Nwaneri, James and Sullivan: Who are the youngest players ever?

This article was first published on October 2, 2023 and has been updated.

Players in professional soccer are getting younger and Leicester City's Jeremy Monga was the latest to make his senior Premier League debut in Monday's 3-0 loss to Newcastle United at 15 years, 271 days old.

Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri remains the youngest Premier League player in history, having debuted in the competition when he was 90 days younger than Monga, but it might not be long before a pre-teenager makes their bow in one of the top leagues around the world.

Indeed, in 2022, a Northern Irish schoolboy by the name of Christopher Atherton entered the record books by becoming the youngest player in the UK to appear in a senior, first-class, fully sanctioned and competitive match at the age of 13 years and 329 days.

Here we look a little further afield at some of the youngest players to feature in Europe's Big Five leagues, as well as some of the other mercurial wonderkids who hold the same record across a selection of other notable elite-level competitions.

English Premier League: Ethan Nwaneri, 15 years, 181 days

Coming just 15 days after Atherton's feat, Arsenal set a new Premier League record when they handed a first-team debut to Nwaneri, aged 15 and 181 days.

A product of the Arsenal academy, the midfielder broke a league record that had previously belonged to Liverpool's Harvey Elliott (16 years, 30 days) when he came on for the Gunners in a 3-0 win over Brentford last season. He also became the club's youngest-ever senior player, breaking the record held by Cesc Fabregas.

English Women's Super League: Lauren James, 16 years and 30 days

Now an established star at both club and international level, James also remains the youngest player to feature in the WSL after making her bow in the division while playing for Arsenal less than a month after her 16th birthday.

After just one season with the Gunners, the attacking midfielder moved on to Manchester United and has since signed for Chelsea, where she joined her older brother Reece on the club's books.

Spanish LaLiga: Luka Romero, 15 years and 219 days

Romero broke a record that had stood since 1939 when he came on for Mallorca in the 83rd minute of a league game against Real Madrid in 2020. That record had previously belonged to Celta Vigo defender Sanson, who was 15 years and 255 days old when he made his debut for the club just a couple of months after the outbreak of the Second World War.

1 - Aged 15 years and 219 days, Mallorca's Luka Romero becomes the youngest player to ever play a @LaLigaEN game, beating Sansón's record for Celta de Vigo in December 1939 (15 years and 255 days). Kid.

German Bundesliga: Youssoufa Moukoko, 16 years and 1 day

Prodigious striker Moukoko made his senior debut in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund the day after his 16th birthday during the 2020-21 season -- an appearance only made legal after the DFB changed their restrictions on player age the previous year.

Moukoko was subbed on for Erling Haaland for the final five minutes of a 5-2 drubbing of Hertha Berlin to claim the record from fellow Dortmund player Nuri Sahin, who made his debut for the club aged 16 years and 334 days.

Youssoufa Moukoko becomes the youngest player in Bundesliga history. He turned 16 yesterday 🤯 pic.twitter.com/cqyWKZr2di

Italian Serie A: Francesco Camarda, 15 years and 260 days

Despite Serie A regulations prohibiting teams from selecting players under 16, a dire injury crisis saw AC Milan receive special dispensation from the league to call up Camarda to their bench in November 2023 for a game against Fiorentina.

The teenage forward then made history in the 83rd minute when he came on for Luka Jovic to become the youngest senior player in Italian top flight history, narrowly pipping the previous record (held for two years by Wisdom Amey of Bologna) by just 14 days.

French Ligue 1: Kalman Gerencseri, 15 years and 225 days

The longest-held record in all of Europe's top five leagues can be found in France where Lens midfielder Gerencseri is still the youngest player to appear in a top-flight game, despite doing so against Monaco in August 1960.

To put that in context, Kylian Mbappé was a relatively late bloomer in comparison, having been 16 years and 347 days when he made his maiden bow for Monaco in December 2015.

Major League Soccer: Cavan Sullivan, 14 years and 293 days

Philadelphia Union's Cavan Sullivan broke Freddy Adu's longstanding record from 2004 when he featured as a substitute against New England Revolution in a 5-1 win on July 17, 2024. Earlier that year, Sullivan signed the largest homegrown contract in Major League Soccer history, in a deal that stipulates he will transfer to English Premier League power Manchester City after he turns 18.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Sacramento Republic forward Da'vian Kimbrough wrote his name into the record books after making his professional debut and becoming the youngest North American player to ever do so in the process.

Aged just 13 years, 7 months and 13 days, Kimbrough came off the bench for the final few minutes of Republic's 2-0 victory over Las Vegas Lights in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship. With that, the teenager, who first joined the club's academy system in 2021, became the youngest pro player in the history of North American soccer just two months after signing a first-team contract.

Kimbrough eclipsed the previous USL Championship record, which had been held by Ivory Coast-born striker Axel Kei, who was 13 years, 9 months and 9 days old when he made his pro debut for Real Monarchs (the second side of Major League Soccer outfit Real Salt Lake) in 2021.

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Cavan Sullivan makes youngest MLS debut ever at 14

14-year-old Cavan Sullivan becomes the youngest player to debut in MLS history.

NWSL: Mak Whitham, 14 years, eight months

Whitham became the youngest player in NWSL history to appear in a regular-season match during NJ/NY Gotham FC's season opener against Seattle Reign on March 16, 2025. The Gotham FC forward took the pitch at Lumen Field in Seattle as a substitute in the third minute of second-half stoppage to break the record of Melanie Barcenas, who was 15 years and 177 days old when she made her debut in 2023 for the San Diego Wave.

Whitham had already become the youngest signing in NWSL history after penning a contract through 2028 with Gotham last year. And, at the age of 13, she became the youngest women's soccer player and youngest athlete in any sport to sign a name, image and likeness deal with Nike.

Europa League: Roger Fernandes, 16 years and 88 days

Roger became the youngest player to take the field in the Europa League when he played in Braga's 2-0 defeat against Sheriff Tiraspol in February 2022. The youngster came on as a late substitute as the Portuguese club survived a nerve-wracking playoff to make it into the knockout phase via a penalty shootout.

The Guinea Bissau-born winger did however etch his name into the Europa League record books by becoming the competition's youngest ever player, beating the record previously held by Willem Geubbels on Lyon, who had previously broken new ground in 2017 when he became the first player born in the 21st century to make their Europa League debut.

Champions League: Youssoufa Moukoko, 16 years and 18 days

A little over two weeks on from becoming the Bundesliga's youngest-ever player, Moukoko followed suit in the Champions League when he featured for Dortmund away against Zenit St Petersburg in the group stage of the 2020-21 competition. The 16-year-old striker's introduction in the 58th minute coincided with the Germán side roaring back from a goal down to secure a late 2-1 win in Russia.