The Irish forward has been named alongside some of the world’s best youngsters in this year’s GOAL NXGN Awards.
Ferguson has been a revelation since breaking into the Brighton team. The 18-year-old has netted six goals in 14 appearances for the Seagulls, and marked his first senior start for the Republic of Ireland with a debut goal against Latvia.
He is joined on the list by Brighton teammate Facundo Buonanotte. The Argentine joined Albion from Rosario Central in January and has so far made four appearances for the Seagulls.
But who else has made this list of the game’s brightest stars of the future?
The 50 unranked nominees feature talents from across European football’s biggest clubs – including FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
This year, instead of selecting a sole award winner, GOAL chose an elite group that they believe are the very top of the class – known as the NXGN Nine.
Here is part two – looking at the next 25 nominees for the NXGN award.
You can view the first 25 nominees here.
25. Paul Wanner - Bayern Munich
Big things are expected from German under-17 international Paul Wanner. The striker became the youngest player in Bayern Munich's history at the age of 16 years and 15 days - and the second-youngest in Bundesliga history - following his substitute appearance against Borussia Mönchengladbach in January 2022. Wanner then became Bayern's youngest player in the UEFA Champions League in October at the age of 16 years and 293 days. He came on as a second half substitute in the 4-2 victory at Viktoria Plzeň. Despite playing for Germany's youth teams, Wanner was invited by Austria manager Ralf Rangnick to watch and meet the senior Austria national team in the hope that the 17-year-old will represent them at UEFA Euro 2024 Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
26. Warren Zaïre-Emery - Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery has done nothing but break records since making his official senior debut in August. The 17-year-old is the youngest debutant, starter - both domestically and in Europe - and goal scorer in PSG history. He became the youngest player to start a UEFA Champions League knockout game at the age of 16 years and 343 days in the 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Valentine's Day. Zaïre-Emery also scored two goals for the France under-17 side that lifted the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Photo: PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images