Ethan Nwaneri

Key strength: Vision and passing

Creative playmaker

At just 18, Ethan Nwaneri is writing an unconventional chapter in English football's story—one that unfolds not in the Premier League, but under the Mediterranean sun at Olympique Marseille. The Hale End academy graduate has traded London for Ligue 1, where Marseille currently sit 3rd in the table after navigating a mixed run of LLWWW. It's a bold gambit rarely taken by English prospects, yet Nwaneri is thriving. Wearing the number 22 shirt, he's accumulated 749 minutes across 17 appearances this season, finding the net twice as he beds into Roberto De Zerbi's system. His €40 million valuation speaks to the ceiling scouts see in this creative playmaker, whose 65-rated vision allows him to thread passes through the tightest spaces. Operating alongside Angel Gomes and feeding an attacking trident of Amine Gouiri, Timothy Weah, and Igor Paixão, Nwaneri refuses to be overawed by his star-studded teammates. In a league where English talent seldom ventures, this teenager's fearlessness might just redefine the path for the next generation.