{"id":298844,"date":"2023-11-11T21:24:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T21:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=298844"},"modified":"2023-11-11T21:24:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T21:24:05","slug":"shy-irish-kid-ferguson-is-now-footballs-most-explosive-teenager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/shy-irish-kid-ferguson-is-now-footballs-most-explosive-teenager\/","title":{"rendered":"Shy Irish kid Ferguson is now football&apos;s most explosive teenager"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>EVAN FERGUSON meets CHRIS SUTTON: This shy Irish kid is now football&#8217;s most explosive teenager but could have been a postie&#8230; He supported Man United but won&#8217;t let their interest distract him<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Irish striker Evan Ferguson is the hottest teenage prospect in the Premier League<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Ferguson has extended his contract with Brighton until the summer of 2029<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>What is the WORST Premier League hat-trick? &#8211; Find out on It&#8217;s All Coming Up\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You might think the wonderkid wrecking the egos of Premier League defenders would have an overinflated amour-propre of his own. You would be wrong. As Chris Sutton discovered this week, Evan Ferguson is as down to earth as the Crocs he wears on his feet.<\/p>\n<p>An afternoon spent at Brighton\u2019s training ground in Lancing taught Mail Sport\u2019s columnist there is nothing egotistical about this 19-year-old striker from the seaside village of Bettystown in the Republic of Ireland. Nothing flash. Nothing obnoxious. Just a nice, normal, laid-back lad who is taking his rise towards stardom in his stride.<\/p>\n<p>A sizeable stride he has, too. At 6ft 2in with long limbs and broad shoulders, Ferguson is a colossus you could take a walk around and certainly not someone you would wish to mark on a football field. A few defenders have tried to their demise, with Ferguson the first teenager since Wayne Rooney in 2005 to score at least 10 Premier League goals in a calendar year.<\/p>\n<p>Many believe the ambipedal Ferguson is Brighton\u2019s next \u00a3100million man in waiting but he is in no rush to prove those predictions right, as evidenced by Friday&#8217;s news. At 10am, his club announced his new contract until 2029, providing added protection amid increasing interest from Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m happy here,\u2019 the softly-spoken striker tells Sutton in his Irish drawl. \u2018I played Gaelic. Nothing serious. Just in school. Irish sport. Rougher than football. But this is all I ever wanted to do growing up. I came over here at 16 and this is all I\u2019ve known. They gave me my first opportunity and I\u2019m grateful for that. I\u2019ve signed this new deal and it\u2019s all good news. You see it as a reward for what you\u2019ve done, and it\u2019s loyalty to them, you know?\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77656459-12735049-Mail_Sport_s_Chris_Sutton_spent_time_with_Ferguson_at_Brighton_s-a-62_1699631048810.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mail Sport columnist Chris Sutton spent time with Brighton striker Evan Ferguson this week<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77655527-0-image-a-49_1699629995878.jpg\" height=\"417\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferguson, 19, is the most explosive teenage prospect in football and is enjoying a fine season<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77646065-0-Irish_international_Evan_Ferguson_has_signed_a_new_deal_to_stay_-a-50_1699630004542.jpg\" height=\"357\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Irishman has committed his future to the Seagulls by extending his contract until\u00a0 2029\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Sutton: \u2018I remember when I was your age. I\u2019d made my debut for Norwich and to put it mildly, I was full of s***. I was very cocky and sure of myself. But you don\u2019t strike me as that type.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson: \u2018I\u2019m laid-back as a person, relaxed, nothing too much.\u2019 Sutton: \u2018You must have that nasty streak in you, though?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson: \u2018Definitely. People in football will tell you, \u201cHe\u2019s a nice bloke off the pitch but on the pitch\u2026\u201d It\u2019s like two different personalities. We\u2019re just sitting here talking but on the pitch, well, you know what it\u2019s like.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Listening to Ferguson, you get the sense that if he was any more laid-back, he\u2019d be horizontal. Here, though, the lad that many with Irish accents are describing as a generational talent is sitting upright in his Brighton tracksuit across from Sutton.<\/p>\n<p>His journey to here began with St Kevin\u2019s Boys Football Club, the prestigious talent factory in Dublin that was responsible for producing future international footballers such as Liam Brady, Damian Duff, Ian Harte, Robbie Brady and, of course, Ferguson. He led the line for St Kevin\u2019s in the 2017 Academy Cup final against Barcelona. \u2018I scored twice and we still lost,\u2019 he recalls. \u2018Bloody defenders,\u2019 replies Sutton.<\/p>\n<p>From there, Ferguson moved to Dublin\u2019s oldest football club Bohemians. He was 14 \u2013 yes, 14 \u2013 when he made his senior debut in a pre-season friendly against Chelsea in July 2019. Footage shows this Colaiste na hInse schoolboy troubling Trevor Chalobah, tackling Kurt Zouma, skinning Tiemoue Bakayoko, and deploying a clever dummy as his team made it 1-1 to deny Frank Lampard the win in his first game in charge.<\/p>\n<p>Sutton asks: \u2018I would have been s***ting myself. Were you nervous?