wonderkid

Wilshere briefly returned to Luton in 2021, being invited to train at the club by then boss Nathan Jones after he had left West Ham.

He says it was around this time that he started considering a move into coaching.

And Wilshere took advice from current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta before taking a managerial job.

“About a year ago I asked Mikel when he knew he was ready,” Wilshere said at his news conference on Monday.

“He laughed and said ‘you just have to jump in and swim as hard as you can’.

“He’s done that really well and this feels a little similar. It’s a different level but Arsenal wasn’t a nice place when Mikel went in.

“The fans weren’t sure what was happening and he built complete unity and trust in what he was doing.”

Yet it was clear to some Wilshere was going to become a manager much earlier in his career.

“You could see the way his brain works, what he sees on the football pitch, how he wants to play the game and change things,” said Paul Robinson, who played with Wilshere when he was on loan at Bolton in 2010.

“You could always see that he would go into [management] and the coaching side eventually.”

Robinson added: “You [can see the] players who could go on and be good coaches, they understand the game, and they can change the game quickly with a different formation or moving players to a different position…

“With Jack, he was always that type of guy. He understood it. He always wanted to talk about different things.

“He was a young player and he always demanded things of you, like he was a senior player. He would always dictate things on a football pitch and make me see the game differently as well.”

MANCHESTER UNITED wonderkid Jim Thwaites has been hailed as a “cheat code” by fans.

The youngster has been added to first-team training by manager Ruben Amorim.

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Thwaites, 17, plays in central midfield and has already seen comparisons to United legends David Beckham and Paul Scholes.

Reports have claimed that he trained with United’s senior players on Friday.

This came following his brilliant performances in the youth sides so far this season.

It is claimed that he is viewed as one of the most technically good players in the academy.

It is added that Amorim and his coaching staff have been impressed in the sessions he has had with the first team.

Thwaites has also been likened to Barcelona and Spain midfielder Pedri with his ball skills.

This is extended to his passing vision as he often breaks defensive lines with his through balls.

The midfielder also possesses plenty of ability in carrying the ball forward up the pitch.

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There is said to be some hope among the coaching staff that he can continue to impress and get an opportunity in the first team this season.

Thwaites has made 48 appearances across the United U18s and U21s, scoring 12 goals and assisting four times.

He was a part of the U18s side that won their age category Premier League in the 2023/2024 season.

Videos of his performances have started to flood social media, leaving plenty of fans optimistic over his potential.

Clips of his matches showed he was comfortable on the ball and able to beat opposition presses multiple times.

One fan posted: “Jim Thwaites is a first-phase cheat code.

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“Press him at any speed, from any angle, he will find a solution and move his team up the pitch.”

A second wrote: “This is more of what we need in our midfield.”

A third commented: “I am always happy watching this boy play, very good player.”

A fourth said: “They not ready for this Michael Carrick regen.”

Another added: “Like Scholes and Beckham wrapped into one.”

Thwaites appeared for United in the pre-season 1-0 defeat to ASEAN All-Stars and left a good impression on Amorim.

The manager suggested that there would be “space” in the squad for players like the teenager.

He said: “I think Jimmy [Thwaites], in the last 15 minutes, as a midfielder, he wants to play.

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“It doesn’t matter how many minutes. These kind of young kids are really important. They will have space in our team.”

Meanwhile, United will be itching to get back on the pitch to try and keep the momentum after beating Sunderland before the international break.

Their first match will be away at Anfield against the reigning Prem champions Liverpool.

This will then be followed by clashes with Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.

HE IS the English striker formerly of Stoke, Yeovil and Weymouth in a  shootout for the MLS Golden Boot with Lionel Messi.

Sam Surridge, now of Nashville SC, is on 23 league strikes, just one behind the Greatest Of All Time — as well as LAFC’s Denis Bouanga — in the Stateside goalscoring stakes.

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The ex-England Under-21 international has the odds stacked against him as he has only one game left to take the crown, as opposed to Messi’s two and Bouanga’s three.

And, in an exciting twist of fixture fate, that solitary match is at home to the iconic Argentinian’s Inter Miami a week today.

Yet Surridge, who played in the Premier League with Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, told SunSport: “I’ve probably got to get a hat-trick so it’s not going to be easy.

“But at the same time I’ll always back myself to score and it would be an amazing achievement.

