5 Premier League players set for breakout season in 2022/23

Each season, there are Premier League players that have breakout seasons. They score more goals, grab more assists, hold more clean sheets or have a bigger presence than anticipated. Oftentimes, it leads to better results for the club.

Younger players that do not have a crazy market valuation are the best candidates to truly be breakout players. They are, by all intents and purposes, flying under the radar.

The five names below are all 25 years old or younger and have a market valuation under $25 million. The latter figure comes from transfermarkt.com.

Premier League players poised for breakout season

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

Jamie Vardy, James Maddison, and Harvey Barnes receive a vast majority of the attention at Leicester City. While this terrific trio certainly deserves praise, Dewsbury-Hall should be the next player in line when discussing the Foxes. The 23-year-old versatile midfielder can do a bit of everything from the middle of the pitch. Despite recording just two assists in Premier League play last season, he actually averaged more key passes per 90 minutes than Sadio Mane, Jarrod Bowen, and the aforementioned Barnes.

Along with his creativity, Dewsbury-Hall also averaged as many successful dribbles per game as Bukayo Saka and Kevin De Bruyne, while posting a better success rate than the dynamic duo. After a successful freshman Premier League season, the Leicester midfielder will look to improve even more in 2022/23.

Michael Olise

Olise just barely makes the cut, as his Transfermarkt valuation is currently $24.2 million. The Crystal Palace midfielder/winger will be on many people’s radar after his standout first Premier League season. Able to play on the right flank, in central midfield, or as a number 10, Olise can be deployed in a few different roles. His versatility certainly helps manager Patrick Vieira choose a formation depending on which opponent they play.

Olise had two goals and five assists in 26 total Premier League appearances with Palace last season. But there is a big reason Palace fans are immensely excited about his future with the club. His goal-creating actions per 90 minutes last season were level with Phil Foden and slightly higher than Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota.

Rayan Ait-Nouri

The only defender on this list, Ait-Nouri had a bit of an up-and-down season during the 2021/22 campaign. The youngster made 20 starts during Premier League play, but was benched quite a few times by manager Bruno Lage as well. Despite this, Ait-Nouri showed fans glimpses of what he is capable of throughout his second season with Wolves. There are even rumors that Chelsea and Manchester City could try to pry the young Frenchman away from the West Midlands.

Ait-Nouri actually led (or co-led) all Premier League fullbacks in successful dribbles and tackles in per 90 metrics last season. He also ranked very highly in passes blocked as well. The France U-21 international does get dispossessed fairly often, but there is clearly a high ceiling for this talented defender.

Dwight McNeil

As stated before, Everton’s move for McNeil is a positive one. The 22-year-old winger appeared to be a square peg in a round hole with his former club Burnley. The Clarets were a very defensive side under manager Sean Dyche. McNeil was not able to showcase his specific talents. The switch to Everton should allow the playmaker to express himself a bit more on the pitch. Now, he looks set to be a breakout player in this season’s Premier League.

Despite playing in a defensive team, McNeil recorded the second-most dribbles in the entire Premier League last season. His 47 key passes were also more than James Maddison, Jarrod Bowen, and Raheem Sterling. Although he already has 134 Premier League matches under his belt, there is still plenty of room for improvement and growth for the youngster.

Eberechi Eze

Olise’s teammate at Palace, Eze, had a very promising first Premier League campaign in 2020/21. While last season was supposed to be his true rise to stardom, the young midfielder was injured for a big chunk of the 2021/22 season. Despite only making six Premier League starts, fans could still see that the now 24-year-old midfielder is quite clearly talented.

Eze racked up very impressive numbers in key passes, goal-creating actions, and dribbles during his 2020/21 freshman season. Vieira will hope that the youngster will help fill Conor Gallagher’s shoes, as the England international has returned to Chelsea after spending a year with Palace on loan.

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