What next for England's U17 World Cup heroes?

Sammi Minion assesses the chances England’s U17 World Cup starting XI have of making it in the Premier League

Curtis Anderson (Man City)

Anderson made five saves in the final to keep England in the final against Spain and was heroic in the last-16 penalty win over Japan. Although the competition at the Premier league leaders will be incredibly tough for Anderson, there is space in Guardiola’s team for a ball playing keeper.

If Anderson is able to add the ability to play out from the back to his game, then he will start to attract Guardiola’s attention. However, with both Ederson and seasoned international Bravo ahead of him, Anderson’s best bet is to gain valuable experience by going out on loan.

READ MORE: England hammer Spain 5-2 to win U17 World Cup

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Steven Sessegnon (Fulham)

Zeze Steven Sessegnon made the right-back role in Cooper’s World cup winning side his own with a string of convincing performances leading up to the final. However, the situation at Fulham is a different story. Both Denis Odoi and Ryan Fredericks stand in Sessengon’s path but he has already made an impression, having played the full 90 minutes of a 2-0 Carabao cup win over Wycombe Wanderers.

The way in which he fought back from a horrible knee injury in 2016 shows he has exactly the right kind of character to force himself into Jokanovic’s side. The fact that Steven’s twin-brother Ryan has already made the step up to first team football should be all the motivation that Steven needs to realise that playing is a possibility.

Joel Latibeaudiere (Manchester City, captain)

Latibeaudiere has shown himself not only to be as strong as anyone in the U18 division in his position but also as a leader on the pitch. As skipper, he showed resilience when England overturned a 2-0 deficit against Spain. Where others would have dropped their heads, Latibeaudiere got his team back on track. If the 17-year old is able to gain experience, playing in the lower divisions of English football, there may be a space for him in the future City side. He should look to the example of John Stones as how there is space for young, English players in Guardiola’s side.

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Marc Guehi (Chelsea)

In the 2016-17 season Guehi won the treble with Chelsea’s U18 side. This taste for success will make him a perfect fit at Chelsea. Guehi has been with Chelsea for almost a decade and the way that he has survived and progressed through several age groups suggests that making it to the first team should be easy. However, considering Chelsea’s extensive loan system, Guehi needs to step up and really impress over the next few years to stand any chance of gaining Conte’s attention.

Tashan Oakley-Boothe (right) and Jonathan Panzo bask in World Cup glory

Jonathan Panzo (Chelsea)

The same can be said for Panzo. Conte has set out how eager he is to provide first-team opportunities for these young stars following the role 17-year old Ethan Ampadu played against Everton in the Carabao cup. Furthermore it was Conte who first brought an 18-year old Paul Pogba into the Juventus side, so there will be a chance for these players, however at a club the size of Chelsea, should Panzo fail to impress there will be very little space for second chances.

Panzo will find more openings at a smaller club, a loan to one of the Premier League’s smaller sides could benefit Panzo massively. He could achieve similar things to Bournemouth regular Nathan Ake.

Tashan Oakley-Boothe (Tottenham Hotspur)

A versatile midfield player, Oakley-Boothe was a mainstay in Cooper’s side and was instrumental in their progress to the final. Oakley-Boothe was so impressive in the Premier League 2 during 2016-17 that Pochettino called him up to Spurs’ pre-season tour of the USA. This belief from Pochettino so early in Oakley-Boothe’s career suggests how his future may lie in North London.

The emergence of Harry Kane and Delle Alli from the Spurs academy seem to have paved the way for Oakley-Boothe to make it in the Premier League. A lack of experience is the only thing between the 17-year old and a permanent place in the side, and he can easily gain this through a loan move to a Football League side.

George McEachran (Chelsea)

Having recently signed a new contract, keeping him at Antonio Conte’s side until the summer of 2019 McEachran has time to grow and should be ready to make the step up from youth football. The ability to show up in big games, as shown when he scored in a potentially title deciding winner against Manchester United in the u18’s league is a trait that is desired by all top clubs. A loan spell between now and 2019 will bring McEachran the first team experience required to make it in the Premier League.

His brother Josh was also a Chelsea star in the waiting but now plies his trade having been out on loan for much of his early career.

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

Without Foden it is likely that England would not be World Champions. His brace and man of the match performance inspired England to demolish Spain, and put 5 past them in a heroic second half performance. His Golden Ball award follows the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas and Toni Kroos, who much like Foden took the championship by storm and went on to achieve greatness on both a club and international level.

Despite these early signs of a potentially great player, there a few clubs in the world with higher competition than Manchester City and so Foden will have to look elsewhere to make it at the top of the game. Despite impressing Guardiola enough to train with the first team Foden is still a long way from competitively playing, especially considering the fact that Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Bernardo Silva stand in the way of his favoured number 10 position.

Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Gibbs-White is already very close to playing regularly in the championship. He has already made seven appearances for Wolves’ senior side despite his age. He played in the 2-0 FA cup win over Stoke City in January and has since been used sparingly in the league by Nuno Espírito Santo. A few years of regular, senior football at Wolves seems to be the immediate future of Gibbs-White’s career, before he moves on to Premier League football.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)

Odoi is an attacking, goal scoring player who managed to score eight times during last season alone. A scorer in the U17 European championship final, Odoi has all the talent required to make it on the biggest stage. This ability to score in big games should be enough to impress Conte, if he gets a chance in the league cup. However, there is a lot of distance between the Carabao cup and playing in the Premier League. There is no reason why even if he were to impress, that he would be close to replacing the likes of Morata and Eden Hazard. Again, to make it at Chelsea, this young star will need to look for a loan move.

Rhian Brewster (Liverpool)

Judging by Brewster’s Golden Boot winning performance, he looks like a complete striker. Eight goals and back-to-back hat-tricks in the quarter and semi-finals have made Brewster into something of a national hero.

He impressed Jurgen Klopp enough to be placed on the bench against Crystal Palace in April, despite the attacking firepower that Klopp had at his disposal in Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho. Because Brewster was prepared to move to Liverpool from Chelsea in 2015 in search of more first team openings suggests how likely it is that he will again be willing to go on loan, this hunger to play football is exactly what is required to perform at the very top levels of football.