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The PFA Young Player of the Year is the annual award presented to the best English Premier League player aged 23 or under at the start of the season. This is the individual trophy that every young player in the Premier League wants to get his hands on.
Raheem Sterling, who is a strong contender for the PFA Player of the Year award is likely to clinch the Young Player of the Year award too after a stellar season. His teammate Bernardo Silva is likely to be his strongest competitor for the award. Their teammate, Leroy Sane, clinched the title last season but has surprisingly been omitted from the six-man shortlist this time around.
The shortlist includes Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, West Ham's Declan Rice and Bournemouth's David Brooks. These young players have played a massive role in their team's success by bringing in youthful exuberance and energy to the side.
Their performances would just be a bright start to what could be an exciting road ahead for these future superstars of the game. In this article, we take a look at the Best Young XI of the Premier League 2018-19. We have considered players who were 23 or less at the start of the Premier League season in August last year.
Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea)
With Real Madrid completing the signing of Thibaut Courtois at the start of the season, Chelsea knew they had huge boots to fill to replace the Belgian shot-stopper. Chelsea surprisingly though spent a massive sum to sign a relatively unknown Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for €80 million, making him the most expensive goalkeeper in the progress.
Though Kepa has been exposed at the back a few times, he has shown promise. Though he has a long way to go to fill Courtois' shoes and also justify the transfer fee, he still has age on his side to develop and become a top keeper for Chelsea. The Spaniard has kept 13 clean sheets this season, which has only been exceeded by the two title contender teams, Manchester City and Liverpool.
With a better defense in front of him and with more time to develop and understanding with the back-line, Kepa has the skills to grow into one of the best keepers in the world.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the most improved players over the last two seasons in the Premier League. Having initially begun his career as a central midfielder, he's been a massive influence on the right side of the defense.
The 20-year old bombs up and down the right flank and has developed a great understanding with Mo Salah. Along with Robertson on the left side of the defense, he provides the width and creativity from the flanks, which can be noticed with the eight assists he has provided for his teammates. He also takes set pieces for Liverpool and has the ability to score for free kicks as well.
Though he's still suspect when strong and pacy wingers run at him, the defensive side of his game has seen an improvement and he would continue to improve with experience. The Liverpool-born lad is already being touted as a future captain material.
Kurt Zouma (Everton)
Kurt Zouma has had an impressive first season at Merseyside. The centre-back on loan from Chelsea has established himself as first choice by displacing club captain Phil Jagielka. He uses his height to good effect and also has the pace to recover and keep the swift forwards in check.
The Frenchman has formed a good partnership with Michael Keane in the centre of Everton's defense. With his height he also poses problems to the opposition during set-pieces and he has scored two goals this season, in wins over Bournemouth and West Ham.
His good showings this season would have caught the eyes of his parent club and Chelsea might choose to retain his services next season with David Luiz underperforming in the second half of the campaign.
Nathan Ake (Bournemouth)
Another centre back who was on Chelsea's books. In fact Chelsea signed Nathan Ake as a 16-year old and he spent time at Stamford Bridge coming through their youth season. However, with playing time hard to come by he moved to Bournemouth on loan for the 2016-17 campaign. Solid performances in the first half of the season saw him recalled by Chelsea. However Bournemouth had seen enough of his talents and spent a club record fee to prize him out of Chelsea.
Ake has made the most clearances in the Premier League this season and has also chipped in with three goals this season. He's established himself as one of the best young centre backs in the league. Chelsea did install a buy back clause when they let him go to the south coast, and they might decide to exercise the option as they are short on defensive options.
Ben Chilwell (Leicester City)
Ben Chilwell has always been a highly rated player, which was why Liverpool were looking at him as a serious option to replace Alberto Moreno on the left side of the defense two years back. This year Chilwell has gone on to show his talents after being assured of a place in the starting eleven.
He has endless amounts of energy to run up and down the left flank and his pace allows him to recover and hold his position when coming face to face with tricky wingers. He also provides width on the left side of the pitch for Leicester and has also supplied five assists this season. His good showings also saw him win his first England cap in September 2018.
Chilwell would be on the radar of the top clubs and the top 6 clubs might look to snap him from Leicester.
Declan Rice (West Ham United)
Declan Rice has has enjoyed a superb season, tallying over 30 appearances for West Ham, scoring his maiden Premier League goal and making his full debut for England.
Rice has excelled in a holding midfield position, making more tackles than any other West Ham player and he ranks seventh in the most tackles completed in the Premier League.