\u2019 Ferguson offers a shrug: \u2018Nah, not really. I wouldn\u2019t say I get nerves.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Sutton: \u2018Never? Not even now?\u2019 Ferguson: \u2018I don\u2019t think so. If someone says, \u201cOh, a 14-year-old is playing against Chelsea\u201d, what do you expect him to do? At that age, it doesn\u2019t click. You don\u2019t comprehend in your head what you\u2019ve done. It\u2019s only now, looking back on it and seeing my cousins who are 13, 14, that I know it was madness.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Pick any of the Premier League\u2019s big six clubs and Ferguson has been linked with them in the last year, though he is used to the noise by now. \u2018I think so, because I had it so early on at 14,\u2019 he says. \u2018You see it all on social media when someone else is being talked about. But that was the first time it happened to me, when I was suddenly the one everyone was talking about. School was a weird one after that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson hails from a good family steeped in football heritage. His great-uncle, Damien, was on the books of Manchester United and can be seen posing alongside George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles and Denis Law, as well as manager Sir Matt Busby, in a team picture from 1970-71. His sister, Ellie, plays for Ohio Soccer in the United States. His father, Barry, was a defender for various teams in England and Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>When Premier League clubs started showing their interest in this potential prodigy at Bohemians, Barry told his son it was his call to make and no one else\u2019s. Flattered though he was by the talk of Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United wanting him, Ferguson chose Brighton. His decision was based on a steely determination to break into his next club\u2019s first team as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson: \u2018I remember my da saying, \u201cThey\u2019ve offered a deal. What do you think?\u201d I\u2019d been over here enough times to know that if they offered me something, I\u2019d like to sign. I had that in my head. It was the feeling I had when I came over here. The feeling, the people, there were Irish over here and they have a wall in the canteen that shows all the debutants and their ages. When you\u2019re sitting there and seeing people who got the opportunity to play in the Premier League, it\u2019s like, \u201cRight, this isn\u2019t unrealistic here. It\u2019s doable.\u201d They had a pathway.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77655529-0-image-a-52_1699630181457.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferguson is the first teenager since Wayne Rooney in 2005 to score at least 10 Premier League goals in a calendar year and has netted 15 times in 41 appearances for Brighton in total<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77655553-0-image-a-53_1699630216138.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferguson (pictured in 2021) made his senior debut for Irish side Bohemians aged 14 against Chelsea and moved to Brighton two years later after rejecting the overtures of several clubs <\/p>\n<p>Sutton: \u2018My dad, Mike, was a professional footballer as well and he was tough, forever pushing me to practise with my weaker foot. Of your 11 Premier League goals, you\u2019ve scored seven with your right, three with your left, and one with your head. Did that come naturally to you?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson: \u2018I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s natural. I\u2019ve worked for it. As a kid, I\u2019d bang the ball against the wall to sort my left foot. I\u2019d try to shoot with the left the same as the right. That\u2019s been on me to practise.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Sutton: \u2018That wasn\u2019t down to your dad pushing you?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson: \u2018He\u2019s been a big influence. If I ever needed to talk to him, he\u2019d know what to say. But he wouldn\u2019t be straight on the phone, saying, \u201cYou should have done this, should have done that\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson was slightly late for this interview after being summoned to a post-training meeting with Roberto De Zerbi in the manager\u2019s office. The 44-year-old Italian adores Ferguson, previously predicting he can become \u2018the top scorer in Europe\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Sutton asks for a description of De Zerbi. \u2018In one word, I\u2019d say \u201cperfectionist\u201d,\u2019 Ferguson says. \u2018That\u2019s how he is with everything, even in the smallest details as in your body shape. He wants everything to be perfect.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This is still new for us, with being in Europe. There\u2019s always another game. It\u2019s all go, all full on, all the time, but we\u2019re enjoying it. We want to finish as high as we can and go as far as we can in every show. We had the FA Cup semi-final last season. Now we want to go one further by getting to the final. Expectations are high but that\u2019s what we set upon ourselves.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Sutton: \u2018I wrote a column for the Daily Mail not so long ago in which I compared you to my old strike partner Alan Shearer. It\u2019s the natural feel to your finishing, your physicality, your positioning, your power. Alan has even said he sees himself in you, the way you can bully defenders without fear.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson smiles sheepishly. \u2018He knows a thing or two about scoring goals,\u2019 he responds. \u2018It\u2019s a privilege hearing that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77656495-12735049-image-a-63_1699631190564.