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6 youngsters seeking breakout season with Premier League's leading outfits

Matthew Peters / Manchester United / Getty

With pre-season campaigns underway, theScore looks at largely untested youngsters from last season's top six who could stake a claim for top-flight minutes in 2018-19.

Arsenal

Reiss Nelson

There is a scarcity of natural wingers in Unai Emery's squad, and that could benefit Nelson, who was wasted a little when Arsene Wenger shoehorned him into a wing-back slot during some outings last season. He is probably best suited to a job out wide, but the Hale End graduate has also appeared comfortable when busying himself behind the striker.

There was a brief concern that 18-year-old Nelson would be nabbed by a team on the continent with promises of first-team football, but he seems to be keen on making it at Arsenal and establishing himself in the Spaniard's plans with a strong pre-season. He got on the scoresheet in the opening summer friendly at Boreham Wood - confidently taming the ball on his chest before smashing the ball home - and his quick feet were a menace down the right flank throughout the first half. After that performance, it's little wonder why the player himself expects to be part of the party taking on Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in Singapore over the next week-and-a-half.

Chelsea

Ethan Ampadu

Given Chelsea's commitment to an extensive system of loaning out players across England's professional leagues and Europe, picking out a breakout star to make waves in the first team is difficult. So it's no surprise that Ampadu, 17, has the most senior experience on this list.

The Welsh defender played 507 minutes for Exeter City in the 2016-17 season before shifting to the Blues last summer, and then went on to enjoy two starts apiece in the League Cup and FA Cup in 2017-18. With a host of standout youngsters already being shipped out on temporary deals - Dujon Sterling will spend this campaign with League One's Coventry City - and with plenty more loans in the works, Ampadu's competition is dwindling. If he can prove his fitness after suffering an ankle injury in March, he can bring a precocious maturity to the middle of defence or in midfield.

Liverpool

Rhian Brewster

Curtis Jones, 17, has been a composed midfield presence during Liverpool's early pre-season friendlies, but 18-year-old Brewster has the best chance of breaking through in the 2018-19 term when he overcomes the ankle ligament injury that has sidelined him since January. When he signed a long-term contract with the Merseysiders on Tuesday, the club's news release was unequivocal in stating that the forward will be part of the senior fold when he is fit.

Brewster has been on the club's books since he was 14 and thrust himself into the limelight when he scored a tournament-topping eight goals as England won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup last October. Liverpool ensured it kept Brewster's feet on the ground after that success, but his "good background" that so often forges the foundation of glittering careers has been noted by Under-23s boss Neil Critchley. Brewster has improved greatly with his gambling runs, and should find his channel to the first team open with the potential sales of Danny Ings, Divock Origi, and Daniel Sturridge.

Manchester City

Eric Garcia

Carles Puyol irritated his former employer Barcelona last summer when, acting for the agency firm headed up by himself and fellow La Masia product Ivan de la Pena, he brokered a move for Garcia to Manchester City. He is still just 17, but was drawing comparisons with Gerard Pique when he cost Pep Guardiola's side around €1.5 million last summer.

The Spanish defender signed his first professional contract earlier in July, and was picked to join the pre-season tour of the United States. He tallied a commendable four goals for the Under-18s in 2017-18, and what works in his favour is some surpassable competition in City's backline. Tosin Adarabioyo still looks as if he needs to grow into his figure, and the excitement surrounding Cameron Humphreys has abated since he played a full friendly against a stacked Real Madrid side in 2015. Salford lad Nathanael Ogbeta, also 17, rounds off Garcia's youthful on-tour rivals at centre-back.

Manchester United

Angel Gomes

When Gomes was a late substitute for Wayne Rooney in a league win over Crystal Palace in May 2017, he became the youngest player to turn out for the Red Devils since the legendary Duncan Edwards in 1953. However, glimpses have otherwise been scarce for Manchester United fans, leaving his reputation to be supplemented by glowing youth team accounts and reports that he's been tied down to a basic £17,000-a-week contract to detract the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

United has managed his development carefully, appreciating that players progress at different rates, but his inclusion in the United States excursion may put pressure on Jose Mourinho to include him in senior matters. Gomes, 17, is blessed with a low centre of gravity and an ability to quickly change direction and dart away, but in a No. 10 role - where he has often appeared for United's youth teams - he has also shown an eye for both intricate through-balls and expansive passes.

Tottenham Hotspur

Anthony Georgiou

Keanan Bennetts was the standout star of Spurs' Under-23 contingent last season, but his departure to Borussia Monchengladbach could sweep the path to Mauricio Pochettino's squad for Luke Amos and Georgiou, both of whom have been training with the first team this summer. While the former's high-level experience has been non-existent - he impressed on loan last season, albeit in League Two with Stevenage - Georgiou has been around the periphery of the senior setup, impressing at 2017's pre-season tour and emerging from the bench against APOEL in the Champions League.

The 21-year-old Cypriot prospect possesses the qualities that encouraged Pochettino to pick up Lucas Moura in January - some pace and direction out wide to remedy Spurs' sometimes-ponderous attacks - but he can also drop into a wing-back role where he has displayed a natural knack for defending. Georgiou's versatility and the continued question marks regarding Danny Rose's future could see the youngster given league minutes sooner rather than later.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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