MATCH magazine's 'Premiership Wonderkids' list from 2002 has emerged and there are some belters

Back in 2002, football magazine MATCH released a list of the best wonderkids in the Premier League and it makes for fascinating reading 22 years later.

The list includes 20 different Premier League players tipped to make it to the top.

Naturally, not all of them fulfilled the potential they showed early in their careers.

MATCH described them as ' 20 Premiership Wonderkids who are red-hot prospects' and included six of them on the cover.

Those six include Wayne Rooney, John O'Shea, Milan Baros, Jermaine Pennant, Hugo Viana and Carlton Cole. Safe to say there are a few familiar names on that list.

Rooney ended up making his Everton debut at the age of 16 and scored a wondergoal against Arsenal to arrive on the world stage.

He later secured a move to Manchester United and became their all-time top goalscorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances for the Red Devils.

The future England legend won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during his 13 years at Old Trafford.

He became teammates and close friends with O'Shea in the process, who also won a slew of honours with the club. Baros last played for FK Vigantice in his native Czech Republic.

Pennant cost Arsenal £2 million from Notts County as a 15-year-old, a record transfer fee for a trainee at the time. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger saw something in him.

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Despite not making the grade at Highbury, Pennant did forge himself a solid Premier League career. He enjoyed spells at Birmingham, Liverpool and Aston Villa.

In the case of Viana, his career never really managed to get going. Signed by Sir Bobby Robson to eventually replace Gary Speed, the Wales international continued to outperform expectations. The youngster eventually returned to Sporting Lisbon before signing for Valencia permanently.

Carlton Cole spent several years out on loan from Chelsea before signing for West Ham United on a permanent basis. He ended up making 293 appearances for the Hammers across two separate stints.

Check out the entire top 20 below:

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20.) Michael Chopra (Newcastle United)

19.) Liam Ridgewell (Aston Villa)

18.) Luke Wilkshire (Middlesbrough)

17.) Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal)

16.) Chris Shuker (Manchester City)

15.) Darren Cartr (Birmingham City)

14.) Kieran Richardson (Manchester United)

13.) Filipe Oliveira (Chelsea)

12.) Hugo Viana (Newcastle United)

11.) Milan Baros (Liverpool)

10.) Stefan Moore (Aston Villa)

9.) John O'Shea (Manchester United)

8.) Vicente Vuoso (Manchester City)

7.) Carlton Cole (Chelsea)

6.) Jermaine Pennant (Arsenal)

5.) Grant Leadbitter (Sunderland)

4.) Adam Chambers (West Bromwich Albion)

3.) Kolo Toure (Arsenal)

2.) Thomas Butler (Sunderland)

1.) Wayne Rooney (Everton)

Topics: Wayne Rooney, Premier League

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_