NXGN Weekly: Max Dowman and Rio Ngumoha put the Premier League on notice as 'Mexican Pedri' Gilberto Mora continues to impress

Has a 15-year-old English footballer ever been as hyped up as Max Dowman? The answer is almost certainly not, meaning the pressure on the Arsenal midfielder to emerge as a generational talent is extreme to say the least. From the evidence of his competitive first-team debut, however, Dowman is capable of taking it all in his stride.

That Dowman had to wait until Saturday to make his Gunners bow was merely down to an admin issue. Mikel Arteta was ready to throw the schoolboy into the fray last season, but due to Dowman being initially registered as part of Arsenal's Under-15s squad at the start of the campaign, Premier League rules deemed him too young to play the senior level. Those regulations likely robbed Dowman of the chance to break team-mate Ethan Nwaneri as the youngest debutant in the division's history, but he showed against Leeds that he is keen to make up for lost time now that he is free to play his part at the Emirates.

Dowman's 26-minute cameo against Leeds was full of the kinds of actions that have marked him out as one of the brightest prospects England has ever produced, as he fearlessly looked to take on his more established opponents by utilising his pace and quick feet. No more was that in evidence than when he burst into the penalty area and forced Anton Stach into a foul that resulted in a stoppage-time penalty that Viktor Gyokeres tucked away to round out the 5-0 win.

With Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard potentially facing spells on the sidelines, Dowman may be entrusted with more game time than he might have expected even after his electric pre-season performances. Based on what we saw on Saturday, however, he looks more than ready.

Dowman and Arsenal travel to Anfield this Sunday, where they will come face to face with the other teenager to dramatically introduce themselves to the Premier League over the past few days: Rio Ngumoha. The Liverpool winger was given around six minutes of stoppage time to make an impact against Newcastle on Monday, and boy did he!

Ngumoha's dramatic, 100th-minute winner at St James Park highlighted the composure with which the 16-year-old has taken to first-team football. Like Dowman, he produced some remarkable performances in pre-season, constantly weaving through opposition defences before providing either a finish or a killer pass. On Tyneside, the ball was put on a plate for him to score, but Ngumoha still showed remarkable composure on his first league appearance to whip his effort into the far corner.

In doing so, he became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool history, while he was just the second 16-year-old, alongside Wayne Rooney, to score a winning goal in the Premier League, and the fourth-youngest scorer in the competition's history. How Chelsea must be ruing him leaving them behind just over a year ago...

Down in the Championship, Watford have a wonderkid of their own who has started the season in impressive form as he aims to put the disappointment of failing to make the grade at one of Europe's elite clubs behind him. 

Nestory Irankunda spent just one season on Bayern Munich's books after arriving from Adelaide United last summer, but has quickly become a fan favourite at Vicarage Road and further endeared himself to the Hornets faithful on Saturday when he opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick against Swansea City.

Irankunda became well-known for spectacular strikes when he first broke out in the A-League, and he left Adelaide having scored 16 goals and provided eight assists in 61 games for the first team - most of which came as a substitute. And though he never really came close to making his Bayern debut before spending the second half of last season on loan at Grasshoppers in Switzerland, the experience certainly hasn't shaken the 19-year-old's confidence.

Speaking on how he convinced club captain Moussa Sissoko to let him strike the dead ball at the Swansea.com Stadium, Irankunda said: "Moussa is the captain, so I asked him for permission and I feel confident in taking a free-kick. He asked me a couple of times, 'Are you sure you can take free-kicks?' I said, 'Yeah, go look at my highlight reels.' After that, I just put it into the corner."

If Irankunda can keep producing moments of magic such as this one, then few will question his ability going forward.

While there are plenty of success stories when it comes to the children of superstar footballers going on to write their own triumphant tales into the game's history books, there are just as many who try but fail to live up to the lofty expectations placed on them due to the familial connections. Quite which of those buckets Kai Rooney will fall into remains up in the air for now, but certainly the son of England and Manchester United legend Wayne is doing all he can to follow in his father's footsteps.