“We’re fighting at a really good point in our league. We just won the cup and we need to get into the top four to get a good play-off spot.

“I’ll do as much as I can to do it.

“It’s great. Just to mention my name along with his is a huge achievement.”

Berkshire-born Surridge came through the ranks at Bournemouth under Eddie Howe and had formative lower-league loans at Weymouth, Poole Town, Yeovil, Oldham and Swansea.

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He had a half a season at Stoke before moving to  Forest, where he played 20 Premier League games in 2022-23 but netted only once.

His world has changed completely, however, since moving to the other side of the Pond in 2023.

He is now the main man with Tennessee side Nashville.

Though he has Messi to thank for convincing him to make the revitalising switch in the first place.

Surridge will hope his upcoming meeting with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner goes better than the last one, when Miami won 2-1 thanks to Messi’s double — including a sublime free-kick.

The 27-year-old added: “At first I didn’t want to come here because I just wanted to stay in England.

“But then I saw Messi join Inter Miami and I knew they were going to host the World Cup and the size of the league was going to grow.

“Since I’ve been here, the standard has been getting better and better every year.

“Going into that game against Miami in July, we were on a ten-game unbeaten streak, I was on 16, he was on 14.

‘IT WAS CRAZY’

“I remember we gave a foul away on the edge of the box and you just knew he was going to score from it.

“It was crazy — you knew exactly where he was going to put the ball. And he did.

“You’re trying to focus on the game but at the same time you know he’s playing. It’s not easy.

“He is coming to the end of his career but he only won the Ballon d’Or two years ago.”

Surridge has been relishing his role as Nashville’s go-to guy up top and recently scored the match-winning goal to clinch the US Open Cup — America’s equivalent of the FA Cup.

It was the first piece of silverware in Tennessee in a long time, although Surridge was sent off right at the end of the game for two late yellows.

Surridge puts his inspired form in part down to the recent birth of son Noah.

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He added: “In the past, I’ve probably let it eat me up when I’ve had a bad game or not scored a goal.

“But now as one game is gone, I’m straight on to the next, back home with my family and being a dad.

“That’s a massive factor (in my form) this season, giving me that renewed focus.” Surridge is experiencing week in, week out the soaring temperatures that Harry Kane and the rest of the England team will have to deal with at the World Cup next summer.

And forward Surridge, who played with the likes of Marc Guehi for the Young Lions, said: “I know England are going to find it hard to cope with the weather over here because it’s not easy adjusting to it.

“There’s going to be a lot of South American teams that are used to it.

“Especially when you go to places like Miami, and places more south of Nashville, it’s not easy to play in the heat. There’s going to be a lot of toing and froing, sitting off and trying to break teams down.

“They should be pushing the games back because we play at 7pm most games and it’s still ridiculously hot.

“At the Club World Cup, I’ve seen them play at games at 2pm and 3pm in the 30-degree heat and it’s almost impossible.”

‘PICKING THE MOMENTS’

So what would his advice be for Thomas Tuchel’s side braving the heat?

The striker replied: “It’s not saving yourself in games, it’s more about picking the moments.

“Because as soon as you get into a full-on sprint in that heat, it’s hard to get your breath back.

“I think managers will set up their teams differently for that reason.

“You see pressing teams where they’re full-on pressing and, as soon as they break down, they’re going to struggle.

“It’s about conserving your energy where you can.”

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WHEN Rio Ngumoha curled in his historic goal for Liverpool, fans of Chelsea AND Manchester United should have felt a kick in the guts.

Because although the teenage winger left the Blues’ Academy to join the Reds last year, London-born Ngumoha was a childhood United fan who spent time with the Red Devils before opting for Anfield.

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The wonderkid’s sensational winner against Newcastle made him the youngest scorer in Liverpool’s history and the fourth youngest in the Premier League era.

At 16 years and 361 days, Ngumoha was just one day older than Wayne Rooney when he announced himself to the world with an amazing strike against Arsenal in October 2022.

And it left Chelsea supporters in particular wondering how the club let one of English football’s greatest young talents get away.

Stamford Bridge legend John Terry is among those devastated that the club lost Ngumoha to their rivals.

Terry told SunSport: “He is a very ambitious boy that wanted to play first-team football and believed that was his pathway into Liverpool’s first team.

“I’m still in contact with him, but just a fantastic player. 

