4 young Premier League players having surprisingly great seasons

With no Premier League games to talk about this weekend, I thought I’d do some table sorting and see who I was surprised to see putting up some excellent stats so far this year. I will now close the spreadsheets and watch these players in games more closely.

The first one up top is hardly a shocker, but it’s hilarious what a drastic 180 he’s done since his team changed managers.

Kobbie Mainoo — CM — Manchester United

In August of 2024, I wrote that Manchester United were setting Kobbie Mainoo up to fail, and that failure would not change my opinion that he would start to get really good around his age 21 season. I’m going to take my victory lap on both parts of that take. He’s looking like a fantastic all-around 8, who’s improved his defensive work and passing vision, to go along with the elite technical skills he always had.

Bashir Humphreys — CB — Burnley

Heading into this season, Maxime Esteve aka Maximum Steve was the Burnley CB on the radar of bigger clubs. But I think that Humphreys has shown enough to win a move back to the Prem after his current team gets relegated. He’s making use of his solid size, and he’s a very solid ball progressor as well. Cobham just keeps churning these dudes out.

Hugo Bueno — LB — Wolves

This might not look terribly impressive, but on a team that’s looked utterly hopeless from the first game onwards, these are numbers that are going to get you a new job with a much better team. Bueno’s looking competent as a defender, dribbler and passer, and I’d expect Wolves to collect a very nice fee for him this summer.

Omari Hutchinson — W — Nottingham Forest

Can we get this poor guy on a non-disaster team? He probably thought a move from Ipswich to Forest was a big upgrade to a stable mid-table side. Brutal! He’s a sick dribbler and I think he’d have even more xGA output on a team with better center forward play. Hutchinson is on an excellent trajectory and I don’t think Forest will regret that £37m fee at all.

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On the podcast, the boys talked about Thomas Frank’s sacking and why Spurs are in such a bad place.

On the Patreon exclusive episode, they dug into why the Bundesliga appears to be in serious decline relative to European competitors, and then get into how Manchester United’s midfield can improve.

Variance Betting is avoiding the FA Cup this weekend, which is a minefield that can lose you a lot of money. There’s one Championship bet though, and Champions League will be back next week. You can get all of Ted’s bets and learn how to be a smarter gambler by subscribing to Variance Betting here.

Games we’re watching

The best place to find listings for your country is probably LiveSoccerTV.

Inter vs. Juventus — Our American readers will be thrilled to learn that Weston McKennie has once again played his way into a key role and has 5 goals since the new year.

Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad — So Madrid have been white hot since firing Xabi Alonso. Pure vibes team.

Werder Bremen vs. Bayern Munich — With no marquee match on the Bundesliga schedule, you might as well watch the best players ball.

Rennes vs. PSG — Ditto for Ligue 1.

Aston Villa vs. Newcastle — Probably the most interesting FA Cup tie between two teams that can win it.

Stuff we’re reading

The Homies at Scouted released their first magazine since going to that format, with a couple of the articles being free to read. They’re the best, I’m excited to dig in.

Matthew Doyle at Tactics Free Zone has gone independent, and I highly recommend subscribing if you’re interested in MLS. Here’s every team’s biggest tactical question heading into the new season.

Jeff Reuter at The Guardian talked to Janes Rodriguez and Minnesota United leadership about why the Colombian star made the surprise move.

Kurosh Moghtader at Total Football Analysis looks at Sverre Nypan’s development and how he might help Man City in the near future.

Robbie Dunne at Opta Analyst breaks down Real Sociedad’s revolution under Pellegrino Matarazzo.

Ryan O’Hanlon at ESPN has a very funny look at the best and worst Premier League players at 25 different skills.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, we’d appreciate it if you would forward it to a friend. If you’re that friend, welcome! You can subscribe to The Transfer Flow here. We also have a podcast where we go in depth on transfer news and rumours every week. We’re on YouTube here, and you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify by searching for “The Transfer Flow Podcast.” If you’re interested in football betting, check out this post on why we started Variance Betting.