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferguson is the Republic of Ireland&#8217;s next big hope, but insisted he doesn&#8217;t get nervous\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77656107-0-image-m-57_1699630465798.jpg\" height=\"544\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>His finishing, physicality, positioning and power have seen him compared to Alan Shearer<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77656505-12735049-image-m-65_1699631214327.jpg\" height=\"639\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old is humble and down to earth and finds cooking and cleaning therapeutic<\/p>\n<p>Though Ferguson was eligible for England through his mother, Sarah \u2013 and his holding of a British passport enabled him to sign for Brighton at 16 despite FIFA\u2019s post-Brexit rules which restricts others from doing so until they are 18 \u2013 there was never any chance of him following Declan Rice in defecting from the Republic of Ireland. He only ever wanted to wear green, with Sutton asking if he feels there is pressure on him to perform for a country whose last major tournament was Euro 2016. \u2018There is, to a certain extent,\u2019 Ferguson says. \u2018You can see where the fans are coming from. When you see someone come to England and do well, they expect you to go back to Ireland and produce the same. There is a little. But I wouldn\u2019t say it affects me.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The Irish football scene has turned into a thriving hotspot of talent for Brighton. Their knack for discovering starlets is no secret. Neither is their acceptance that every player has his price. If and when they sell Ferguson, Sutton suspects he will rival the record \u00a3115m that Chelsea spent on Moises Caicedo in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Leroy McCourt \u2013 the brother of former Celtic winger Paddy McCourt who was also known as the \u2018Derry Pele\u2019 \u2013 is the club\u2019s dedicated scout surveying the Irish football scene and they have built a network of contacts over time that is the envy of their English rivals. Brighton insiders hope the next in line is Andy Moran, the 20-year-old midfielder currently on loan in the Championship with Blackburn.<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson was never loaned elsewhere, a Premier League goal as a substitute against Arsenal on December 31, 2022, convincing Brighton to keep him in the January 2023 window. More minutes followed in the top flight after that appearance, including his first start in which he scored and assisted at Everton three days later.<\/p>\n<p>It helps that Ferguson has a sensible head on his shoulders. Not many teenagers will admit they find cooking and cleaning therapeutic with the 19-year-old currently single and living alone. You are unlikely to see Ferguson mucking around with too many commercial duties, flogging this product or that. For now, his focus is firmly on playing football.<\/p>\n<p>There is not only one singular striker that Ferguson idolises. It is his goal to extract a trait from every goalscorer he grew up admiring, from Rooney to Karim Benzema and Dimitar Berbatov to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite his frame, Ferguson is not an old-fashioned centre forward. He is very much a modern-day front man, dropping deep as a false nine like a certain England striker he has also studied.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You look at one thing that, say, Harry Kane, does, like the way he has such a quick touch and finish,\u2019 he says. \u2018You look at their different characteristics and see what suits you. I supported (Manchester) United as a boy. You had the Rooneys, the Berbatovs and obviously Danny Welbeck. They\u2019ve always had a good thing going with the striker.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77656493-12735049-image-a-61_1699630938775.jpg\" height=\"457\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferguson claimed Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is a &#8216;perfectionist&#8217; with very high standards<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/15\/77656343-12735049-image-a-59_1699630818780.jpg\" height=\"443\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferguson also revealed that Danny Welbeck (right) is more of a mentor than a rival for him<\/p>\n<p>Welbeck is now his competition for a starting spot under De Zerbi, though the 32-year-old Englishman is more of a mentor than a rival. \u2018As soon as I came in, he took me under his wing,\u2019 says Ferguson as he looks to add to his tally tomorrow, having done his homework on Wes Foderingham to know which style of shots the Sheffield United goalkeeper is least likely to save. \u2018I\u2019m not a big target-setter. Every game you go into, you\u2019re going to have a chance to score. But once you\u2019re off the mark, you\u2019re always wondering how many more you can get.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson has not let the fact he is now a fully-fledged Premier League player change who he is. Nor will he. Pomposity is not his style.<\/p>\n<p>He finishes by telling Sutton that if football had not worked out, he wanted to become a postman. \u2018Start at six, finish at one, that\u2019s you done,\u2019 he adds, smiling at the simpler life he will never know.<\/p>\n<p>The postal service\u2019s loss has been the Premier League\u2019s gain and either way, he is delivering.<\/p>\n<p><span>Words by Kieran Gill\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12735049\/EVAN-FERGUSON-CHRIS-SUTTON-Irish-Man-United.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EVAN FERGUSON meets CHRIS SUTTON: This shy Irish kid is now football&#8217;s most explosive teenager but could have been a <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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