15-year-old makes Premier League debut for Leicester – the second-youngest player in top flight history – and can’t have a sponsor on his shirt!

15-year-old Jeremy Monga became the second-youngest player in Premier League history on Monday night in Leicester’s defeat by Newcastle.

Monga is regarded as one of the highest-rated young players in the top flight, and was introduced to the game by Ruud van Nistelrooy with 15 minutes left to play and the score at 3-0.

In playing for the first team for the first time, he wrote his name into history at 15 years and 271 days, second only to Ethan Nwaneri, who played for Arsenal aged 15 years and 181 days in September 2022.

And, unlike the rest of his team, he didn’t have a sponsor on the front of his shirt. The Foxes are sponsored by BC Game, a company that profits from crypto casino games and casino slot games.

Therefore, because Monga is below the legal age of gambling – by more than two years – he did not advertise the business.

But the fans who hadn’t left the King Power Stadium early cheered as he was introduced in place of Bilal El Khannouss, and cries of ‘shoot’ came when he touched the ball.

15-year-old Jeremy Monga became the second-youngest Premier League player in history on Monday night

He was introduced as a 74th-minute substitute by Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy

Monga, pictured against France this month, has been at star within England’s Under-16 side

Monga does not turn 16 until July but he had already been on the bench for the first team for the FA Cup tie at Manchester United in February. He is regarded as one of the best prospects ever to emerge from the Leicester academy.

He had not been included in a Premier League squad prior to Monday night. 

When his education allows, Monga trains with Leicester’s first team, often on Thursdays. He was first asked to join the seniors by former Foxes boss Steve Cooper at the start of the season and Mail Sport understands he made an immediate impression.

Where many young players will play it safe and simply try to avoid mistakes during these sessions, Monga expressed himself. A right-footed left winger who can also operate in other attacking roles, Monga would seek to take on his full back and take risks – just as he would in Leicester’s junior ranks. He was confident around his elder colleagues and conducted himself as though he belonged.

Leicester’s academy has Category One status, ensuring it attracts high-level players and competition for spots once there is fierce. Those who watch academy football closely believe Leicester have plenty of players who will have professional careers.

Players cannot sign a professional contract before they turn 17, and Monga will not reach that age until July 2026. Offers can, however, be made some time before that. If an Under-16 player wishes to move elsewhere, he must inform his club and the league in writing by no later than the first Saturday in June.

For their part, Leicester want to avoid a repeat of Trey Nyoni’s move to Liverpool in September 2023.

Like Monga, Nyoni was one of the best talents in the Leicester academy but was persuaded to move to Anfield aged 16. Now 17, he has made 15 senior appearances for the Reds, with the compensation package due to Leicester still to be determined by a tribunal.

Monga was unable to wear a sponsor on his shirt due to Leicester being backed by a gambling website

Van Nistelrooy described the winger, who first impressed under Steve Cooper, as a ‘vital part of the future of this club’

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‘Jeremy is a great talent that for me is a vital part of the future of this club,’ Van Nistelrooy said in January. ‘We’re looking to start conversations to keep him at the club. It’s important for me that that can work out.

‘We’re planning that.

‘We’re looking at his development, where he is now. He’s 15, he’s still in school, only on Thursdays is he available for training with us. So in that perspective, we have to see what’s best for him, and the pathway to the first team and senior football.

‘We are presenting to him our thoughts and my thoughts on him. I think very highly of him and want him to be part of the long-term future of this club.

‘(His talent’s been noticed) by the whole world. That’s why we have him with the first team where possible. That’s why conversations with him and his family will start soon.

‘I will of course be talking with him and his family, presenting him a pathway that we think is best to get him into the first team.’