5 Young Premier League Midfielders Showing Early Signs of Promise

It's early days in the new Premier League season but there have already been some eye-catching displays from a number of up and coming midfielders, with WhoScored analysing the contributions of 5 who may prove important to their respective sides this season. The list includes 2 wingers, 2 centre midfielders and 1 defensive midfielder, all of whom are 22 or under and all represent potential England prospects.

Victor Moses - Wigan Athletic

It is fair to say that there is a sizeable amount of pressure on 20-year-old Victor Moses to replace Charles N'Zogbia, who left for Villa this summer, but the youngster has looked to emulate his former teammate in his first 2 games of the season. The former Palace forward plays high and wide up the pitch for Wigan and his confidence is shown by team-high statistics such as 3.5 shots per game and 5.5 successful dribbles per game- N'Zogbia has attempted just 0.5 and 1.5 respectively for his new club.

Having made 1.5 key passes per game with a decent accuracy of 78% from all of his attempts at finding a teammate, Moses is showing great promise in filling the Frenchman's boots. There are certainly areas for improvement in his game having completed just 1 successful cross and 0 tackles thus far this campaign, but the Latics seem to have a ready-made replacement for their aforementioned former star.

David Hoilett - Blackburn Rovers

As mentioned before, all of the 5 players analysed could potentially turn out for England one day, and Rovers' David 'Junior' Hoilett is no different. Despite being born in Canada he is yet to make an international appearance and is eligible to turn out for either England or Jamaica if selected. The 21-year-old's form in the latter stages of last season and early into this may have Capello mulling over ensuring Hoilett's international allegiances don't lay elsewhere.

The wide man picked up his first assist of the season on Saturday following a great delivery after a mazy run against Villa. As of yet he hasn't opened his personal account and will be hoping to add to his meagre solitary shot this campaign sooner rather than later. Hoilett leads the way for Blackburn in terms of key passes per game with 2.5 as well as successful dribbles with the same figure, along with ranking second for accurate crosses per game with 2.

Fabian Delph - Aston Villa

20-year-old Fabian Delph's career at Aston Villa has been hampered by long term injuries since his relatively big-money move from Leeds, but the young midfielder is showing his true potential at the start of this campaign. His opening day inclusion against Fulham came as somewhat of a surprise but it is obvious that new Villa manager Alex McLeish rates Delph highly.

Having been asked to play in a deep lying role alongside Stiliyan Petrov in the first 2 games of the season, the lightweight middle man has shown a steely attitude and ranks as Villa's best player for tackles per game with 3. He has also chipped in with a further 3 interceptions per game as well as proving his worth going forward with a joint high figure of 1.5 successful dribbles per game with Charles N'Zogbia. His distribution has also been superb; making 42.5 passes per game- second only to Petrov, but reaching his target with another joint team high of 86%.

Tom Cleverley - Manchester United

Although he has only played 1 league game thus far due to Manchester United's Monday night clash with Spurs, Tom Cleverley impressed enough last week against West Brom, and particularly in a Community Shield cameo, to suggest that there may be life after Paul Scholes at Old Trafford. Having played an integral role in United's fight-back in the Wembley outing against City, Cleverley earned an international call-up only for the game against Holland to be cancelled.

The invitation from Fabio Capello is likely not to be his last though, having played a pivotal role once again in the Champions opening day victory over West Brom. The young midfielder made a team high of 61 passes in the match, with an exceptional 92% accuracy. He also made 2 successful dribbles in the match but may need to contribute more in a defensive sense if he is to keep a regular place in the United side.

Ross Barkley - Everton

For the majority who hadn't heard of 17-year-old Ross Barkley before now, it seems that his name may well become a familiar fixture in the Toffees line-up after David Moyes showed faith to throw the teenager in for a debut against QPR. Like Cleverley, Barkley has turned out just once this season due to Everton's delayed start to the league following the postponement of their slated opener with Tottenham but early indications suggest he may be the next big thing to come out of Goodison Park.

Another lad who had his progress hampered by injury having broken his leg last year, Barkley has already impressed England manager Capello this. Like a certain Wayne Rooney before him, the midfielder has the physical presence of a man twice his age and showed supreme confidence on his senior debut to attempt 4 shots at goal. An impressive 84% pass accuracy and 60% aerial success rate are also real indicators that Barkley is a significant prospect at his tender age.