The wonderkids who didn't make it

Club: Everton Debut: 10 April 2005 Premier League appearances: 51 Goals: 7

More than 20 years on from his memorable debut goal for Everton against Crystal Palace, Vaughan remains the Premier League's youngest goalscorer at 16 years and 270 days. At the time, he was rewarded with a £10-a-week pay rise.

But a succession of injuries blighted his time at Goodison Park. He scored only six further league goals for Everton, but went on to enjoy prolific spells at Huddersfield, Bury and Bradford among others.

"I don't think I handled it that well," Vaughan said to the Athletic when reflecting on his time at Everton. "I went into myself and stayed indoors a lot.

"I didn't want to go anywhere. I don't like attention. If I felt like I'd be in a situation where someone would recognise me I'd try to steer clear. It was frowned upon courting attention at Everton.

"You'd get home, turn on Match of the Day and see yourself. I remember my mum phoned me and said she was getting followed by the press and she was back in Birmingham. It was daunting."

Club: Manchester City Debut: 21 October 2006 Premier League appearances: 37 Goals: 2

Box-to-box midfielder Johnson was given his City debut by Stuart Pearce and was tipped to become a star for both club and country.

But a succession of long-term injuries took their toll. He managed only four league appearances in his final three seasons with the club, and was unable to resurrect his career in a loan spell at Leicester.

He was finally released by City in 2013 aged 24, before leaving football and going on to work as an estate agent. He said afterwards he had been attending a clinic for a number of years to deal with mental health issues.

He told the Manchester Evening News: "I'd be grateful if I could now be left alone to live the rest of my life."

Club: Manchester United Debut: 5 April 2009 Premier League appearances: 22 Goals: 4

Italian striker Macheda is probably the player on this list who made the biggest impact, scoring a stunning winning goal on his debut for Manchester United against Aston Villa.

Remarkably, he netted another winner against Sunderland six days later as the Red Devils edged back above Liverpool to go top of the league, and eventually going on to become champions.

Macheda managed only two further league goals for United but went on to have a decent career in the Championship, as well as in Greece and Turkey.

Club: West Brom Debut: 4 May 2013 Premier League appearances: 15 Goals: 0

Making his debut for West Brom against Wigan aged 16 years and 117 days, Brown is sixth on the all-time list of the Premier League's youngest players. It was his only game for Albion.

The attacker went on to join Chelsea, where he made one further top-flight appearance, before loan spells at various clubs, including a Premier League stint at Brighton. He retired in 2023, aged 26, because of an Achilles injury.

Despite being forced to quit early, he said on social media he had "lived the dream that most don't get the opportunity to live" and for that he was "eternally grateful".

Club: West Ham Debut: 9 August 2015 Premier League appearances: 8 Goals: 0

Oxford is the youngest player to appear in West Ham's first team - he made his Premier League debut aged 16 years and 237 days against Arsenal.

He made only eight league appearances before going on to make his career in the Bundesliga at Borussia Monchengladbach and Augsburg, who released him in the summer.