Top 10 Homegrown Players

jonjoward1998
Dec 16, 2025
7 min read

A homegrown player is a player who has come through a club's academy into the first team after joining their club at a young age.

Many homegrown players have been lucky enough to have broken into the first team or been given an opportunity at their respective clubs and a lot of them have been given a chance because of a certain player being injured or their manager has watched them when playing in the academy and impressed them so much that he wants to give him an opportunity.

Marcus Rashford got his chance at Man United because of a certain player being injured and he took it with both hands as he went on to keep his place in the team for the rest of that season.

But whilst a lot of players have been lucky enough to have been given an opportunity, there are also a lot of players who never get chance due to certain players being ahead of them which makes it difficult for any player.

Breaking into the first team at a football club is never easy because of the players already in the first team which can block the pathway for young players hoping to breakthrough.

You also have to be an exceptionally good player because in order to play for the first team at any football club, you need to be a very good player so you can get spotted by the first team manager, who will think about promoting you to the first team.

The Premier League has seen many homegrown players over the years and a number of them didn't make it onto the list including Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and even Jack Grealish.

Now without further ordo, here is the list:

Ryan Giggs

Steven Gerrard

Paul Scholes

David Beckham

Gary Neville

John Terry

Phil Foden

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Bukayo Saka

Harry Kane

Bukayo Saka

Saka might be higher up this list in a few years time but as he's still playing and is still fairly young, I had to put him in at 10.

He's been one of the best players in the Premier League over the last few seasons and he's also arguably been Arsenal's talisman during that time because of the numbers he's produced in terms of goals and assists.

He's been key to Arsenal's rebuild under Mikel Arteta and rise up the Premier League from being a team going nowhere to a team that can challenge for the title.

He's also grown into an important player for England as well as Arsenal as he's been of the first names on the England team sheet over the last few seasons.

Phil Foden

Foden had to wait to get his chance at Man City because of David Silva being ahead of him in the pecking order but when Silva left, he finally got his chance and took it with both hands.

He's been instrumental to City's success since he became a first team regular as he's developed into one of the best attacking players in the Premier League and into one of City's most important players.

His ball carrying skills have been second to none because of how skilful he is and the way he can glide past players effortlessly, and he can also pick out passes from almost anywhere on the pitch as well as score and create goas.

It's been good to see him back to his best this season after a disappointing season last season and I knew he would be after having a summer to have a good look at himself.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Alexander-Arnold changed the role of a full back when he was at Liverpool by being able to get and forward and create which very few full backs were doing at the time.

He was about 18 when he broke into the Liverpool first team and he immediately made that right back spot his own due to the attacking abilities he had.

His ability to create from full back played a key role in every success he achieved at Liverpool as he went on to become one of the best attacking full backs in Europe.

He's been a massive loss for Liverpool this season which was expected because there aren't many full backs who offer what he does in terms of creativity.

Salah in particular has missed him a lot as lot of his goals over the years have been provided by Alexander-Arnold.

He did have his faults defensively but going forward he was as good as anyone because of the creativity he offered.

David Beckham

Beckham came through the Man United academy as part of the Class of 92 and is the finest crosser of the ball England have ever had.

He's also arguably the best set piece taker England have ever had as he's scored goals from free kicks than any other player in the Premier League with 18.

His deliveries into the box from both open play and set pieces were so good that very few defenders could block them and his direct free kicks were struck with so much power that very few keepers could keep them out.

He could also strike a ball from long distances as well as from set pieces as he showed when he scored that goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon in 1996.

He was for a time the most hated man in England following his sending off at the 1998 World Cup for England against Argentina and the way he came back from that was incredible and showed how strong a character he is.

His performances on the pitch from that moment onwards slowly got the nation back on his side again.

Harry Kane

A lot of people thought Kane wasn't going to make it at Spurs after he had some disappointing loan spells early on in his career.

But he went on and proved them wrong as would stay and fight for his place before going on to force his way into the first team and establish himself as Spurs' first choice striker over a number of seasons.

It was Mauricio Pochettino who gave him his chance to be Spurs' first choice striker and he took it with both hands by scoring 21 goals in his breakthrough season.

He went on to develop into one of the best strikers in Europe in the seasons that followed as he won three golden boots before going on to become Spurs' record goal scorer.

Gary Neville

Neville is another member of the Class of 92 on this list and is the best right back England have ever had and arguably the best right back to have ever played in the Premier League.

He won everything on offer at Man United including eight Premier League titles and he played a major role in every single one by being both a solid full back and a leader.

He was a full back who was brilliant defensively due to his positioning and reading of the game and he also got forward when he needed to.

His abilities as a full back and leadership on the pitch made United a solid team defensively and played a key role in the success he achieved there.

Paul Scholes

Scholes was also a member of Man United's Class of 92 and was one of the finest midfielders to play the game due to his vision and ability to run games from midfield.

He could pick out any kind of pass from almost anywhere on the pitch and dictate play in midfield because of his incredible vision, and he could play anywhere in the midfield including in a deeper role, as a no.8 and even as a no.10.

He could also strike ball from distance and hit it with so much power with his long range strike against Aston Villa in 2006.

He won 11 Premier League titles at United was a key part of every single one by scoring a lot of important goals and providing many moments of quality.

Steven Gerrard

Gerrard for me is the greatest midfielder to ever play in the Premier League because he had almost everything you wanted from a midfield player in energy, the ability to do both sides of the game and the ability to pick out any kind of pass.

He carried Liverpool many times during his time at the club with the 2005 and 2006 Champions League and FA Cup finals respectively being prime examples of that as he single-handedly dragged his team over the line on both occasions.

He broke into the Liverpool team when he was just 18 and he soon established himself as a first team regular before turning 20.

The following years saw him develop into one of the best midfielders in Europe and a leader on the pitch as he would become Liverpool captain when he was just 23.

He won everything but the Premier League at Liverpool which is a big shame because he really deserved one due to the player he was throughout his career.

John Terry

Terry was only 17 when he made his Chelsea debut but it wasn't until he turned 20 where he broke into the first team and became regular.

He was a player with potential during his early years at Chelsea and it wasn't until Jose Mourinho arrived when his game went onto another level as it was under Mourinho where he developed into one of the best defenders in the Premier League and a great leader.

He won 5 Premier League titles at Chelsea with his leadership and solid performances on the pitch playing a key role in every success he achieved with the blues including the league titles he won.

He was a defender who was great in the air, always well positioned and a brilliant reader of the game.

Ryan Giggs

Giggs had to be my no.1 because of his longevity in the game and the fact that he won 13 Premier League titles which is more than any other player.

Like Beckham, Neville and Scholes, he was part of Man United's Class of 92 and an important part of it too as that group of players helped take United back to the top of English football and turn them into the dominant force in the Premier League.

He scored in nearly every single season he played in, playing right until he turned 40 and played a major role in every single title winning side he was part of.

He was a winger with blistering pace early on in his career and although his pace decreased as he got older, he still had the same desire to make a difference for his team.

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