England has had an incredible year when its come to seeing youngsters make their mark on the biggest stage.
It’s easy to forget just how quickly some of them have flown up the ranks.
Although there are plenty of English starlets that have lit up Europe’s top leagues recently, there’s a handful that, incredibly, were still playing in the Championship just two years ago.
England’s second tier continues to both produce talents and also provide an excellent place for Premier League youngsters to take the next step in their career.
Conor Gallagher, right now, is the perfect example as he shines for Crystal Palace this season and earns international honours.
He’s not the only superstar who was in the Championship just two years ago though…
Conor Gallagher – Crystal Palace (on loan from Chelsea)
England international Gallagher only made his senior debut in August 2019 and that was in the Championship for newly-promoted Charlton Athletic.
Originally he was deemed as a bit of an experiment by then-Addicks boss Lee Bowyer but he’s been a success ever since.
The Charlton manager’s gamble was more than worth it, as the midfielder took to England’s second tier like a duck to water and scored six goals for the Addicks.
Gallagher ended up going on loan to Swansea for the second half of the 2019/20 season, before progressing on to then-Premier League side West Brom for the 2020/21 campaign.
Championship fans who witnessed Gallagher in the flesh back in 2019/20 would have known just how bright the future looked and given he’s scored an incredible six goals in 15 for Palace, who knows what he is capable of going forward.
Jarrod Bowen – West Ham
To say Bowen has grabbed his chance to play in the Premier League with both hands would be an understatement.
The 24-year-old started his career at Hereford after failed trials at Aston Villa and Cardiff City and made his senior debut for the club in 2014 at the age of just 17.
Following Hereford’s expulsion from the Conference at the end of that season, Bowen was nabbed by then-Premier League club Hull City.
The forward went on to score 53 goals for the Tigers in the Championship before catching the eye of West Ham half way through the 19/20 season.
Bought for £18million plus add-ons, Bowen has seriously impressed, helping David Moyes’ Hammers to finish in 6th place in the Premier League last campaign.
Bowen is now attracting interest from Liverpool. Not bad for a player that was in the bottom half of the Championship just two years ago.
Jude Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund
The central midfielder has defied every expectation placed on him since he came through Birmingham’s ranks in 2019.
He started his career at the Blues in their Under-8s side and eventually made his senior debut aged 16, becoming the club’s youngest ever first-team player.
Inevitably, Birmingham couldn’t hang on to their prodigy for long as big names soon came sniffing, and Bellingham was sold to Borussia Dortmund at the end of the same season for £25 million, making him the most expensive 17-year-old in history.
Since then, Jude Bellingham has made 67 appearances for the Bundesliga club, and he even made his England debut at the 2020 European Championship, becoming the youngest ever player to feature in the competition.
Bellingham’s journey from August 2020 to now has been nothing short of absolutely astounding – and he’s still only 18-years-old!
Emile Smith Rowe – Arsenal
You may not have many memories of it but he was in the Championship.
Smith Rowe made his Arsenal debut in the Europa League in 2018, and in the following game in the same competition he became Arsenal’s first goalscorer born after the year 2000.
However, Smith Rowe’s real rise did not happen until after his loan moves to RB Leipzig and Huddersfield Town.
Smith Rowe was a key component of the Terriers’ survival in the second tier of English football in 2019/20 after joining them on loan in January.
He was so impressive that Huddersfield manager Daniel Cowley struggled to remove him from the pitch when defensive stability was required.
He said: “I actually boo myself when I take him off, because it’s not something I want to do.”
The Arsenal starlet returned to his parent club and despite injures, Smith Rowe went on to score four goals and signed a new deal earlier this year while also taking over the no.10 shirt.
Since then, the 21-year-old has scored six more goals for Arsenal, was called up to the England squad in November and even scored his first international goal. Incredible.