In 2008, The Guardian published a list of 20 ‘future England stars’ at the time aged 18 or under. Their hit rate in predicting the future was extremely mixed.
The list throws up plenty of recognisable names, some brilliant descriptions which are hard to believe now, plus several players who disappeared into obscurity.
Here, we see which of the ’20 future England stars’ lived up to the newspaper’s billing.
Jose Baxter
The Guardian noted Baxter was “better than Wayne Rooney at 14”, but his is a cautionary tale. The talented attacking midfielder dropped down to League One in 2012 and has been banned twice for failing drugs tests.
The 28-year-old was given a third chance to resurrect his career when offered a 12-month contract by Everton in 2017, and after a season of training and playing with their Under-23 side.
Spells at Oldham Athletic and Plymouth Argyle followed, and his last move was to sign for Memphis 901 in the second tier of US football in 2020.
Mark Beevers
At the age of 18, Beevers was named Sheffield Wednesday’s Player of the Year and had been regularly linked with a move to a Premier League club.
He was named in League One’s Team of the Season in 2017 after helping Bolton win promotion back to the Championship. He did the same with Peterborough in 2020-21, dropping back down again last term before his recent move to A-League outfit Perth Glory.
John Bostock
A senior Crystal Palace debut at the age of just 15 led to a move to Tottenham a year later. But Bostock never settled at Spurs and was loaned out five times before eventually departing permanently for Royal Antwerp.
The attacking midfielder signed for Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse in July 2018, just six months after joining Bursaspor on a two-and-a-half-year contract, and is currently at Doncaster Rovers. He made 25 appearances for the South Yorkshire club as they suffered a miserable relegation from League One last term.
Nathan Delfouneso
A Football Manager legend, Delfouneso had four different spells with Blackpool before moving to Bolton two years ago. The striker, now 31, is yet to reach double figures in a single season.
Fabian Delph
The Guardian deserve credit for this one, even if he’s not exactly a fan favourite at Everton.
Danny Drinkwater
He’s played for England and has lifted the Premier League trophy, so we’ll give them this one.
The midfielder seemed to have stopped being an actual footballer for a while, making headlines for headbutting a team-mate in…
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