Manchester United boast their fair share of exciting young talent, and they weren’t afraid to use it in the 2023/24 season
In fact, no Premier League team gave more playing time to teenagers than the Red Devils last term, with manager Erik ten Hag leaning heavily on some of the youngest members of his squad.
The Dutch boss handed 4,971 combined minutes to six teenagers last season in the league, according to Transfermmarkt, with breakout star Kobbie Mainoo and pacy winger Alejandro Garnacho responsible for 91 per cent of this total.
Recently turned 20, Garnacho has been a regular in Ten Hag’s starting XI since the 2022/23 campaign, and ranks highest among their teenage representatives, spending 2,576 minutes on the pitch.
Meanwhile 19-year-old Mainoo was next closest (1,940), having become indispensable in the centre of the park for United after forcing his way into the side in November 2023.
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The 20-time English champions could well better their numbers in this category next year, having recently announced the signing of highly-rated 18-year-old Leny Yoro for a fee of £52million.
Unfortunately, Yoro will faces a wait to make his Premier League debut after being ruled out for three months with a foot injury sustained in pre-season.
United are also reportedly poised to sign 16-year-old Arsenal wonderkid Chido Obi-Martin, who grabbed the headlines in February after he scored 10 goals in an U16 match against Liverpool.
Not far behind the English giants in this category are Brighton, who awarded just 20 minutes less combined playing time (4,951) to their young prospects.
Facundo Buonanotte, Evan Ferguson and Julio Enciso are the pick of Albion’s eight players under the age of 20 to have turned out for them in their last league campaign.
Elsewhere, Burnley (3162), Newcastle (2062) and Bournemouth (873) complete the top five, ahead of champions Manchester City in sixth place.
19-year-old full-back Rico Lewis was the only teenager to line up in Pep Guardiola’s team of stars, with his 16 appearances accounting for all of their 829 minutes here.
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While former boss Jurgen Klopp relied on youngsters in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea, this did not translate in the Premier League, as his teenagers played only 136 minutes.
But not all clubs were quite so trusting of their youth.
North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham rank 19th and 20th respectively, with the three teenagers appearing for Spurs last season only featuring for a combined seven minutes.
Gunners midfielder Ethan Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngest ever player when he made his debut aged just 15 in 2022, but spent only 13 minutes on the pitch last term, and was his club’s only representative in this category.
Minutes played by teenagers- 2023/24
- Man United – 4971
- Brighton – 4951
- Burnley – 3162
- Newcastle – 2062
- Bournemouth – 873
- Man City – 829
- Chelsea – 520
- Brentford – 468
- Crystal Palace – 435
- Wolves – 358
- Everton – 201
- Liverpool – 136
- Aston Villa – 133
- West Ham – 108
- Luton Town – 79
- Fulham – 74
- Sheffield United – 73
- Nottingham Forest – 21
- Arsenal – 13
- Tottenham – 7
Despite this, it is worth mentioning that Arsenal had the league’s third youngest average starting line-up last season (25 years and 157 days) while Tottenham ranked fourth (25y 192d).
And it could be a different story for Ange Postecoglou’s side in 2024/25, with summer signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall both aged 18 and likely to feature heavily over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Spurs fans will be hoping to see more of 16-year-old winger Mikey Moore next term, who has impressed in pre-season, scoring two goals and showing real promise.
There is also room for three new teams to shine in this field, as newly-promoted sides Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton take the places of Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton in the upcoming campaign.
