7) Francis Coquelin
A player who only recently made a place in the Arsenal midfield his own, Francis Coquelin looks the player the Gunners have cried out for years – a defensive midfield enforcer.
However, the Frenchman was constantly overlooked by Arsene Wenger until an injury crisis forced him to recall the Frenchman from loan at Charlton Athletic – and the north London outfit have flown since, and are the most in-form team in the Premier League.
Coquelin’s not quite Harry Kane, but he’s another young player who had his path to the first-team blocked.
8) Nabil Bentaleb
Tottenham Hotspur’s Algerian international midfielder Nabil Bentaleb was first given a chance by Tim Sherwood last season, with Spurs clearly not planning to use him when they signed big names like Etienne Capoue and Paulinho to compete in central midfield with Moussa Dembele and Gylfi Sigurdsson that summer.
However, the youngster shone, and this term has forged a tremendous partnership with Ryan Mason at the base of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham midfield.