Max Dowman shines again for Arsenal and JJ Gabriel wants Man Utd exit, so which clubs have most valuable teens? Between the Lines | Football News

The Premier League’s teenage sensations are making headlines after Max Dowman’s starring display for Arsenal and JJ Gabriel’s revelation that he wants to leave Manchester United.

Dowman, 16, scored twice in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup win over Ipswich, only hours after 15-year-old Gabriel had stunned Manchester United with his request to cancel his registration at the club.

Dowman’s breakthrough and Gabriel’s desire for first-team opportunities show how the stars of tomorrow are starting younger, but which Premier League clubs have the most valuable teens?

For this week’s Between the Lines, we use Transfermarkt valuations to rank Premier League clubs by teenage value, albeit with the caveat that Transfermarkt does not assign valuations to young players with no first-team experience such as Gabriel.

Man City top for teenage value

According to Transfermarkt, Manchester City have the most valuable teenagers at a combined £122.6m, putting them just ahead of Chelsea on £121m, and Arsenal in third on £102.4m.

Brighton have the fourth-highest teenage value at £100.7m, reflecting their knack for identifying high-potential young signings in the transfer market, and putting them well ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a teenage value of £64.3m.

Manchester United set the standard for youth development in the Sir Alex Ferguson era but their teen value of £48.1m suggests they are no longer a top destination for young players and leaves them sixth, just ahead of Hull, who punch above their weight in seventh.

Ipswich have no teenagers assigned Transfermarkt values, leaving them bottom of the rankings, while Newcastle and Everton also stand out in the lower half of the rankings with teen values of only £9.9m and £10.5m respectively.

Spurs have the lowest teenage value of the traditional big six clubs, their total value of £23.1m putting them 11th.

Bouaddi, Estevao most valuable teens

Ayyoub Bouaddi, signed from Lille in August, accounts for over half of Manchester City’s total, with a Transfermarkt value of £68.6m.

The 18-year-old midfielder sits alongside Chelsea winger Estevao as the most valuable teenager in the Premier League.

The next-most valuable teenager is centre-back Luka Vuskovic, who joined Brighton from Spurs for £50m in the summer and is valued by Transfermarkt at £51.4m.

Arsenal’s total teen value is spread wider than their rivals’. In Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman, who are valued at £38.6m, £30m and 25.7m respectively, the Gunners have three players among the 10 most valuable teenagers.

Dowman, who became the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer aged 16 years and 73 days last season, is the only 16-year-old at any Premier League club with a Transfermarkt valuation.

Liverpool’s 18-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha also features among the top 10, with the same Transfermarkt value as Dowman at £25.7m, along with Manchester United’s Ayden Heaven, 19, and Aston Vila’s Ibrahim Mbaye, 18.

The only five other teenagers with Transfermarkt values of over £20m are Brighton’s Charalampos Kostoulas, Fulham’s Josh King, Hull’s Christos Mouzakitis, Liverpool’s Giovanni Leoni and Sunderland’s Chris Rigg.

Arsenal’s homegrown edge

Bouaddi and Estevao account for over half of Manchester City and Chelsea’s total teenage values having been signed from Lille and Palmeiras at considerable expense, but Arsenal seemingly have an edge when it comes to generating value from their academy.

In addition to Lewis-Skelly, Dowman and the on-loan Nwaneri, all of whom are graduates of the club’s Hale End youth system, the Gunners have 17-year-old defender Marli Salmon.

Like Dowman, Salmon impressed against Ipswich on Tuesday. His Transfermarkt value of £4.3m makes him the third-most valuable 17-year-old in the Premier League behind only Manchester City’s Jeremy Monga and Aston Villa’s Brian Madjo, both of whom were signed from other clubs in the summer.

Among the Premier League’s 20 most valuable teenagers, according to Transfermarkt, the only players beyond Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri and Dowman who came through the youth ranks at their current clubs are Fulham’s King, Sunderland’s Rigg and Tottenham winger Mikey Moore, who is on loan at Koln.

Heaven, who joined Manchester United from Arsenal last year, is another graduate of Hale End, further underlining the strength of the Gunners’ production line.

Merson: Young stars need patience

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Paul Merson highlighted the importance of patience, specifically in the cases of Arsenal’s Dowman and Manchester United’s Gabriel.

“He’s going past players like they’re not there, like he’s playing in his own age group,” Merson said on Dowman.

“The first goal on Tuesday, the way he throws the dummy, leaves the defender on his backside and scores. It’s just unbelievable.

“He’s at an unbelievable Rolls Royce of a football club. He’s got 15 years at least at the top. He’s just got to be patient and that’s hard because he’ll think that he should be playing in the team now.”

On Gabriel, Merson added: “First of all, he’s an unbelievable talent. This kid can play as well. The problem now is with the lad and probably his agents and his family. I don’t know him, so I’m only thinking from the outside.

“When you’re watching Max Dowman and Rio Ngumoha getting given a chance at Liverpool and doing very well, he’s probably thinking, I should be playing at Man United now as well.

“This is the problem you’re going to have with the kids now of this day and age. They’re so talented that they want to play straight away. When I was playing, it was unheard of at 16.”