As pre-season approaches its conclusion with the Premier League’s first game coming next week, managers have had plenty of opportunity to see what each and every member of their squad has to offer in 2023-24.
For many it has been a chance to blood young talents against some top quality opposition, with Premier League clubs taking on the likes of Spanish titans Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico, as well as German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
For other, more established stars, it has been a good chance to play themselves back into form with the pressure and scrutiny of the English top-flight absent.
But once the world’s attention and the spotlight does return on Friday August 11, will they have done enough to earn their places in the starting XI for the all important first game of the new campaign?
Here, Mail Sport takes you through some of the players that have starred over the course of pre-season so far.
Pre-season preparations have given a number of youngsters an opportunity to shine
Premier League clubs have less than a week before the English top-flight kick-starts
Manchester City will kick off the new Premier League season against Burnley on Friday August 12
Cesare Casadei, Chelsea
Chelsea’s Italian wonderkid was bought from Inter Milan last summer, and after spending time on loan at Reading, the more cynical fans may have been forgiven for wondering if he would get a look-in for the first-team given the club’s recent history with loans.
But the 20-year-old has thrilled fans and neutrals alike with his performances in pre-season, taking his stunning form from the Under 20 World Cup into the Blues tour of the US.
Casadei ran the show from midfield in Chelsea’s clash with Wrexham, which they won 5-0, assisting Christopher Nkunku’s strike to make it 4-0 having caused the Welsh outfit constant problems with confident passing play and line-breaking runs from deep in central midfield.
With midfielders notably short in number at Stamford Bridge, the Italian has well and truly put his hand up for selection with performances beyond his years highlighting that he has all the attributes needed to succeed at the highest level; a keen eye for a pass, confidence on the ball running through the middle, anticipation and awareness to get himself in the right positions, and the intelligence to pick out a crucial killer ball.
Cesare Casadei has impressed in midfield for Chelsea in pre-season with the Blues low on options in central midfield
The Italian comes into the Blues’ US tour after a starring role for Italy’s U20s at the World Cup
Elliot Anderson, Newcastle
The second name on our list is a name that Newcastle fans will have been talking about for a very long time, and pre-season has highlighted exactly why.
An attacking midfielder by trade, Anderson has earned comparisons to local hero Paul Gascoigne – praise doesn’t come much higher in the North East – due to his physical approach and his strength despite his age. Both his late goals against Brighton to earn a 2-1 win in fact came with different feet, highlighting his technical versatility.
Anderson has not only scored three goals and provided an assist in six games, but he was top of the club’s fitness tests on their return to training, according to Eddie Howe – a statement of intent to impress the manager if ever there was one.
‘He’s really developing and his confidence levels have improved,’ said manager Howe of his young starlet.
‘The biggest tribute I can give to Elliot is his fitness levels. When we came back and did the testing, he came through the fittest by some distance.
‘He was very committed to his programme and looks stronger, leaner and quicker. The goals don’t come by accident, they come for a reason and that’s down to him.’
Anderson was plying his trade on loan at Bristol Rovers in League Two at the end of 2021-22, and he could be forcing his way into contention for a start in the Champions League in 2023-24. It’s been quite the rise for the 20-year-old.
Elliot Anderson could be playing in the Champions League next season having been in League Two in 2021-22
Jarrod Bowen, West Ham
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen will be the first to tell you that he struggled for consistency during much of 2022-23, scoring just six goals and giving five assists by the end of the year in the Premier League.
But after rallying to guide West Ham to a historic Europa Conference League title he has carried his form into pre-season, where he has looked reborn for the Hammers, who will be looking to him for more in the absence of talismanic leader Declan Rice.
Bowen has so far netted four goals and provided three assists for the Hammers across their six clashes ahead of the new season, and looks to be back to his lethal best up front.
Perhaps David Moyes’ most potent attacking outlet, Bowen is sending a message to his opponents next term as he approaches a trip to the Vitality Stadium and Bournemouth once the new campaign gets up and running.
Jarrod Bowen has looked back to his potent best in attack for David Moyes’ side in pre-season
Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea
Chelsea’s recent luck with attacking signings has not been great, with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, David Datro Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang et al struggling at the Bridge last term.
