00:00A few weeks ago I was brave enough to stick my neck out and bring you three
00:03wonder kids I think are worth watching in the Premier League this season.
00:06You didn't seem to absolutely hate the idea so I'm back with three more.
00:09Welcome back to the boys a bit special where we spotlight the best and brightest
00:12young players world football has to offer. I'm Joe Donoghue, senior staff writer at 442
00:17and today I've got three more players I can't wait to watch in the Premier League this season.
00:25Born in London in 2009 but raised in Luxembourg,
00:28there can't be many kids with that sort of background except maybe the children of tax exiles.
00:32Aston Villa striker Brian Maggio developed at Luxembourgish clubs before joining French
00:36side Mets as a 14 year old. He became the club's youngest ever debutant in Ligue 1 at 16 years
00:41and
00:41217 days old and before long he was a Villa player officially signing back in January 2026 for about
00:4710 million quid. Internationally Maggio is a bit of an interesting cat. Initially he won three senior
00:53caps for Luxembourg but then submitted a request to FIFA to switch nationalities to England who
00:58he's since represented at youth level. Then after his move to Villa, FIFA blocked them from registering
01:02Maggio for competitive matches, categorising the move as an international transfer of an under 18
01:07player. FIFA argued on one hand that his development and senior caps tied him internationally to
01:12Luxembourg but Villa maintained he was an English citizen simply returning to his home country.
01:17Anyway, Villa escalated the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, otherwise known as CAS,
01:21and they ruled in Villa's favour. Job done, unleash the boy. But none of that legal mumbo jumbo is
01:27why I'm looking forward to seeing him this season though. That's exclusively down to the fact he was
01:30a complete bull during pre-season and I'm not sure how many people saw that coming this soon.
01:36Maggio really caught the eye during pre-season as I say. He bagged a brace against, okay fine,
01:41Walsall, but after that he was given clearance to play in competitive games. He made his official
01:46debut against PSG in the UEFA Super Cup. What did he do? Of course, he scored the equaliser on the
02:00stroke of half-time. Considering the fact that Villa's squad has been gutted this summer,
02:04Maggio could play some serious minutes, even before he turns 18 in January. Villa started their first
02:10game of the season, that disastrous 4-0 defeat at Brighton, with Emi Buendia up front after Oli Watkins
02:15went on strike. With the England man now in Saudi Arabia, Nicholas Jackson needing time to find his
02:19feet, no goals scored from their opening three league games, and not a whole load of other options,
02:24it is, in 4-4-2's opinion, Maggio time once he returns from injury. Another interesting anecdote
02:30about the Villa striker, he's the son of former EFL striker Guy Maggio, who had similar registration
02:35issues in English football back when he was a player. Maggio Senior had trials at Stoke, Port Vale and
02:40Bristol City after scoring for fun in non-league, then bizarrely was offered a trial at Boca
02:45Juniors. But get this, a day before he was supposed to fly to Argentina, he received a work permit and
02:51was able to sign for Bristol City. Ashtongate or La Bombonera, you tell me. Unfortunately Maggio Senior
02:56was later given a three and a half year prison sentence in 2016, and as far as we can tell
03:00has
03:00been on the run ever since. Brian though has the world at his feet and will be given opportunities to
03:05make a name for himself in English football this season. And that is why he's one of my Premier League
03:0926-27 won to watchers. I've actually spoken about Caleb Jarenki on this channel before,
03:18although that was when I was previewing England's opponents at the World Cup. Jarenki is a Ghanaian
03:22international and even scored the winner for them against Panama in their opener at this summer's
03:26tournament. Now he's signed for Coventry. Now I don't know if we can go back into the 4-4-2
03:31archives
03:31and pluck out grainy footage of me from a few months ago saying he's Premier League ready.
03:35It would make me look very smart if we could. Here's some dingbat with a Geordie accent.
03:39There's also a one to watch in Caleb Jarenki, purely from a transfers perspective. Scouts that
03:44I speak to in the game have mentioned him on several occasions saying he's got the tools to
03:48one day become a future Premier League player. Oh hang on, here's something else I said about him.
03:52Jarenki is a great athlete and does it all in the middle of the park. Wins possession,
03:56plays passes, tackles, hassles opponents. He's a useful grafter to have in year 11,
04:00which is why for Ghana he's often played at right back. Sounds like a pretty shrewd
04:04signing on Coventry's part then. But why didn't he go to an established Premier League club if he's
04:09so good, Joe? Well, 4-4-2 subscriber, thank you for such an informed and politely framed question.
