A growing number of Premier League clubs are casting their scouting nets deeper into the English Football League and Scottish football, hoping to unearth the next breakout talent in the mould of Antoine Semenyo or Eberechi Eze.
The trend was underlined last month when Manchester City paid £12.5m to sign 17-year-old winger Jeremy Monga from Leicester City, fending off interest from Arsenal in the process. Monga, who joined Leicester at the age of eight, has already rewritten club records, becoming Leicester's second-youngest Premier League player in April 2025 at 15 years and 271 days, before going on to become the club's youngest league starter and the Championship's youngest ever goalscorer, surpassing a mark previously held by Jude Bellingham.
His rise reflects a broader pattern. Research by BBC Sport has found that 14 players have already been recruited from EFL or Scottish Premiership academies into Premier League development squads this summer alone — matching the total for the entirety of the 2025-26 season and up from eight in 2024-25. The figure stood at 18 in 2023-24 and seven in 2022-23.
What stands out this time is the age and background of the players involved. Of the 14 identified this summer, 11 are 18 years old, compared with just five in the equivalent group last season. League One clubs have proven a particularly rich source, contributing seven of the 14 recruits, up from only two a year earlier. Notable moves include Blade Earley's switch from Cambridge United to Aston Villa, Valentin Joseph's move from Blackburn Rovers to Brighton, George Munday's transfer from Cambridge United to Brighton, Harrison Bettoni's switch from Wigan Athletic to Chelsea, and Maxwell Adedeji's move from Leicester City to Tottenham.
The appeal of targeting 18-year-olds is clear: they have typically already received years of professional coaching, yet remain young enough to be integrated into under-21 or B-team setups before clubs commit to loan spells or first-team opportunities. Financially, the model is attractive too — nine of this summer's 14 transfers were free moves, with the remaining five for undisclosed fees, echoing a similar pattern last season when eight of 14 deals were free transfers. For clubs used to spending tens of millions on the finished article, distributing smaller sums across several promising teenagers offers a low-risk, potentially high-reward strategy. The financial dynamics have also caught the Premier League's attention as a governance issue, with the league reportedly in talks with the EFL over potentially capping compensation fees paid when academy players move between clubs.
Brexit has also reshaped the recruitment landscape. With free movement no longer in place, English clubs face far greater hurdles signing foreign talent, particularly younger players who may not qualify for a work permit. Liverpool's 18-year-old defender Ifeanyi Ndukwe, signed from Austria Vienna, is one such case — impressive in pre-season but currently unable to feature competitively for the Reds due to permit restrictions, with a loan abroad seen as a likely route to eligibility. By contrast, a teenager already inside an English academy setup presents no such complication.
Development philosophies still vary widely across the top flight. CIES data for 2025-26 shows club-trained players accounted for 16.2% of Manchester City's Premier League minutes, the highest in the division, followed by Chelsea (15.5%) and Brighton (12.5%). Tottenham sit at the opposite end with just 0.1%, while Bournemouth, Brentford and Burnley recorded zero. Since CIES classifies a club-trained player as one registered with a side for at least three years between ages 15 and 21, an 18-year-old signed from an EFL academy can still eventually qualify as club-trained.
While this summer's total of 14 signings is not a record — 18 such moves were made in 2023-24 — the concentration on 18-year-olds and League One prospects suggests Premier League recruitment is becoming increasingly targeted. For EFL clubs, it raises fresh questions about how long they can hold on to their most promising young players before the Premier League comes calling.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.