Chelsea players celebrate against Ajax in the Champions League. (Getty Images)
As we enter 2020, here are 3 English youngsters who have set the Premier League on fire this term.
To begin the season, there were some doubts if Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham would be the primary striker for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side. Now, it’s pretty clear that Abraham is the main man up front.
The youngster scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Wolves and also the winner in the come-from-behind 2-1 win against Arsenal, levelling 3rd-placed Marcus Rashford on the list of Premier League top-scorers for the season. In the fixture with Sheffield United and a nail-biting victory over Norwich City, Abraham netted a double.
Regardless of the opponents, Abraham has been clinical in front of the goal in every way possible. His three goals against Wolves are a perfect example of his ability to score different types of goals.
Abraham has a wonderful first touch and is good at holding the ball up, a necessary asset for a top-notch central striker. He’s the full package and his early form is proving that Frank Lampard made the correct decision selecting the 21-year-old as his primary No.9.
Many of those who were against the appointment of Lampard were automatically against Mount. Anyone who has actually watched a Chelsea game this season, however, will know that Mount is important to the Chelsea side and fits in.
As a part of one of the most electric crops of youngsters which England has ever seen, it certainly takes a lot to stand out from the crowd, but Mount has been doing that for years.
Primarily a central midfielder, Mount boasts outstanding composure on the ball. He’s hungry for possession, but he always wants to turn that possession into something in front of goal. Whether that’s passing, dribbling or shooting, Mount does it all.
As we’ve seen on several occasions this season, Mount ensures that everything he does is of the highest quality. His playmaking has bamboozled Premier League defenders, while his dribbling and movement make him nearly impossible to stop. Not since Wayne Rooney have we seen an English youngster so capable of holding his own but Mount’s all-round game sees him generate a level of excitement which we have rarely seen before.
Three goals in 376 minutes this season – with a large proportion of them coming from the bench – shows what a mercurial talent the England youth international really is. Having played most of his football in the Europa League, against AZ Alkmaar, ended in the centre-forward scoring two more.
Having just turned 18 in October, Greenwood has the world at his feet for what he has delivered so far in the first half of the season. Whether it is him playing short, on the wings or long through the middle, he has the ability to be in the right position at the right time to put the ball in the back of the net.
It is incredibly difficult to spot which foot is stronger or one that he uses more. He can quite comfortably take penalties with either and has scored goals with both feet this season as well. His most recent, against Newcastle United, was a thunderbolt of a finish into the roof of the net, giving the goalkeeper absolutely no chance.
Aesthetically, he is most similar to Robin van Persie who was smooth, lean, precise and controlled – but with a right foot as definitive as his left. Strategically, though, he more closely resembles Ole Gunnar Solskjær who was able to get a shot away and on target in almost any circumstance. The English attacker has already set the Premier League on fire.