• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
20 Premier League youngsters were picked as future stars in 2003 and the list makes for a fascinating read

Home> Football> Premier League

Published 07:00 4 Dec 2024 GMT

20 Premier League youngsters were picked as future stars in 2003 and the list makes for a fascinating read

Several massive names feature in MATCH'S best wonderkids in 2003.

Ben McCrum

Ben McCrum

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

Back in 2014, Match named 20 young players who could become future stars, but where are they two decades later?

Throughout the history of the Premier League, dozens of players have been labelled as the next big up and coming player that will go on to win it all.

While some no doubt go on to achieve exactly what is expected of them, others don't quite reach the heights that they were once expected to.

And this is certainly the case for one 2003 list of the greatest young future stars in the Premier League.

Advert

Back in 2003, popular football magazine MATCH listed Premier League greats Wayne Rooney, John O'Shea and Kolo Toure in their list of the top 20 best young talents in the Premier League.

Having played 203 matches together in a dominant Manchester United side, both O'Shea and Rooney won over a dozen trophies together including the Champions League and five Premier League titles.

Meanwhile Toure won six trophies with Arsenal before leaving to join Manchester City, and become one of small group of players to win the Premier League with two different clubs.

However, not every player went on to have a career that was expected of them.

John O'Shea and Wayne Rooney won over a dozen trophies together. (Image: Getty)
John O'Shea and Wayne Rooney won over a dozen trophies together. (Image: Getty)

Although Jermaine Pennant did win both the FA Cup and two English Super Cups, he never quite reached the heights many fans, despite playing foe 12 English clubs, including Liverpool who he played for in a Champions League final.

Meanwhile, Manchester City pair Vicente Vuoso and Chris Shuker made just six appearances between them before leaving the Premier League.

Here is the list in full and the clubs that they were playing for at the time -

Hugo Viana - Newcastle United

Thomas Butler - Sunderland

John O'Shea - Manchester United

Milan Baros - Liverpool

Grant Leadbitter - Sunderland

Darren Carter - Birmingham City

Kieran Richardson - Manchester United

Adam Chambers - West Bromwich Albion

Felipe Oliveira - Chelsea

Jermaine Pennant - Arsenal

Luke Wilkshire - Middlesbrough

Michael Chopra - Newcastle United

Liam Ridgewell - Aston Villa

Chris Shuker - Manchester City

Jeremie Aliadiere - Arsenal

Carlton Cole - Chelsea

Stefan Moore - Aston Villa

Vicente Vuoso - Manchester City

Wayne Rooney - Everton

Kolo Toure - Arsenal

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Football, Premier League, Wayne Rooney, John Oshea, Manchester United

Ben McCrum
Ben McCrum

Ben is a sports journalist who specialises in football, Formula One and MMA. He has written for publications such as Manchester Evening News, WiganToday, Manchester World and beIN Sports. Throughout his career, he has interviewed top athletes including Gareth Southgate, Luke Littler, Tom Aspinall and Jenson Button.

X

@benmcc14

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • Saipan - X/@1185City
    3 hours ago

    Ireland player who sat beside Roy Keane during Mick McCarthy row reacts to Saipan film recreation

    Keane’s infamous Ireland exit ahead of the 2002 World Cup was depicted in the film Saipan.

    Football
  • Getty Images
    3 hours ago

    Senegal players react after Morocco announced as AFCON winners

    The decision to strip Senegal of the 2025 AFCON title has rocked world football.

    Football
  • Getty
    4 hours ago

    Man City's two-word post about Real Madrid game has aged incredibly poorly

    Real Madrid dumped Manchester City out of the Champions League.

    Football
  • Getty Images
    4 hours ago

    AFCON final result overturned in major ruling as statement released

    The CAF have released a statement to explain the decision.

    Football
  • Man Utd 'add' surprise Premier League forward to summer shopping list
  • Benjamin Sesko receives apology from former Premier League manager after backlash
  • Wayne Rooney reveals what 'everyone' at Man Utd thinks about Michael Carrick amid new update
  • Marcus Rashford future thrown into doubt as Barcelona pursue second Premier League star