Others, including Luke Moore and his brother Stefan, did not. Some, such as Darius Vassell and Gabriel Agbonlahor, fulfilled much of their early promise and scored plenty of goals in the Premier League. VillaвЂ™s academy in the 2000s had a habit of turning up promising local strikers. Most recently, he spent the second half of last season with SSD Imperia 1923 in ItalyвЂ™s fourth division. Beset by injury problems, he became a quintessential journeyman: since making his senior debut, he has represented some 18 clubs.

Lupoli returned to England for loan spells with Norwich City and Sheffield United, but never settled anywhere. I was rewarded from an economic point of view, but sunk from the technical one. External pressures led me to choose Florence. вЂњAnd to think, (a deal) was done with Napoli: (their owner) Aurelio De Laurentiis was waiting for me to sign. вЂњFiorentina was the worst year of my career,вЂќ he later said. He had a verbal agreement to move to Naples, but they were pipped at the post by the Florence side. Fiorentina and Napoli were locked in intense competition for his signature. Lupoli made his debut against Manchester City (Photo: Matthew Ashton вЂ“ PA Images via Getty Images)Д«ig things were still expected of Lupoli. However, he did not score again, and made only a handful of appearances before choosing to leave London at the expiration of his contract in 2007. It appeared those goals would be the first of many in an Arsenal shirt. In 2004, Lupoli made his first-team debut in a League Cup tie against Manchester City, before scoring a brace against Everton in the following round. That convinced Arsenal to sign him to their academy, where he formed a devastating little-and-large partnership with Nicklas Bendtner. In 2002-03, the Italian teenager scored 45 goals in just 22 games for Parma Under-17s. We asked our writers to answer the question: What happened to your Premier League clubвЂ™s academy stars?ДЄt one stage, Arturo Lupoli appeared destined to become a goalscoring sensation. So, what is next for the ones who donвЂ™t make it? Where did your clubвЂ™s record-breaking under-18s goalscorer go? Why did your favourite new midfielder fail to kick on after his first-team debut? Only a small percentage of even the most talented youth prospects will make it into your sideвЂ™s first team. We are more aware than ever of the pitfalls of academy football but still heap expectations on teenagers who are playing against other teenagers. Most clubs provide easily digestible clips of the best moments from their youth sidesвЂ™ games, offering fans the chance to spot their next hero early.

In the age of Twitter, YouTube and the 24-hour news cycle, talented young footballers are hyped up faster and harder.

28 weeks later posters