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Six Premier League players you didn't know featured in the EFL
Blogs

Six Premier League players you didn't know featured in the EFL

03/10/24 06:45

Six former EFL talents who have had strong starts to the Premier League season

The English Football League is a brilliant environment for developing young talent, as countless names have made their name in the lower divisions. This includes many of the names who have had impressive starts to the 2024/25 Premier League season, so who are these players and what are their ties to the EFL?

Morgan Rodgers

Morgan Rodgers’ history in the EFL began in 2021 when he joined Lincoln City in League One on loan from Man City. He would go on to score six goals in his five months at the club as well as winning an EFL Young Player of the Month award. Rodgers would then go on to score goals at Championship clubs Bournemouth, Blackpool and Middlesborough before earning a Premier League move in February of this year. The attack minded player has played almost every minute of Villa’s Premier League campaign so far, as well as a goal and two assists in his first two Champions League games.

The departure of Moussa Diaby this summer has freed up space in the Villains starting 11 for Rodgers who had already scored three goals at the end of last season. Despite not registering a goal yet this campaign Rodgers has still been integral to Villa’s strong start, so integral that his boss Unai Emery was ‘surprised’ that he had been called up to England’s under-21s claiming that he was ‘ready’ for the first team.

Stephy Mavididi

Stephy Mavididi is currently Leicester City’s top scorer in all competitions, scoring three goals. Making his Premier League debut this season, the winger has hit the ground running appearing in all five matches, scoring twice in the Premier League already. The 26 year old is already a journeyman having spent his early 20s playing in Italy and France but he has a football league history too. Hailing from Arsenal’s academy, Mavididi had loan spells in League One and the Championship at Charlton and Preston but never got his chance in North London. Impressively his two goals in the Premier League have come from his only two shots on target, but will his sharp shooting be enough to keep the Foxes up?

Harvey Barnes

Harvey Barnes is a well-known Premier League star now who has been capped by his country and scored in European competitions. But it took a few loans to football league clubs to kickstart his Premier League career. Barnes scored 20 goals in 70 EFL appearances across three loan spells at MK Dons, Barnsley and West Brom. This form saw him become a key player at Leicester and eventually Newcastle, who he has scored three times for already this season, as well as assisting once and averaging 4.64 progressive carries per 90.

Jean Paul Van Hecke

The central defender earned his first Netherlands cap in 2024, a sign of just how much he has improved since his EFL days. After becoming a regular fixture in Brighton’s lineups last season, ‘JPvH’ has continued to impress in the 24/25 campaign playing every minute up until his injury ahead of visiting Chelsea. Van Hecke spent the 21/22 season on loan at Blackburn in the Championship where he was named the club's player of the season, becoming the first loanee to do so.

Antoine Semenyo

Antoine Semenyo was part of Bristol City’s academy and spent five years professionally contracted to the club making 112 Championship appearances for the Robins. Semenyo has also played in League Two and One for Newport County and Sunderland. He joined Premier League Bournemouth in January 2023 and has since scored 11 Premier League goals, two of those coming this season already. The Ghanaian international has been one of the Cherries' lead attacking threats so far this season, sitting second in Bournemouth's squad for most shot-creating actions.

Ian Maatsen

Despite growing up in the Netherlands before playing in Chelsea’s academy, Ian Maatsen has over 100 EFL appearances to his name for Charlton, Coventry and Burnley. The fullback went from playing Championship football in 2023 to a Champions League final just 12 months later with Borussia Dortmund, as well as being named in the Champions League’s team of the tournament. Since that final in June, Maatsen has finally left Chelsea after many loan spells and has taken to life at Aston Villa well.

The reported 37.5 million pound fee will hopefully look to be justified as the Dutchman has appeared in all five Premier League fixtures so far from the bench, unable to shift Luca Digne from Villa’s starting eleven. That being said he currently leads the squad for shot creating actions per 90 (8.11) and at just 22 years of age will look forward to a potentially successful career in the Premier League.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
James McLeish

Writer

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