“There’s going to be many more over the years that as an academy you lose, but there’s always one that you think, a bit gutted we missed out on that one.”

Terry has been back at Chelsea for a couple of years as a mentor to players at the club’s Academy and knew Ngumoha was something special.

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Terry said: “We had a really good under-14 team and he was a big part of that.

“Just seeing him taking it and driving the defenders, being a defender myself, [I was] thinking I wouldn’t have liked that at all.

“You don’t see too many players that are exciting like him anymore. 

“He was a very confident player, taking the ball on the back foot, lots of personality, very confident in himself.

“Since the likes of [Eden] Hazard and Joe Cole and those types of players that are very confident and get the fans off their seat as well…I think football’s become a little bit stale and a little bit kind of tactical over the last four or five years. 

“It’s refreshing to see players like him in the team and I’m sure the Liverpool players are speaking very well of him.

“He will be a top, top player, I’m sure of that.”

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From the moment Ngumoha came on against Newcastle, he showed the same confidence that had seen him grab the headlines in pre-season.

Terry was speaking after the winger had crowned a brilliant run with a fabulous finish in a friendly against Athletic Bilbao at Anfield, following an earlier strike against Yokohama Mariners during the Reds’ Far East tour. 

Terry said: “He’s still only 16, which is incredible, but the confidence to kind of shrug people off, well-known established players in the Premier League, and go on and kind of chop inside and then put it in the bottom corner is a very good thing to do.

“But he showed that ability in the academy and unfortunately we’ve lost him.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the boy, and I wish him well because he’s a great player.

“He’s also a great little kid as well, someone who wants to learn and wants to get better.”

Chelsea fans will be as gutted as Terry about losing Ngumoha, but United supporters should also wonder what might have been.

Because in one of his few interviews, he revealed that he was a United fan.

In a viral TikTok video promoting Adidas’ F50 boots, in which he was made to choose between David Beckham and Jude Bellingham, Ngumoha admitted: “I’m a Man United fan, I didn’t really watch Beckham, but I have to go with David Beckham”

In June last year Ngumoha spent time with United, who pushed for his signature, but admitted defeat to their rivals who were further ahead in the race to sign the talented youngster. 

Mystery surrounds the details of Ngumoha’s move from London to Anfield.

Often when the hottest young talents change club, the saga is played out in public in a bitter row. 

In response to losing one of their most talented teenagers, the Stamford Bridge hierarchy reportedly DENIED accreditation requests from Liverpool and Manchester United scouts who would be looking to poach their top players – though those in charge denied having done so.

In Ngumoha’s case there is radio silence, with no confirmation of what compensation Liverpool have had to pay Chelsea to snatch the player who joined the Blues Academy when he was eight.

Compare and contrast what happened when the Reds poached two other youngsters from London clubs.

Fulham were furious when Liverpool moved for Harvey Elliott in 2019 when he was 16.

It was not until February 2021 that the Reds were ordered to pay £1.5m, plus up to £2.8m in performance-related add-ons – a record fee at the time for a player of that age.

Further back, Liverpool caused controversy with their signing of Raheem Sterling.

The QPR youngster was only 15 when the Reds made their move in 2010, joining for an initial fee of £450,000 which would rise to up to £2m.

Ngumoha’s brilliance was no secret to anyone involved in youth development in English football.

He played a key role in Chelsea’s under-16 team being crowned national champions.

Ngumoha’s amazing individual goal for the Blues against Wolves in the Premier League Cup final for Under-17 sides in April 2024 was perhaps the first time a wider public saw his talent up close.

Ngumoha joined Liverpool officially in September last year, a few days after turning 16.

That is the age at which young players can sign two-year scholarship terms at clubs which combine more intensive training with ongoing academic execution.

Only Chelsea know what they offered him to sign scholar’s terms.

Transfer commentator Fabrizio Romano reported that the Reds broke their usual pay structure for young players to sign Ngumoha.

Others, including Terry, say that Ngumoha was impressed by the pathway for young players at Anfield after Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah were fast-tracked into the first team.

But the reality is that clubs poach each other’s top young talent all the time and Chelsea do it as much, if not more, than anyone else.

Tyler Dibling, like Ngumoha, was 16 when he left Southampton for the Blues in 2022, only to return to the Saints later the same year.

Dibling has just joined Everton in a deal worth up to £40m and is regarded by some as a potential superstar. 

