Michael Owen has kickstarted a debate over whether he was better than Wayne Rooney as a teenager which got us thinking of the best wonderkids in modern English football history.
While the debate will go on over which of the pair were better (it’s Rooney), to keep the peace we have put both the strikers in our XI given just how strong they were at an early age.
But they’re not the only ones from English football history to break out at a young age, so here’s out pick of the 11 best teenage talents.
GK: Jack Butland
Making your England debut at 19 would suggest you have a long career ahead of you but Butland’s appearance in a friendly against Italy turned out to be the first of just nine matches he would play for his country.
He was a promising young goalkeeper, starting life at Birmingham before a number moves around the EFL.
In 2020, he was signed by Palace but featured in just 10 league games over three years before a loan deal to Manchester United to make up the numbers.
He has since moved north of the border and found a more permanent home as Rangers’ No.1.
CB: Rio Ferdinand
It was Harry Redknapp who gave a young Rio his debut back in 1996 at West Ham and the teenager went on to become a regular in the Hammers squad.
By the time he had turned 20, Ferdinand had already played over 40 times in the Premier League and although he had to wait for his career-defining move to United, Ferdinand is a rare example of young talent that came good.
CB: Phil Jones
In 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson said one player “could be our best ever player” and it wasn’t Rooney, it wasn’t Ronaldo – it was the 21-year-old Jones.
Fergie’s reasoning, if a little dramatic, was sound as Jones had emerged as one of the best centre-backs in the league after breaking through at Blackburn at the age of 18.
United forked out £16million and even if he ended up staying for 12 years, no one is putting him near United’s all-time top players list.
Like a lot of underwhelming wonderkids, Jones was done by injuries and could never realise his potential.
CB: Micah Richards
Richards bursting onto the scene may be a meme at this point, but he was very good at an early age in his defence.
He was 18 and was an incredible mix of power and pace, already playing at a title-contending team and looking like a mainstay at right-back for England for years to come.
Unfortunately for him, the youngest defender to ever play for England suffered with a persistent knee injury that stifled his trajectory.
His City career came to an end when Pablo Zabaleta solidified the right-back spot and stints at Aston Villa and Fiorentina preceded an early retirement.
CM: Jude Bellingham
While it is still quite funny that Brimgham opted to retire his shirt when he left, it does speak volumes to how much they rated Bellingham.
The local lad made his debut for the club at 16 and was 17 when he began impressing on the world stage with Dortmund and England during the 2022 World Cup.
At the age of 19, he moved to the biggest club in the world and the most impressive aspect, apart from his technical ability, is that he does not look overawed by any occasion.
His first season in Madrid saw him score 19 goals in 28 league appearances, of which many were game-deciding, and he ended it with a Champions League winners’ medal.
CM: Jack Wilshere
Rarely has a player been so defined by one game, but in a midfield battle including Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, Wilshere’s performance that night earned him praise from the Barcelona greats.
Wilshere was a typical Arsenal player and his Goal of the Season strike against Norwich in 2013 sums that up but injuries were his downfall.
He missed over 200 games in his career and could never recapture his early form.
READ: We’re still in awe of Jack Wilshere’s stunning 2011 CL display v Barcelona
Cm: dele to the
After Dele picked up his second consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2017, no one would have predicted the downfall that his career trajectory would take.
Away from personal issues, the catalyst appeared to be the loss of father figure Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs.
Jose Mourinho’s tough love act – as documented on an Amazon documentary – did not give him the wakeup call he desperately needed.
After Spurs, he moved to Everton then on to Besiktas, but always looked a shadow of the player he once was. A crying shame.
RW: Raheem Sterling
Sterling was part of the near title-winning Liverpool front three of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, but despite his age, he did not look out of place.
The London-born player was an exciting talent on the wing and picked up the Golden Boy award in 2014 before making a controversial move to Manchester City the following year.
While it burnt his bridges with the Merseyside fans, Sterling has four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five League Cups to validate his decision.
He may be past his best now, but the fact he started so young may explain why his legs look gone even at the relatively young age of 30.
LW: Jadon Sancho
What made Sancho so exciting was not the ability he showed, but the fact he did it away from the Premier League, something English players had rarely done before.
The Sancho we saw at Dortmund was one of the world’s best wingers and an extended stint in the England team seemed impossible to disagree with.
But it was a return to the Premier League that scuppered his plans.
Moving to Manchester United coupled with a work ethic that did not align with the uber-competitive modern game has made Sancho a failed wonderkid.
Chelsea paying £5million to not sign him was the final nail in the coffin of the once-promising youngster.
ST: Michael Owen
In Owen’s defence, the man who kick-started this debate was one of England’s best young talents.
He was nicknamed ‘the boy wonder’ with incredible speed and finishing ability and was quickly developing into one of Liverpool’s best players.
In his first full season at the club, he finished joint top of the Premier League scoring charts and made his England debut in 1998, going on to play in the World Cup and scoring against Argentina.
A series of awards followed but the biggest was the Ballon d’Or which he won at the age of 22, just nine months shy of the record for the youngest winner.
A move to Madrid where he became one of many and injuries did for him.
While a late career transfer to Manchester United may have got him the Premier League title he craved, it did so at the cost of his relationship with the Anfield faithful.
ST: Wayne Rooney
Owen may have every right to brag about his young career, but it was still not on the level of Rooney’s.
Rooney announced himself with a simply ridiculous hit against Arsenal for Everton when he was just 16 years old and from there his career went on the up and up.
Two seasons at Everton and a stunning Euro 2004 with England were followed by a big-money move to Manchester United at the age of 18.
And while plenty shrank under the expectation, Rooney began life at Old Trafford with a hat-trick in the Champions League, wearing a shirt with the collar that he had ripped because his neck was too big.
And while Owen’s career faded, Rooney fulfilled his potential. He may not have won the Ballon d’Or as Owen did (blame Messi and Ronaldo) but he became England and United’s all-time top scorer.
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