EPL 2017/18: 10 young players to look out for this season

It’s always exciting to see young players emerge and take the Premier League by storm. It happens every season and they seemingly come out of nowhere to upset their opponents.

The likes of Jordan Pickford at Sunderland and Tom Davies at Everton were examples of this in the previous Premier League campaign. In the case of Pickford, his form last year led to a £30 million transfer, which now means he will be playing alongside Davies at Everton in the 2017/18 season.

So who has the potential to be a breakout star in the upcoming campaign?

Here are 10 young players to look out for in the 2017/18 Premier League season...

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#10 Harry Winks – Tottenham Hotspur

Will Winks be able to break into the Spurs starting XI this year?

Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino, seems to have a lot of faith in Harry Winks, evidenced by the fact that he featured in 21 Premier League games last season.

Although Winks may struggle to hold down a first team spot in the Spurs side, Pochettino will be hoping for a longer Champions League run this season and therefore Winks could see even more playing time this campaign.

#9 Ademola Lookman – Everton

Lookman will want to push for a starting place at Everton this season

Ademola Lookman joined Everton from Charlton in the January 2017 transfer window and quickly made an impact at the club by scoring on his debut in the 4-0 thrashing of Manchester City.

As with Winks, the potential of a European campaign for Everton could lead to more minutes for the pacey winger this season, that is if a rumoured loan to Derby County fails to transpire.

#8 Kurt Zouma – Stoke City (On loan from Chelsea)

Zouma will be looking forward to a full season after recovering from injury

After emerging as an exciting prospect at Chelsea in the 2015/16 season, Zouma suffered an untimely cruciate ligament injury, which meant that he missed the majority of the previous campaign.

Zouma has been loaned out to Stoke City for the upcoming season and he will be looking to remind everyone of his huge potential and become a key player in Mark Hughes’ side.

#7 Ruben Loftus-Cheek – Crystal Palace (On loan from Chelsea)

Loftus-Cheek is ready to show the Premier League just how good he is

Loftus-Cheeks has been tipped to be a breakout star for the last few seasons but has struggled to get minutes on the pitch due to Chelsea’s wealth of talents in his position.

However, a loan move to Crystal Palace for the 2017/18 season will likely see him receive more playing time and will give him a chance to showcase his undeniable talent.

#6 Lewis Cook – Bournemouth

Cook led England U-20s to World Cup glory this summer

The upcoming season could be a big one for Lewis Cook, who will be looking to break into Bournemouth’s first season after making just six Premier League appearances for The Cherries last year following his transfer from Leeds.

Cook is an exciting young player and is likely to be full of confidence after captaining the England Under-20s side to World Cup success earlier this summer.

#5 Rob Holding – Arsenal

Can Holding become a key player for Arsenal this season?

Rob Holding became a regular starter for Arsenal towards the end of last season and started in their FA Cup final victory over Chelsea. He impressed with a number of solid performances that showed great potential for the future.

Arsenal and Holding will be looking for him to continue his development over the course of the 2017/18 season. With the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Shkodran Mustafi unlikely to feature in Arsenal’s early fixtures, Holding could be a key player in the Gunners’ defence over the first few months of the campaign.

#4 Kelechi Iheanacho – Leicester City

Will Iheanacho thrive away from Manchester City?

Despite only starting a handful of games for Manchester City over the last two seasons, Kelechi Iheanancho has maximised his minutes and turned heads by bagging 21 goals in all competitions during this period.

But playing behind the likes Sergio Aguero meant that it was hard for him to break into the first team at City. His recent transfer to Leicester City will likely result in more game time for Iheanacho and he will have to show that he can keep up his incredible goalscoring record when playing on a weekly basis.

#3 Mikel Merino – Newcastle United (On loan from Borussia Dortmund)

Newcastle fans are already excited about the Dortmund loanee

Although he struggled for games last season at Borussia Dortmund, there is still a lot of excitement around Mikel Merino and he could prove to be an excellent piece of business for Newcastle United after joining on loan from the German club.

He has already impressed the Toon fans with his pre-season form and they are salivating over the prospect of his potential midfield partnership with Jonjo Shelvey. Merino could become a key player for Newcastle in their bid for Premier League survival.

#2 Will Hughes – Watford

Will Hughes has finally made it to the Premier League by joining Watford

Will Hughes has long been tipped for a bright future and many thought he would have joined a Premier League side long before this season. However, he remained loyal to Derby County and has been a star player for them over the last few years, despite still only being 22-year old.

These extra years developing his game could stand Hughes in good stead as he now looks 100% ready to make an impact in the Premier League. The England U-21 International became Marco Silva’s first signing at Watford and he’ll be hoping that Hughes can help him fight off the threat of relegation.

#1 Gabriel Jesus – Manchester City

Can Jesus fire Man City to the Premier League title?

Gabriel Jesus burst onto the scene at Manchester City at the start of 2017 and even kept Sergio Aguero out the side for a period of time. However, he, unfortunately, picked up a metatarsal injury, which kept him out for a while, although he still finished the season with an impressive seven goals in just ten Premier League appearances.

It will be interesting to see how Pep Guardiola chooses to set up his team for the upcoming campaign. Will Jesus and Aguero be competing for the same position or will Pep attempt to fit them both on the same side?

Either way, if Jesus can stay fit for the 2017/18 season, then it could be a huge breakout year for the exciting Brazilian forward.