But where others have floundered, Nicolas Jackson has announced himself as a Blues star with style, scoring twice and assisting another three in pre-season for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
At just £32million, the Blues look to have pulled off a pretty savvy deal in bringing him to the Premier League from Villarreal. Strong, quick, and with a lethal touch in front of goal – it looks like Jackson could prove a formidable opponent next term.
Even when firing blanks, as he did against Dortmund, he was still easy on the eye throughout the game, and kept his composure to play a neat pass to Carney Chukwuemeka under pressure inside the box when going it alone was no longer an option.
Jackson looks to be operating well already in tandem with fellow new arrival Nkunku up top, and while the latter has provided three goals so far, it is the former who has been more involved in the action throughout the game.
Should Pochettino decide that he ultimately does not need a new No 9, he has more than enough going at his fingertips with Jackson and Nkunku.
Nicolas Jackson looks a good value signing at just £32m having scored two and assisted three
Ian Maatsen, Chelsea
Another Chelsea name on the list is Ian Maatsen, who is perhaps better known for his exploits last term at Burnley with Vincent Kompany, where he helped power the Clarets to the Championship title and an immediate return to the Premier League.
What may come as a surprise is that the Dutch 21-year-old spent that campaign at his natural left back before operating as a left winger for Pochettino in pre-season, scoring two goals and giving an assist.
It is that versatility that has most caught the eye in the US so far, with Pochettino lauding his ability to compete for selection in a variety of different positions.
‘He has the capacity to compete for different places on the pitch,’ the Chelsea manager said of Maatsen.
‘He is a player you can use in different positions. I am so happy because his performance didn’t change.
‘That is what makes us really pleased because he is a player we see with enormous potential for the team.’
A strong dribbler with a brilliant left foot, Maatsen had even drawn the ever-watchful eye of Nottingham Forest over a transfer, but after the Tricky Trees were priced out of a move, it looks like the player has given Pochettino enough to think about to suggest he will be a feature in his plans for 2023-24.
Ian Maatsen’s impressive pre-season has drawn praise from Chelsea boss Pochettino who singled out his versatility
Lewis Miley, Newcastle
While Anderson has been busy proving his long-term admirers right this summer, Lewis Miley has arguably been the star of the show for Newcastle in pre-season.
At times he has looked like a young Sergio Busquets with his willingness to receive the ball in midfield, irrespective of the danger that surrounds him, before playing the ball on the front foot to get the Magpies up the pitch with near unerring accuracy.
Miley grabs the headlines not through inch-perfect 90-yard diagonal passes, or lung-busting surges through the middle that see him round four defenders and fire into the top corner, but in the unassuming efficiency of his play that is more recognisable in a midfielder in the twilight of their career, knowing that the end result is far more important than the aesthetics of the process.
Coming up against Chelsea, an oblivious spectator would’ve had no struggle pointing to the player that they thought was bought for £107m when Miley battled Enzo Fernandez in midfield. But how wrong they would have been.
Miley bossed the middle of the park and controlled the game for his side, and Howe insisted that there would be no loan move to earn him minutes further down the football pyramid – Miley will stay at St James’ Park to battle for a place in the side as the manager looks to push his player to even greater accomplishments.
Oh – he is also just 17 years old.
Teenage midfielder Lewis Miley (left) has been the breakthrough star of Newcastle’s US tour
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted he has no plans to send Miley out on loan this season
Darwin Nunez, Liverpool
Where the majority of players on this list so far – barring Bowen of course – are relatively unknown quantities to the wider football community, Darwin Nunez is known perhaps for all the wrong reasons.
After a scintillating season at Benfica earned him a big-money switch to Liverpool, the Uruguayan forward was harshly criticised for his perceived below-par performances at Anfield in 2022-23.
Now, though, the Reds hitman looks to have finally clicked into gear with a stunning string of performances in pre-season that have seen him so far chalk up four goals and one assist in just three games as he looks to really put his stamp on English football.
The goals are what many will be drawn in by, but it is his build-up and approach play that have seen a marked improvement too this summer – it was largely as a result of his diminished defensive and passing returns that he started to lose out to Cody Gakpo in attack.