04:14I'm going to tell you. He's joined the Sky Blues straight from FC Nordjylland,
04:18the Danish Superleague club. And let's take a look at players who've made similar moves from
04:22Denmark's top flight straight to the Premier League. Victor Christensen to Leicester City in 2023.
04:27Daniel Agat to Liverpool in 2006. Okay, that one was a success, but that was 20 years ago.
04:32Alexander Solot to Crystal Palace in 2018. Not a good move, even if he's a much better player now.
04:37You could probably say that transfer was too much too soon.
04:39Frank Onyeka to Brentford in 2021. Meh. Now also at Coventry actually.
04:44Ibrahim Osman, also from Nordjylland and the right to Dream Pipeline to Brighton 2024. Meh.
04:50Still has a lot to prove. Andreas Cornelius to Cardiff City in 2013. Nope.
04:54Brian Oviedo to Everton 2012. Probably a success on the balance of things, but nobody's running around
05:00the house with a rolled up pair of socks pretending they're Brian Oviedo, are they?
05:03And finally, Jankouba Minta to Newcastle in 2023. A success, but not at Newcastle.
05:09Basically, what I'm trying to say is, if you're going straight from Denmark to the Premier League,
05:12the jump is quite considerable. And even the most imposing centre forwards,
05:16like Cornelius and Solot, have found it tough. Jarenki thankfully has the physical tools to mix it
05:21in the Premier League right away. But as he found in the opener against Arsenal, it's a different beast,
05:25this Premier League lark. Personally, I think Jarenki's box-to-box ability will stand Coventry
05:30and himself in really good stead at certain points this season. There'll almost definitely be a
05:34counter-attacking goal the Sky Blues score that has Jarenki contributing. Whether it be winning
05:38possession back in their own half, carrying it upfield, or even applying the finishing touch
05:42at the other end. He's got a proper engine, and that's really why I like him so much.
05:46As with many of the shouts in this mini-series, it's potential that I'm looking for.
05:50And Jarenki has bags of it. Judging him on whether he's a success or failure is
05:54much more nuanced than if he were a striker, for example. Because if Maggio bangs in a load of
05:59goals for Villa, but Villa do terribly, you can quite easily separate the two. In Jarenki's position,
06:04if Coventry go down, which for promoted teams is always likely, he could be deemed a failure.
06:09Not in my eyes though. Never in mine. Not my Caleb.
06:15You thought we were leaving Coventry, didn't you? No, we're staying putt. Stay with me,
06:19because Siddiqui Sharif is worth it. I've been wanting to feature Sharif in some capacity in the
06:23boys bit special series for quite some time, but for one reason or another, other players have
06:27taken priority. So when I saw he was moving to the Premier League, I thought there was no better
06:30opportunity. Wouldn't recommend swapping Istanbul for Coventry, mind. But, you know,
06:35what sort of brochure did they show him, seriously?
06:37He came through Angers' academy, won promotion to Ligue 1 with them in 2023-24,
06:42then his early season breakthrough the following year attracted international attention. He's had injury
06:46problems, but having only just turned 19, Angers decided to sell at a time when his value was at its
06:51highest, agreeing a £21 million transfer to Fenerbahce in January 2026. It was at this point
06:57I thought I wouldn't get the chance to feature him in this series because, well, truthfully,
07:01I don't know enough about Turkish football to gauge the general standard over there.
07:04So, unless he scored 20 in 20, I wouldn't have been able to say definitively that he's the shit.
07:10Thankfully, Coventry's scouting department saw the same things I did at Angers and threw some
07:14arrangement of taking Sharif off Fenerbahce's hands just six or so months after he arrived in Turkey.
07:19Now, he hasn't scored a hat full of goals in his career so far, but he is six foot two
07:23inches tall
07:24and a real athlete with a really robust way of playing, meaning that he won't be bullied.
07:29Despite his height, he's more of a channel runner, so I could see him playing off the left,
07:32supporting someone who's more of a target man like Ellis Sims, Taiwo Awanyi or Haji Wright, who knows.
07:38By no means is Siddiqui Sharif a sure thing. Out of the three I've picked in this video,
07:42he is the one most likely to absolutely crash and burn, making me look like an absolute prat in the
07:47process.
07:47But, he could also be brilliant, and that's what I'm banking on.
07:52Remember to like this video and subscribe to the channel for more cutting edge football journalism,
07:56players you've heard of and others you haven't.
07:58Stick a comment below to let me know who you're looking forward to watching in the Premier League this Season
08:022.
08:03Until next time, bye for now.
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