The Youngest Premier League Players

Who are the youngest players in Premier League history? Here, we look through the top 20.

Top 20 Youngest Premier League Players

1. Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) – 15 years, 181 days old
2. Max Dowman (Arsenal) – 15 years, 235 days old
3. Jeremy Monga (Leicester City) – 15 years, 271 days old
4. Harvey Elliott (Fulham) – 16 years, 30 days old
5. Matthew Briggs (Fulham) – 16 years, 68 days old
6. Izzy Brown (West Bromwich Albion) – 16 years, 117 days old
7. Aaron Lennon (Leeds Utd) – 16 years, 129 days old
8. Jose Baxter (Everton) – 16 years, 191 days old
9. Joél Drakes-Thomas (Crystal Palace) – 16 years, 194 days old
10. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (Aston Villa) – 16 years, 198 days old
11. Gary McSheffrey (Coventry City) – 16 years, 198 days old
12. Jake Evans (Leicester City) – 16 years, 234 days old
13. Reece Oxford (West Ham United) – 16 years, 236 days old
14. Jerome Abbey (Wolverhampton Wanderers) – 16 years, 250 days old
15. Jack Robinson (Liverpool) – 16 years, 250 days old
16. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) – 16 years, 256 days old
17. Angel Gomes (Manchester United) – 16 years, 263 days old
18. Mark Platts (Sheffield Wednesday) – 16 years, 263 days old
19. James Vaughan (Everton) – 16 years, 270 days old
20. Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur) – 16 years, 277 days old

Ethan Nwaneri – 15 years, 181 days old
Arsenal vs Brentford (19 September 2022)

Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history in September 2022, when, at 15 years and 181 days old, he was introduced as a last-minute substitute in Arsenal’s 3-0 away win at Brentford.

Becoming the first player under 16 years old to play Premier League football, as well as for Arsenal in any competition, he shattered the competition record previously set by Harvey Elliott in May 2019.

Nwaneri – younger than Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium – was born in 2007. Arsenal’s club record for the youngest player to make their debut in a competitive fixture was previously held by Cesc Fàbregas (16 years, 177 days), while he took over from Jack Wilshere (16 years, 256 days) as the youngest player to play a league match for the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta showed faith in Nwaneri to step up to the first team after some impressive performances for Arsenal Under-18s, and his appearance came just a week after the British record was broken by Northern Irish schoolboy Christopher Atherton, who became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom when he played for Glenavon aged 13 years, 329 days old.

Max Dowman – 15 years, 235 days old
Arsenal vs Leeds United (23 August 2025)

Max Dowman became the second-youngest player to make a Premier League appearance in Arsenal’s win over Leeds United on 23 August 2025.

After an impressive pre-season, Dowman was given his chance in Arsenal’s second match of the 2025-26 campaign despite being aged just 15 years and 235 days old.

Coming on in the 64th minute with Arsenal already 4-0 up, Dowman won his side a penalty in added time, which Viktor Gyökeres converted to make the score 5-0.

On the final day of the 2025-26 season, Dowman was selected in Arsenal’s starting XI against Crystal Palace making him the youngest player to ever start a Premier League match (16 years, 144 days old).

Jeremy Monga – 15 years, 271 days old
Leicester City vs Newcastle United (7 April 2025)

It was a night to forget on 7 April 2025 for Leicester City. On a run of seven consecutive league defeats going into their home clash with Newcastle, they found themselves 2-0 down by the 12th minute, and 3-0 behind by half-time.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side had also passed the 12-hour mark since they had last scored a league goal. They were staring Premier League relegation in the face.

One moment that caused a rare bit of joy for the home fans was seeing the introduction of 15-year-old academy talent Jeremy Monga, who came on in rather difficult circumstances for the Foxes in the 74th minute at the King Power Stadium, replacing Bilal El Khannouss.

Monga, a winger, was unable to make much impact as Leicester suffered another demoralising loss, but he did become the second-youngest player in Premier League history at the time. Every cloud, and all that.

Harvey Elliott – 16 years, 30 days old
Fulham vs Wolves (4 May 2019)

Harvey Elliott became the youngest Premier League player (at the time) to make an appearance in May 2019 when he came on as an 88th-minute substitute during Fulham’s 1-0 away defeat to Wolves at Molineux, a record that was broken in September 2022 by Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri.

Now a fully established Premier League player, Elliott was only 16 years and 30 days old on the day of his first appearance, but Fulham boss Scott Parker decided he was worthy of a place in the matchday squad for the already-relegated side.

Just under three months after making this appearance, Elliott signed for Liverpool for an undisclosed fee and made his league debut for the Reds in their 2-0 win over Sheffield United in January 2020 as a 90th-minute sub. In doing so, he became the second-youngest player to play for Liverpool in the Premier League (16y 273d) after Jack Robinson in May 2010.

He made his first Premier League start on the second weekend of the 2021-22 season, during Liverpool’s win over Burnley.

Matthew Briggs – 16 years, 68 days old
Fulham vs Middlesbrough (13 May 13 2007)

Upon entering the pitch during Fulham’s 3-1 Premier League away defeat to Middlesbrough on the final day of the 2006-07 season, Matthew Briggs became the youngest player to make an appearance in the competition at 16 years, 68 days old. That record has since been broken, but it stood for 12 years until Elliott’s appearance in May 2019.

He had to wait over three years longer to get his first Premier League start – and his next appearance in the competition – in Fulham’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Left-back Briggs went on to play 13 times in the Premier League across five seasons – all for Fulham – but spent most of his time at the club out on loan before eventually dropping down the leagues for regular playing time.

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