ISL 2025-26: Top five youngsters to watch out for in upcoming season

ISL 2025-26 will kick off on February 14.

With the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign finally set to start, a lot of the fans’ attention will be upon how some of the promising young players in different players can perform. A major objective of the campaign remains to give a bigger spotlight to the promising young players, to ensure they get ample playing time and gain more experience at the top level.

Even though the 2025-26 ISL campaign will be relatively shorter than previous campaigns, it should still be a big of a platform for some of the younger players to make an impact and showcase their potential.

The new ISL season can be particularly interesting in terms of seeing how some of the attacking young players can sustain themselves at the top level and whether they can make a positive influence for their team. With that being said, here we look at the five major young talents to watch out for in the 2025-26 ISL campaign.

5. Muhammed Suhail F

After having earned quite a bit of experience of playing in the ISL in his breakthrough campaign (2024-25), Muhammed Suhail F should be able to fire on all cylinders in the 2025-26 campaign. As long he’s able to keep away from injuries, the 19-year-old forward should be able to be an unpredictable threat in the Punjab FC frontline.

Suhail provided two assists for Punjab FC in the Super Cup, looking sharp with his movement and execution in the danger zones. He grabbed one assist in 13 ISL games last season, but almost created a chance per game for the Shers. Suhail will now look to amplify his threat by being braver in the final third, as he now knows how to combine nicely with the senior Punjab FC players.

The teenager will look to use his clever movement to trick defenders, burst his way into the open areas and be smart with his final product to create chances. He’ll also need to be more efficient with his decision-making and finishing to outwit experienced defenders in what might be an important campaign for Suhail to prove his ability to be an important player for club and country going forward.

4. Macarton Nickson

The year of 2025 was actually a prolific one for Macarton Nickson, who earned his debut for the India football team and produced some decent performances under Khalid Jamil. The 21-year-old has benefitted from the management of Juan Pedro Benali, who has now established the Indian midfielder as a key player in his set-up.

Nickson might’ve already had his breakthrough campaign in the ISL, but he’s still pretty young at the age of 21 and will look to improve key aspects about his overall contribution for the Highlanders. Nickson will aim to be a vibrant figure for Benali’s team in the 2025-26 ISL campaign, looking to get more involved in the attacking moves to improve upon the three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) that he earned in the previous campaign.

Nickson will also look to use his hard-working nature to be a troublesome figure for opposition midfielders, using his energetic presence to win key duels, make possession recoveries, and march his side forward on the transitions. Nickson realizes he needs to do more to stamp a key role for India and that is why the 2025-26 ISL can be key for him to establish himself as one of the best midfielders in Indian football.

3. Korou Singh

Korou Singh is arguably one of the most exciting young players in Indian football, and he’s likely to be a major player for Kerala Blasters in the 2025-26 ISL campaign. The teenager had a really impressive 2024-25 ISL campaign for the Tuskers, managing six goal contributions (two goals, four assists) in 17 appearances and being a menace for the opposition defenders. Now that he has experience on his side, Korou will look to be an even bigger troublesome figure for opposition players.

He will look to use his unpredictable playing style, bursts of pace and trickery to liven up the wide areas for Kerala Blasters and be a major driving force for them. Korou will, of course, need to be efficient with his final product in being able to consistently find teammates with clever final third passes and also look to be more accurate with his finishing.

With the young winger eyeing a potential place into the Indian national team, he’ll look to be a menacing threat in the 2025-26 ISL to help Kerala Blasters compete for the top places.

2. Suhail Bhat

In a point when the Indian football team really seems to be struggling for quality centre-forward options, it’s more important to amplify the growth of players like Suhail Bhat. The Mohun Bagan striker had his breakthrough campaign with the defending champions last season, but the majority of his appearances were as a substitute.

Of course, it’s not going to be easy at all for him because of the presence of experienced forward options like Jamie Maclaren, Jason Cummings, and Dimitri Petratos. However, a lot of attention will probably be paid to the performances of Bhat, who needs to get the most out of whatever playing time he’s granted by Sergio Lobera. The 20-year-old forward has the ideal skillset to be a threatening box forward because of his positional awareness and ability to sniff out chances inside the box.

He will just need to be smarter in outwitting defenders by being proactive with his off-the-ball movement and track the flow of the link-up play to get at the end of more chances and finish them off clinically. Knowing that the centre-forward place in Khalid Jamil’s team is up for grabs, Bhat will be motivated to make a major impact for the Mariners and get involved in more goals in the 2025-26 ISL.

1. Pramveer Singh

Pramveery Singh is another player who is vying for a more important role with the Indian football team, and the 2025-26 ISL could also be the campaign where he establishes himself as a regular for Punjab FC. The teenage defender made 10 appearances for them in the 2024-25 ISL campaign, producing some eye-catching performances with his proactive nature.

However, the 18-year-old will need to further amplify his impact by being a more vibrant, commanding figure in the backline. Pramveer has to work together with his fellow defenders to keep a much sturdier defensive shape and improve his decision-making to make crucial challenges to frustrate opposition players.

If the youngster can help rack up the number of clean sheets for Punjab FC, then he’ll automatically start gaining more attention from Khalid Jamil. Singh will look to use his high IQ levels and game-reading qualities to neutralize forwards’ threat and prove himself as one of the most promising young players in Indian football.

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