Premier League youngest ever players: Where are they now?
Monday 10 August 2015 16:59, UK
After Reece Oxford's debut, we look at the 10 youngest players to play in the Premier League and where they are now.
While the list contains a couple of players to have gone on to have success in the Premier League and establish themselves as internationals, there are plenty who have not had the glittering career many predicted after they made their debuts.
Despite a hugely impressive introduction to life in the Premier League, which category Oxford will fall into remains to be seen...
Matthew Briggs – Fulham, 16 years, 68 days (13 PL apps, 0 goals)
Now aged 24, Briggs is playing for Colchester having been released by Fulham in 2014. After making his debut in 2007, the full-back had to wait until the 2010/11 season for his next Fulham appearance. Among a number of loan stints at Championship clubs, Briggs made a total 13 Premier League appearances. Millwall snapped him up following his release but he ended last season on loan at League One Colchester United before making the move permanent this summer.
Izzy Brown – West Brom, 16 years 117 days (2 PL apps, 0 goals)
Still just 18, Brown is currently on loan at Eredivisie outfit Vitesse from Chelsea. The Blues moved quickly to sign the forward after he made his Premier League bow for West Brom against Wigan in May 2013. Brown has been a regular for the Blues' youth sides and made his Chelsea debut against his former club at the end of last season before sealing a loan move to the Netherlands.
Aaron Lennon – Leeds, 16 years, 128 days (291 PL apps, 28 goals)
Lennon broke into the Leeds team in 2003/04 as the club dropped out of the Premier League. However, after a year in the Championship the winger was back in the top flight with Tottenham. Lennon has been at White Hart Lane for the last 10 seasons and spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton, where scored to twice to ensure he has scored in each of the last 10 Premier League seasons. He also won 21 England caps between 2007 and 2013.
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy – Aston Villa, 16 years, 176 days (1 PL app, 0 goals)
Hepburn-Murphy is still just 16 having made his debut last season. The striker came on for the final few minutes of Aston Villa’s 4-0 win at Sunderland in March 2015 and has also represented England at under-16 and under-17 level.
Jose Baxter – Everton, 16 years, 191 days (7 PL apps, 0 goals)
Having broken through at Everton at the end of the 2008/09 season, Baxter remained on the fringes of the first team at Goodison Park until 2012, playing seven times in the league. He finished that season on loan at Tranmere and remained in League One with Oldham. After a year in the north west, he crossed the Pennines to join current club Sheffield United, scoring 10 goals last season.
Gary McSheffrey – Coventry, 16 years, 198 days (41 PL apps, 3 goals)
Now 32, McSheffrey is coming towards the end of his career and currently plies his trade at Scunthorpe after spending much of his time in the Championship. The forward stayed at Coventry until 2007 before moving to Birmingham where he earned promotion back to the Premier League. He returned to Coventry in 2010 before joining Scunthorpe midway through last season – via a brief stint at Chesterfield.
Reece Oxford – West Ham, 16 years, 236 days (1 PL app, 0 goals)
The West Ham starlet was thrown in at the deep end against Arsenal on Sunday but showed plenty of promise as the Hammers earned a shock 2-0 win at the Emirates. Oxford showed maturity beyond his years at the base of the midfield, leading Sky Sports co-commentator Niall Quinn to declare that ‘a star has been born’.
Jack Robinson – Liverpool, 16 years, 250 days (3 PL apps, 0 goals)
The left-back became Liverpool’s youngest ever player when he appeared in Rafa Benitez’s final game as manager in 2010 and featured twice more under Kenny Dalglish the following season. However, injury disrupted his progress and after a succession of loans he moved to QPR last summer - only to be instantly loaned out to Huddersfield. Still just 21, Robinson has 10 England under-21 caps to his name but faces up to a year out with a knee injury picked up in March.
Jack Wilshere – Arsenal, 16 years, 255 days (114 PL apps, 7 goals)
Over 100 Premier League appearances, two FA Cup winners medals and a regular for England, at 23 Wilshere has already achieved more than most on this list. However, his career to date has been littered with injuries and he is currently sidelined after picking up a hairline crack to his left fibula.
Mark Platts – Sheffield Wednesday, 16 years, 264 days (2 PL apps, 0 goals)
Platts had developed a fine reputation as a tricky winger as an England schoolboy international and it seemed symbolic when he replaced a veteran Chris Waddle as a 16-year-old for Sheffield Wednesday in 1996. However, he never fulfilled his early promise and made just one more appearance before leaving for Torquay in 1999. He joined Worksop in October 2000 but quit football altogether in 2001. He now works in the steel construction industry.
