Fulham's Elliott Becomes Youngest Player To Feature In EPL, One Year & 87 Days Younger Than Nigeria's Record Holder

Published: May 04, 2019

Fulham's teenage midfielder Harvey Elliott set a new Premier League record when he stepped out onto the Molineux Stadium turf in the 88th minute of his side's 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

Aged 16 years and 30 days, Elliott became the youngest player in history to debut in the Premier League, beating the previous record set by Matthew Briggs on May 13, 2007.

Briggs was 16 years, 2 months and 4 days when he made his Premier League bow against a Middlesbrough side containing Nigeria's record goalscorer in the English top flight, Yakubu Aiyegbeni.

Harvey Elliott is one year and 87 days younger than the youngest player of Nigerian descent to feature in the Premier League, Joel Asoro.

Asoro was 17 years and 117 days old when he made his Premier League debut for Sunderland in a 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough on August 21, 2016.

Arsenal super kid Bukayo Saka could have snatched the Nigerian title from Asoro this season but the winger was a non-playing substitute against Burnley and Liverpool.

Former Everton striker Victor Anichebe remains the youngest Nigerian-born player to feature in the Premier League, aged 17 years, 11 months and 30 days when he made his maiden appearance vs Birmingham City in April 2006.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : safc.com