Dozens of new faces and new names emerged over the course of a ten-month Premier League season. Some made an impact in the early stages of the season and made headlines during the cold winter slog.
While there are others who have timed their ascent to coincide with the climax of the campaign.
A strong finish to the season can set a young player up for a groundbreaking follow-up campaign.
Mail Sport takes you through five stars that made their mark in the final months of the season that you expect to have a major impact for years to come.
And given the season Brighton had, it’s absolutely no surprise that they’ve managed to snag a few entries in this list.
Curtis Jones
It’s hard to imagine how Curtis Jones’ debut season with the Liverpool first team could have gone any better. Despite making his first appearance for the club in an FA Cup third round defeat in 2019, Jones became a first-team player the following season in a year that saw his hometown club win their first Premier League title in 30 years grabbed.
The then 18-year-old played for the Reds team, largely made up of teenagers, who beat Everton in the FA Cup and scored the winning goal – a curling 20-yard wonder strike – to seal a famous victory. The heady heights of that campaign saw a Premier League winners’ medal as the teenager went on to make six league appearances in total, scoring his first league goal against Aston Villa.
An injury derailed his 2021/22 season, which saw him make 24 top-flight appearances and five Champions League appearances. Jones missed eight games with an eye problem before struggling to come off the bench on a match day.
In the season that just ended, he got off to a slow start as he again struggled with injuries. However, he finished the campaign strong, starting each of Liverpool’s last 11 Premier League games.
The youngster played a key role in the teams strong finish to the season, picking up a brace against Leicester City and the opener against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.
With a summer of midfield turmoil at the club, Jones’ timely return to form could have given him a chance to make the grade at his boyhood club.
Liverpool academy graduate Curtis Jones made his first-team debut in the FA Cup in 2019
The 22-year-old opened the scoring in Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur in April
Levi Colwill
When Brighton snatched Chelsea for £60 million in the Marc Cucurella deal last summer, few noticed the season-long run for Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill. The only regret for the Seagulls would be that they didn’t include an option to buy in his short-term contract.
The 20-year-old, who spent the previous season on loan at Championship side Huddersfield, has had a steady start at the Amex. the club.
The youngster partnered Lewis Dunk in the center of Brighton’s defense for a five-match run on either side of the World Cup, which included dismantling Liverpool on 3-0 January.
But a muscle injury suffered after the draw curtailed his impressive form, leaving Colwill to wait until March to get his next taste of Premier League action. The cultured left-footed defender has played in seven of Brighton’s last ten games as the team achieved their highest-ever finish.
Colwill has emerged as one of the best young centre-backs in England, with the rare ability to possess a stronger left foot. As a result, his parent club Chelsea have taken notice and it is unlikely that he will be tricked again.
Mail Sport recently reported that the Seagulls are considering a £40 million transfer for Colwill – after Chelsea previously rejected a £30 million offer.
Levi Colwill made 22 appearances for Brighton in all competitions last campaign
The 20-year-old played a starring role in Brighton’s 3-0 win at the Emirates last month
Alejandro Garnacho
Alejandro Garnacho’s 2022/23 feels like three or four years in one. The talented winger burst onto the scene with a last-minute winner at Craven Cottage in November that drew clear – if unhelpful – comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was still a few weeks away from leaving the club.
The 18-year-old had already faced allegations of bad attitude at the time and was soon to become the subject of an international battle as both Spain and Argentina vied to secure his allegiance. All this commotion for a winger who has yet to secure a regular place in the first team.
For any doubters, Garnacho’s FA Cup final cameo showed why the teenager is demanding so much attention. If Erik ten Hag had had his time again, he would probably have brought in the winger at half-time or just let him start all over.
As it turned out, Garnacho made as many mistakes and delivered more crosses in 29 blistering minutes than Marcus Rashford and Jaden Sancho. Only Casemiro and Erling Haaland had more attempts on goal.
Fully recovered from the ankle injury that ended a four-month stint in the team in March, Garnacho reminded everyone of his exciting talent and might have found himself level with Sancho heading into the next campaign.
Alejandro Garnacho has scored five Premier League goals this season
The winger was congratulated by his manager after beating Wolves 2-0 last month
Evan Ferguson
Brighton centre-forward Evan Ferguson made his debut for the Seagulls last season from Graham Potter in a February defeat to Burnley. Fast forward ten months and the teenager scored his first Premier League goal, against leaders Arsenal, in just his third game.
His second followed in the very next game against Everton, before a third against Leicester in January. Ferguson’s surprise emergence led to a call-up to the Republic of Ireland, where he scored in his third appearance, and resulted in comparisons with the best forwards in the world.
De Zerbi opted to use the frontman somewhat sparingly in the last month of the season, refusing to start him in back-to-back matches after coming back from injury in April. Still, Ferguson’s remarkable 2022/23 season reads; ten goals and three assists from 25 appearances in all competitions for Brighton.
Those numbers are all the more impressive considering his age and introduction to the team mid-campaign. Ferguson’s brace against Southampton took him to six goals in the league, three ahead of any other teenager in the division.
It’s no wonder the Seagulls moved quickly to commit him to a long-term contract before the season had even ended.
Evan Ferguson was the highest scoring teenager in the Premier League with six goals to his name
The youngster scored his first international goal in a 3-2 friendly win against Latvia in March
Julie Enciso
The third Brighton player on this list can probably already be described using the old, often ridiculous football description ‘not a great goalscorer, but a maker of great goals’.
The Paraguayan international has scored four times in 20 Premier League appearances this season, one of which was crowned goal of the season, another which could probably have finished second. Even his first league goal was beautifully constructed and sent with ease.
The fact that three of Enciso’s goals came against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City makes his debut season all the more impressive and his talent all the more exciting.
The Seagulls signed the young forward for around £9.5 million from Paraguayan club Libertad Asuncion last summer, where he scored 11 times and provided three assists in 14 league appearances that season.
As with his teammates above, it was under De Zerbi that Enciso made his debut in a 4-1 win against Chelsea, but the 19-year-old really made an impact in a run of 14 games to finish the season. In addition to his four goals, Enciso also provided a pair of assists to his teammates as they completed a historic campaign for the club.
Brighton spent around £9.5 million to bring Julio Enciso from Libertad Asuncion to the Amex
The striker’s attack against Manchester City last month was named goal of the season