The Premier League bears witness every year to the stars of the future making their debuts and also wily veterans at the other end of the spectrum.
Players young and old make their presence felt on English shores whether it be goalkeepers in their 40s such as Brad Friedel, Mark Schwarzer and Jens Lehmann or teenagers like Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri getting a runout at just 15 last season.
With this in mind, Football FanCast has ranked the Premier League clubs from the oldest squads to the youngest, as per Transfermarkt.
Data correct as of 20th October 2023.
20 Fulham – 28.5 years
Marco Silva’s Fulham take the crown for being the oldest squad in the Premier League for the 2023/24 season thus far.
28-year-old Aleksandar Mitrovic left for Al-Hilal, with Shane Duffy and Anthony Knockaert amongst the Cottagers over 30 to also recently depart the club.
Meanwhile, Raul Jimenez joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers at the age of 32 was the oldest arrival at Craven Cottage, showing that Fulham have always boasted an older squad as opposed to this being a new phenomenon.
Tim Ream and Willian are the oldest two members at 36 and 35 respectively.
19 West Ham United – 28.1 years
Remaining in London, West Ham United are another club who are known for having several experienced heads in their side, particularly in defence.
James Ward-Prowse was their oldest signing of the summer at 28, whereas Declan Rice and Gianluca Scamacca left the club, both of whom are 24.
Lukasz Fabianski is currently one of the oldest players in the league, with the Polish goalkeeper having turned 38 back in April.
18 Newcastle United – 26.7 years
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are next, with their average age of just under 27 one of the league's highest.
Selling 31-year-old Chris Wood and 32-year-old Karl Darlow, combined with the youthful new arrivals hasn’t done much to move the Magpies any further down this particular list.
No one at St. James’ Park is particularly old but it all adds up, with 10 players being 30-plus – four of them goalkeepers.
17 Crystal Palace – 26.7 years
Crystal Palace follow a similar trend with the defensive trio of James Tomkins, Joel Ward and Nathaniel Clyne having been about a bit.
With Roy Hodgson at the helm, the Eagles are led into battle by the oldest-ever manager in the Premier League and the average age of their squad is fairly high too at 26.7, the same as that of Newcastle. They do, however, have a slightly smaller squad than the Magpies.
16 Luton Town – 26.4 years
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany is the only man in charge in the Premier League younger than 40-year-old Hatters chief Rob Edwards.
Luton Town’s average age, meanwhile, is 26.4 – with their summer business being very mixed once again.
Ross Barkley and Thomas Kaminski have arrived, who are 29 and 30 respectively, whilst Tahith Chong and Ryan Giles are both only 23.
Goalkeepers do tend to be on the older side as that is represented by Tim Krul being the oldest in the squad at 35, plus James Shea is close behind at 32.
15 Nottingham Forest – 26.4 years
Ibrahim Sangare (25), Murillo (21), Nicolas Dominguez (25), Matt Turner (29) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (22) have arrived at the City Ground and gone straight into Steve Cooper’s starting XI, with the American goalkeeper being the only player over their average age of 26.4.
There has been so much turnover for Nottingham Forest in the last couple of years that it is a struggle to keep up to date.
One thing we do know is that Wayne Hennessey and Harry Arter are amongst the oldest players in the squad, bringing the average up, even though they rarely feature on the field.
14 Everton – 26.3 years
52-year-old Sean Dyche is near enough double the average age of his squad, with Everton coming next at 26.3 years.
Youssef Chermiti has joined from Sporting CP and is just 19, while the signing of Ashley Young on a free transfer from Aston Villa makes him an outlier at 38.
A similar picture is painted when it comes to the outgoings, as 36-year-old Asmir Begovic joined Queens Park Rangers whilst Tom Cannon (20) and Ellis Simms (22) were amongst the youngsters to depart, signing for Leicester City and Coventry City respectively.
13 Manchester United – 26.3 years
Finishing comfortably mid-table in these rankings are an indifferent Manchester United side.
The signings of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Jonny Evans haven’t done the Red Devils any favours when it comes to the average age of their squad.
It currently sits at 26.3 with the aforementioned trio pulling that way up alongside 37-year-old goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
12 Brighton & Hove Albion – 26.2 years
Brighton and Hove Albion’s average age is marginally lower than that of Manchester United's and that can only have been lowered by their summer signings.
Five of their eight arrivals were 21 or younger, including Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati. Meanwhile, James Milner is at the opposite end of the spectrum, bringing a wealth of experience to the midfield at 37.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Milner is therefore the oldest player at the Amex, although he is closely followed by former Liverpool teammate Adam Lallana at 35.
11 Aston Villa – 26 years
Placing in 11th of this particular table are Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, even though they parted ways with the aforementioned Ashley Young.
Young may have left, but so did Cameron Archer and Jaden Philogene, both 21, with their destinations being Sheffield United and Hull City respectively.
Their average age comes in at 26 on the dot.