He has been a key component in the Hammers' midfield and was mightily impressive against Arsenal, a game in which he scored his maiden Premier League goal. His form also led to his England debut after his change of allegiance from the Republic of Ireland. Rice would be on the radar of many of the top teams who will be on the market on the lookout for a defensive midfielder.
Unlucky to miss out: Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
After a slow start to life in England, Bernardo Silva has developed to become one of Pep Guardiola's key men in his high-functioning unit. With star man Kevin de Bruyne going through numerous injury issues this season, Bernardo Silva stepped up to take up his creativity duties. The Portuguese has been named in the shortlist for both the PFA Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year, just like his teammate Raheem Sterling.
Incredibly skillful on the ball, Silva has become a vital cog in Guardiola's side as he has the ability to play both in the centre of midfield and on the wings. When playing an opposition against who he has to show respect, Guardiola tends to put Bernardo Silva on the wing due to his defensive discipline. The 24-year old has scored six times and also assisted a further eight goals.
His best showing came in the crunch clash against Liverpool at the Etihad when he hurried and hassled the opposition into losing the ball. He committed clever fouls, held up the ball intelligently and ran himself to the ground by covering most areas of the pitch in a lion-hearted showing. He also created Aguero's opener in the 2-1 win.
James Maddison (Leicester City)
James Maddison, signed from Norwich City for around €20 million last summer has lit up the Premier League in his first season in the top flight. Since the departure of Riyad Mahrez, Leicester were struggling to create goals from the midfield and the signing of Maddison was a breath of fresh air at the King Power Stadium.
The Leicester has formed a strong partnership with forward Jamie Vardy and has contributed to seven goals and six assists this season, across 13 different games. The 22-year received his first call up to the England squad in October 2018, though he is yet to make his debut for them. He is a perfect no.10 and would be on the radar of the top teams in the Premier League and a move to one of the top 6 sides would be a strong possibility next season.
Unlucky to miss out: David Brooks (Bournemouth)
Though Brooks has been named on the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year, Maddison has contributed on a more consistent basis throughout the season, while Brooks has generally been spectacular on days when Bournemouth have outclassed the opposition. Maddison is also a more important component in Leicester's success than Brooks is to Bournemouth's success and that tilted the scales in favour of Maddison.
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
With 18 goals and 11 assists last season, Raheem Sterling established himself as one of the top wingers in the Premier League. However he was still in the shadows of the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and David Silva. This year though he has been head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates and the league, leaving maybe Virgil van Dijk aside.
This season, Sterling has 17 goals and 9 assists this season and is on course to match, if not better, the numbers he racked up last season. However, more than just the numbers is the importance of the goals he has scored. Sterling has been crucial in breaking through opposition defenses as de Bruyne has missed most of the season due to injuries and Sane has been in and out of the team in the second half of the campaign.
A massive improvement in his game this season is his conversion rate and his composure in front of goal. The sight of Sterling running at you is a sight no defender wants to see and if Manchester City do clinch the title, they would have Sterling to thank for his vital contributions. Sterling is one of the favourites to lift the PFA Player of the Year award and if he continues this form, he could also be a Ballon d'Or contender in the near future.
Leroy Sane (Manchester City)
Joachim Low felt the absence of Leroy Sane when he left him out of the World Cup squad and defending champions Germany exited the tournament in the first round. Sane provides creativity with his direct play as he runs at defenses. He has the ability to stay and create of the flank and also drift in to score for himself.
Sane has had a mixed Premier League season and he's yet got 9 goals and 10 assists, showing that he remains a vital component in Guardiola's attack. The German has been in and out of Pep's side but he has still scored important goals, none more so than what could be a title-clinching goal that he scored in the 2-1 win against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
If Sane can sort out some of his discipline issues that has landed him in soup with both Low and Pep, Sane could go on to establish himself as one of the best wingers in the world.
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Marcus Rashford completes the eleven as the front man. Rashford has displaced Romelu Lukaku as the striker in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team. He scored 6 goals in 8 games since Ole replaced Jose Mourinho as the manager.
Rashford was a victim of United's desperate signing of Alexis Sanchez and he has thrived under Solskjaer. The 21-year old has 10 goals and 6 assists this season and has also been named in the six man shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, though it's unlikely he'll end up winning it.
Rashford has the talent to become a top striker in the coming years if he can improve his composure in front of goal. He is a big match player as seen in his first few years at Old Trafford and with regular player time, the United no.10 can live up to his jersey number.
