The Wonderkid Power Rankings: Man Utd & West Ham youngsters among this week's best

Every week, our journalists gather comb through the stats, watch the tapes and come together to build a Top 10 of the best young players in the Premier League right now, based not on potential or reputation but on their performances at the highest level of the game: The Wonderkid Power Rankings.

Last time out, Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly cemented his place at the top of our standings with a third week at number one for the season – but can he cling on to the crown after several members of the chasing pack impressed our panel?

We have two talented Under-21s dropping out of our rankings this week: Newcastle’s Lewis Hall makes way after being benched off the back of a rough run of form, while Bournemouth’s Álex Jiménez hasn’t done too much wrong but has been surpassed by a couple of the players who were pushing for a place in our countdown. Let’s find out who they were…

10. Yankuba Minteh – Brighton & Hove Albion (⬇️1)

Minteh has been lively of late and the space and time he repeatedly found against Chelsea was a testament to both his own guile and movement and to the Blues’ tactical incompetence as they took a 3-0 thrashing that cost Liam Rosenior his job. The knock on the Gambian winger is that he couldn’t find a final ball despite having several chances to do so – he stretched the Chelsea defence repeatedly, but none of his five crosses found their mark and he didn’t generate any clear-cut chances. That costs him a single place in our rankings, but he still performed pretty well.

9. El Hadji Malick Diouf – West Ham United (re-entry)

The Senegalese left-back hasn’t been entirely consistent over the course of the season but has found some promising form across April, which he capped with a superb end-to-end display in the vital win over Everton – not only was he strong at the back, winning nine one-on-one duels and turning possession over seven times, but he was at his very best going forward, creating no fewer than five shooting chances through a combination of dynamic movement and accurate deliveries. None of those opportunities resulted in a goal, but that’s hardly a knock on Diouf’s performance. He was excellent this weekend.

8. Rayan – AFC Bournemouth (re-entry)

The Brazilian winger’s Premier League career started off at remarkable pace, and he seems to have recaptured some of that early form of late, coming off the bench against Leeds to sweep home a late goal after ghosting between two defenders. That came off the back of an assist against Newcastle, which had been his first goal contribution in eight appearances for his new club. There have been plenty of flashes of class and quality since his arrival, and his latest goal further hinted at a very bright future.

7. Michael Kayode – Brentford (⬇️2)

The Italian didn’t have his best game in Monday night’s entertaining defeat to Manchester United, missing a golden early opportunity from six yards out and often finding himself bypassed in defence, with United’s attacker getting inside him a little too easily. Not a performance which featured many glaring errors, but certainly not an especially impactful outing for Kayode.

6. Abdukodir Khusanov – Manchester City (⬆️1)

The Uzbek defender continues his steady creep up our rankings. Although rested for the FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton, he was impressive again in midweek against Burnley and put in perhaps his best positional performance in the Premier League to date, repeatedly popping up in the right place to intercept passes and take possession back for his team. He was dominant in the air, too, winning all four of his aerial duels over the course of the match at Turf Moor.

5. Jaydee Canvot – Crystal Palace (⬇️2)

The quality of Canvot’s tackling has become increasingly apparent as he settles in to his role as a Premier League starter and the teenager was spot on again against Liverpool, winning every ball he went in for and making one tackle as the last man. He was, however, muscled out of one-on-ones a little too frequently and couldn’t force enough turnovers when given chances to do so. His positioning and passing were both pretty much immaculate again, however, and he only loses a couple of places because of other players’ fine performances rather than because of his own errors.

4. Eli Junior Kroupi – AFC Bournemouth (⬆️2)

The best young goalscorer in the top flight this season struck again in the 2-2 draw with Leeds, scoring the opener with a typically composed first touch and finish after splitting the defence to latch on to Marco Senesi’s through ball. Kroupi still has work to do in the build-up, but his predatory instincts already seem to be top class even at his tender age. No wonder several bigger, wealthier teams seem to be circling for his signature.

3. Kobbie Mainoo – Manchester United (⬆️1)

Mainoo’s post-Carrick resurgence continues apace and his work against Brentford included plenty of hard graft in defence, particularly in one-on-one situations in which he won the ball back five times over the course of the game, as well as some thrilling flashes of his dribbling quality – not least when he picked his way through the opposing box with flashing feet to tee up an Amad Diallo chance which the Swede should have buried. An influential outing, and the kind of game which will keep him in Thomas Tuchel’s thoughts as the World Cup draws closer.

2. Mateus Fernandes – West Ham United (-)

The Portuguese midfielder wasn’t at his most influential against Everton, not that he did anything wrong – there were still plenty of hard yards off the ball, even if he didn’t win possession back as often as he does at his very best, and there were any number of surging forward runs which, on this occasion, didn’t end up leading anywhere. A good but not necessarily great outing for a player allegedly being targeted by PSG this summer, and a match which keeps him in place in our Top 10.

1. Nico O’Reilly – Manchester City (-)

In truth, O’Reilly didn’t have his best week at the office. Restricted to a relatively innocuous cameo against Southampton at Wembley, he was culpable of passing up a glorious opportunity to score from close range against Burnley in the dying moments of the match – and he only won two of his 10 one-on-one battles as well as committing four fouls. By his standards, he was slightly out of sorts.

In short, had his form prior to this week not been absolutely stellar, he might well have lost his place at the top of our little table. So impressive has that recent form been, however, that he deservedly gets another week on the throne, even if the chasing pack have perhaps reeled him in a little. Before this week, O’Reilly had not only been the best young player in the Premier League over the course of the spring, but one of the best full stop.