The 15-year-old has been part of the United academy for the last five years, and this season has been promoted to the Under-18s squad as he gradually closes in on being considered for the senior squad. Of course, Rooney must take each step as it comes rather than look too far into the distance, but after making his U18s debut last week in their season-opener, he followed that up with his first goal against Middlesbrough.

A forward who can play centrally or off the wing, Rooney's goal - a deflected strike of a bouncing ball after he turned inside the penalty area - was nothing special in terms of its quality, but the confidence it will give the teenager as he continues to push for more minutes at this new level will undoubtedly be valuable.

That said, while Rooney has come off the bench in the U18s' opening two games of the campaign, perhaps the most exciting prospect in the current academy ranks is now an established starter despite being a year younger than his team-mate. JJ Gabriel netted twice in the win over Boro to take his tally for the U18s to five goals in as many appearances, and the 14-year-old - who has been dubbed 'Kid Messi' by coaches in Manchester - looks set to be given the chance to train with Ruben Amorim's first team in the coming weeks and months as a result.

So while Kai Rooney will continue to grab headlines whenever he plays for United's youth sides, it is perhaps Gabriel who has the best chance to replicate Wayne Rooney's exploits over the next couple of decades.

Last week, we told NXGN Weekly readers about the exploits of Gilberto Mora, the teenager who is taking Mexican football by storm after breaking Lamine Yamal's record to become the youngest player to ever win a major international trophy as he earned a starting role for El Tri at the Gold Cup. Well, he's been at it again.

The Club Tijuana midfielder scored twice in his side's 3-3 draw with Chivas on Friday, taking his recent tally to five goals in his last six appearances in all competitions. Still just 16, Mora has been likened to Pedri in his homeland and although he tends to play slightly wider than the Barcelona maestro, his talent levels could very well reach those of the Spain international.

Barca are among the clubs to have been linked with Mora, even if he will not be eligible to join up with a European club until his 18th birthday in October 2026. By that time, expect one of the Champions League's top dogs to have agreed a deal to sign the best prospect to emerge within Mexico for decades.

While the pathway for teenagers from Liga MX to Europe's elite still needs to be established, the route between Brazil's Serie A and Champions League contenders runs almost non-stop nowadays, with Estevao Willian the latest wonderkid to have made the step from South American wonderkid to thrilling audiences across the Atlantic, this time at Chelsea.

Perhaps the next young player to follow in Estevao's footsteps will be Vasco da Gama forward Rayan, who racked up his 10th goal in all competitions since the start of 2025 with his strike in Sunday's defeat to Corinthians. Though Vasco are struggling towards the bottom of the Brasilerao table, Rayan has been a shining light for them this season while refusing to have his head turned by reports linking him with almost every top European club.

Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham among those to have been credited with interest in the 19-year-old, who tends to play off the right-hand side for Vasco while Phillipe Coutinho operates from the opposite flank. The pair were electrifying in Vasco's recent 6-0 thrashing of Neymar's Santos, and Rayan has every chance of emulating Brazil's all-time goal-scorer by making his mark on the European game.

Since it's the final week of the transfer window, one rumour that caught our eye over the weekend was that Saudi champions Al-Ittihad had lodged a €63 million (£54.5m/$73.5m) bid to sign Porto playmaker Rodrigo Mora. The 18-year-old is regarded as one of the top talents anywhere in Europe, after a breakout season in 2024-25 that saw him score 10 league goals in just 23 appearances before going on to earn a maiden call-up to the senior Portugal squad for the Nations League finals in June.

A fleet-footed midfielder with the ability to dance through a defence before finding the net or providing an assist, Mora has previously been linked with Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Manchester United in the past, and despite his €70m (£60.6m/$82m) release clause, many expected the teenager to depart Estadio do Dragao within the next 12 months to join a member of Europe's elite.

Al-Ittihad's initial bid was rejected, with Porto insisting Mora's release clause be paid in full, but it would be some statement of intent from the Middle Eastern giants were they to get a deal done before their transfer window closes on September 2. Mora would become one of the most expensive teenage players of all time, and would potentially open the door for other highly-talented wonderkids to choose the Pro League over Europe's biggest clubs were he to be a success in Saudi Arabia.