The likes of Emile Smith Rowe, James Justin, and Phil Foden have all starred for their clubs and look set to go from strength to strength.
The Premier League season has not been so good for some youngsters, though, with some struggling to regain any of the traction they once had.
Here are five young players who’ve stagnated during the 2020-21 Premier League season.
#1 Rhian Brewster (Sheffield United)
Considered one of the hottest prospects in English football after scoring eight goals for England’s U-17 side in their 2017 World Cup triumph, it felt like only a matter of time before Rhian Brewster became a Premier League star.
Injuries curtailed his development at Liverpool, but the 2018-19 season saw him head to Swansea City on loan, where he scored an impressive 10 goals in 20 appearances in the EFL Championship.
However, rather than look to fit him into an already excellent front line, Liverpool decided to let him move on in the summer. And so Brewster made a £23.5m move to fellow Premier League side Sheffield United in October.
The fee was a club record for the Blades, and many people felt it would help to kickstart their Premier League season, which had begun with three straight losses.
However, Brewster simply hasn’t made the impact that most observers expected. He’s been in and out of the Blades’ starting line-up, and while he’s made 17 appearances thus far, he has yet to score his first goal for the club.
It is worth noting that Sheffield United’s general struggles have probably impacted negatively on Brewster’s development. But it’s safe to say that thus far into 2020-21 at least, he’s completely stagnated and doesn’t seem likely to reach his potential any time soon.
#2 Brandon Williams (Manchester United)
A number of young players have broken through at Manchester United during the last few years, including Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, and Scott McTominay. And in the 2019-20 season, it looked like Brandon Williams would join that list.
The left-back broke into United’s first team in late 2019 and appeared to be going from strength to strength under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – even keeping out the older and more established Luke Shaw at points.
Some fans even considered Williams an outside bet for England’s squad at the eventually-postponed Euro 2020 tournament; such was his form.
However, for reasons known only to Solskjaer and United, Williams – who is now 20 years old – has been frozen out almost entirely during the current campaign.
He made 25 appearances last season, including 11 Premier League starts. This season, however, has seen him appear just five times, mostly as a substitute. In fact, he hasn’t appeared since United’s FA Cup win over Watford on January 9th.
With Shaw now resurgent and new signing Alex Telles providing competition for him in the left-back slot, it doesn’t look like Williams will get many chances in the near future, either.
With a loan away from Old Trafford now impossible until the summer, it sadly looks like Williams will continue to stagnate for the foreseeable future.
#3 Grady Diangana (West Brom)
When West Brom were promoted from the EFL Championship into the Premier League last summer, the general consensus was that they would probably struggle.
However, many observers felt that in Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana, they had two outstanding attackers who could give them a good chance of survival.
While that’s been true for Pereira – who has five goals and three assists to his name – the same cannot be said for Diangana, who ended the 2019-20 campaign with eight goals and six assists.
Considering the outcry West Ham United fans made when the attacker was sold to West Brom in the summer, it’s hard not to be disappointed in his output during the 2020-21 campaign.
Diangana did start well enough, scoring his first Premier League goal in his second game – a 5-2 loss to Everton. But he’s failed to find the net since and also hasn’t registered a single assist.
And more worryingly, Diangana has barely been involved since new manager Sam Allardyce arrived at the club in late December.
Sure, a hamstring injury has kept him out of a handful of games, but with ‘Big Sam’ looking to play a more defensive game, it could be tricky for him to get back into the starting XI anyway.
Diangana still has time to turn things around. But considering he’s at a struggling side under a defensive boss, it seems unlikely that he’ll do so this season. Sadly, this talented player has clearly stagnated during the 2020-21 Premier League campaign.
#4 Dwight McNeil (Burnley)
While they seem to be arresting their slump now, Burnley have been one of the Premier League’s surprise strugglers this season.
They currently sit in 16th place in the table, and while they’re eight points away from the drop zone, only bottom side Sheffield United have scored less goals than the 13 produced by Sean Dyche’s team.
Part of their struggles this season could be put down to the apparent stagnation of winger Dwight McNeil. The 21-year-old – who burst onto the scene in the 2018-19 Premier League campaign – has simply not had the same impact this time around.
The statistics appear to back up McNeil’s stagnation, too. Last season saw him play every single Premier League game for Burnley, and he scored twice while registering six assists – the most of any player in Sean Dyche’s squad.
This season in the Premier League, though, McNeil has scored just once – a fluke goal against Aston Villa – and registered two assists, despite appearing in 18 of the Clarets’ 20 matches.
The likely explanation is that due to Burnley’s lack of attacking talent, he’s simply been burned out over the past couple of seasons and is in dire need of a rest.
However, it seems unlikely that he’ll be given that opportunity any time soon. And so fans of the Clarets will hope he can somehow recapture the magic that once had him on the periphery of an England call-up.
#5 Reiss Nelson (Arsenal)
Ever since Mikel Arteta became Arsenal’s manager in December 2019, young academy products have been given plenty of opportunities to shine.
Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, in particular, have proven to be capable of making a massive impact in the Premier League. Strong showings from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joseph Willock have earned them loan moves to West Brom and Newcastle respectively.
However, one Gunners youngster who has unfortunately seemed to stagnate is winger Reiss Nelson.
The 21-year-old had a successful season on loan at Hoffenheim in the 2018-19 campaign, scoring seven Bundesliga goals. And while his return to the Emirates last season wasn’t quite as successful, he did impress in his performances after the Premier League’s restart in the summer.
This season though, Nelson has only appeared in two Premier League games, amassing a total of just 70 minutes on the pitch.
He has appeared in four Europa League matches – scoring one goal – but simply hasn’t shown enough to force his way into Arteta’s starting XI.
With the recent Premier League transfer window now closed, what happens from here to the England U-21 international is anyone’s guess. With a potential move away from Arsenal now out of the question, Nelson will need to impress Arteta and make his way back into his plans – or risk stagnating further.