But Terry is not the only one to believe that in Ngumoha, Chelsea lost a generational talent.

And the young man himself has big dreams.

“I truly believe I can win the Ballon d’Or one day.

“I want to be regarded as one of the best players to ever play football and be a legend of the game.

“The love for football started when I was four or five, I was watching my brother, and I wanted to be like him.

“I was going to academies from a young age, and it was a big thing when so many clubs wanted to sign me.

“I have learned you have to be resilient and believe in yourself, you can have a few bad games, but you have to have that belief that you are the best.”

What Ngumoha did on Monday night at St James’ Park was the first step to fulfilling those dreams. 

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MANCHESTER UNITED’S ‘Kid-Messi’ wonderkid JJ Gabriel is set to train with Ruben Amorim’s first team at times this season.

At 14 years old, Gabriel is too young to feature in the FA Youth Cup despite becoming the youngest ever player to feature for the Under-18s.

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The forward will not be 15 years old until October, but is already the talk of Old Trafford and beyond with his fast-tracked displays.

This season’s Youth Cup players have to be born before the cut-off date of 31 August 2010, with Kai Rooney eligible to feature.

Gabriel committed his future to United for at the least the next two years and has been tipped by insiders to become their youngest EVER Premier League player.

He is so highly rated that technical director Jason Wilcox and director of football Matt Hargreaves played active roles in keeping him at the club.

Gabriel, who isn’t even in his GCSE year at school, was handed his first U18 start in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Everton, outperforming players who were mostly older and bigger.

United invited Gabriel to watch Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the directors’ box, following the teenager’s decision to stay amid interest from Europe‘s biggest clubs.

He was then pictured with Amorim at Carrington on Thursday, with his family also introduced to the United boss.

The Portuguese gaffer, 40, will start working with Gabriel as he will be drafted into the first team group at times throughout the season.

While it’s not unusual for academy players to train with the big boys, it is rare for the youngest players to get the nod.

Gabriel made his debut for the U18s at the beginning of April and scored twice from the bench in a 13-1 hammering of Leeds.

That match saw him become the youngest ever player to feature for the U18s, with club legend Darren Fletcher in charge of his development.

He made a further two appearances for the U18s before the end of the season and scored again, while also featuring for England‘s Under-15s.

Shooting to stardom under the name ‘Kid Messi’ on YouTube five years ago, the schoolboy signed a lucrative deal with Nike in February.

Gabriel, whose full name is Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel, was born in London and is the son of former Republic of Ireland defender Joe O’Cearuill, who spent most of his career playing non-League after starting out at Watford and Arsenal.

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Abel Ferreira hesitated for a second, insisted he wouldn’t say what he had in his mind, but then – in a rare moment of full disclosure when it comes to young talents – he opened up.

“This player is different from everything I’ve ever seen,” the Palmeiras coach said in a press conference in May 2024, following a 2-1 win over Botafogo-SP in the Brazilian Cup.

The two-time Libertadores champion is not particularly known for letting himself get carried away too easily, especially in front of the cameras. But that night, he allowed himself to speak freely because he couldn’t believe his eyes – then 17-year-old Estevao had just scored the winner in the final minutes and put on a spectacular show once more.

Such is the impact the left-footed winger had the season before last that Ferreira tried, in vain, to convince the club board not to sell him. That was too late, though.

Chelsea beat the competition of the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain and Manchester City to sign the Palmeiras wonderkid in a deal that could eventually be worth £52m and that will see him arrive at Stamford Bridge after Fifa’s new Club World Cup in July 2025.

Other Brazilian teenagers such as Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo left for Europe at the same age for huge fees. They’ve both proved themselves already on the big stages since then. But none of them were as hyped as Estevao when they first moved abroad.

There’s a feeling in Brazil that the boy from the countryside of Sao Paulo may be something else, the kind of player that comes along once a decade and seems destined to the very top.

“Estevao is the best player to have emerged from Brazilian football since Neymar. You watch him and you fall in love,” the head of Palmeiras’ academy, Joao Paulo Sampaio, told BBC Sport.

“He already impresses with his technique but, like Neymar at this same point in his career, he has not yet matured physically and is not as strong as Endrick, so he could still develop a lot. That’s what amazes everyone and makes them think that he will reach a much higher level.”

Chelsea may have struck gold with their new signing.