But the Uruguayan has gone away and worked on his game with his time off from football, and is already reaping the rewards and looks to be pushing Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota for a starting berth in the side next to the immovable Mohamed Salah.
A rejuvenated Nunez has been back to his lethal best against the likes of Leicester, Greuther Furth and Karlsruhe, and is now looking hell-bent on making up for lost time in the Premier League.
Darwin Nunez is making up for lost time after a difficult first season in the Premier League
Eberechi Eze, Crystal Palace
The 2022-23 season stopped at the wrong time for Eberechi Eze, who was absolutely flying for the Eagles under Roy Hodgson, ending the season with a string of star performances and an England call-up to boot.
But despite the time-off – only after his first international cap against Malta in a 4-0 win – the 25-year-old has more or less carried on right where he left off for the south London outfit with three goals and four assists.
Against Crawley he was near-unplayable, setting up three goals and scoring one himself in a stunning 24-minute salvo that blew the Football League side out the water.
But it was not just against minnows that the dazzling midfielder shone, but also when coming up against proven European heavyweights like Sevilla, who fell afoul of a stunning strike to fall to a 1-1 draw against the underdogs.
Picking up the ball around 40 yards from goal, he wriggled, writhed and waltzed his way through three defenders before cheekily poking through the goalkeeper’s legs from inside the box to level the tie.
Eze, now knocking on Gareth Southgate’s door, is not only impressing the national selectors, but could be the subject of interest from some of the Premier League’s bigger fish should his startling performances carry on once the top-flight season kicks-off.
Eberechi Eze scored a screamer against Sevilla in Detroit as he continues his fine end to 2022-23
Kobbie Mainoo, Manchester United
Manchester United’s work in the transfer market to bring in Mason Mount and Andre Onana this summer has dominated much of the narrative at Old Trafford – with Rasmus Hojlund now taking up the slack in that department.
However, youngster Kobbie Mainoo has quietly gone about impressing Erik ten Hag with a number of assured pre-season performances in the middle of the park that have drawn many an eye.
Against Arsenal the United starlet impressed with a composed performance in the middle, and put in a particularly impressive bit of work to tee up Bruno Fernandes for the opener against the Gunners with a lung-bursting run down the right flank.
He also played a starring role in United’s previous game against Lyon, before perhaps being handed a major compliment in being left out of a clash with Wrexham that featured almost exclusively U21 stars.
He was then dealt a gut-wrenching blow in the Real Madrid game after being forced off the field in the opening stages with an ankle injury after Casemiro fell on the teenager’s leg.
Perhaps a sign of how far Mainoo has come in just a brief pre-season tour, the news that a player with just 87 minutes of senior football to his name would miss the opening part of the season through injury came as something of a blow to Ten Hag’s side.
Kobbie Mainoo impressed in his first pre-season games before picking up an ankle injury
Divin Mubama, West Ham
Last on the list is West Ham’s Divin Mubama – a name that you may not be all too familiar with right now, but is sure to feature at some point during the upcoming season for the Hammers – especially with Europa League football to contend with.
Mubama has come through the ranks at the Hammers, and at 18 already looks ready to make the step up if his showings this summer are anything to go by, with the striker netting three times.
The teenager has been strong in the air, scoring twice with his head, and has shown a keen sense of anticipation after tapping home against Dagenham and Redbridge inside the box, doing well to stay alert at the breakdown and keep onside.
West Ham have notably struggled to make headway in the transfer market, but with both Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio linked with moves away, it will perhaps be a welcome bit of good news for Moyes that he has such a talented No 9 in the right beneath his nose.
Divin Mubama has shown quality in the air, twice scoring with his head including against Spurs
In fact, rather than the customary developmental loan, Mubama looks set for a place in the senior side if Moyes’ own comments are anything to go by.
‘I think he could, yeah (be useful for the first team next season),’ Moyes told Sky Sports.
‘He’s a young centre forward and it’s a very hard role to play, being a young player, for many different reasons. But we like him a lot.
‘We hope that we can continue to develop him. We’ll get him minutes and get him playing as often as we can. At the minute, he’s doing as well as anybody, so why not?’
