As football continues to evolve, the demand for the best young centre backs capable of playing both defensively and contributing to their team’s attack has never been greater. This season, several promising talents are making waves across the EFL, showing maturity beyond their years and earning recognition for their composure, intelligence, and defensive prowess.
Whether it’s dominating aerial duels, making key interceptions, or stepping forward to play from the back, some of these rising stars are creating a new dynamic for the centre-back position, whilst others look to maintain the beauty of ‘Brexit-ball’. In this article, we take a closer look at the best young centre backs talents to watch in the 2024/25 season—players who are not just impressing their coaches and teammates, but also catching the eye of scouts, pundits, and fans alike.
Jay McGrath
Best Young Centre Backs: Jay McGrath’s performances this season have exceeded expectations for many. At 21 years old, the young Irishman has already accumulated 76 senior appearances over three separate clubs. Rising through the ranks in the Coventry academy, a brief spell in non-league football with Alfreton was followed by a 6-month loan spell in Ireland, before making it a permanent stay in the summer of 2023. It was here, at St. Patrick’s Athletic, that the then-20-year-old really made his first impact, winning silverware in the Irish FAI Cup, before catching strong attention back in England from a familiar club.
With the appointment of Grant McCann as manager for the 2023/24 season, Doncaster’s connection to the Irish Premier Division was reinforced. The signing of young left-footed defender Jay McGrath on a free transfer was a natural fit, especially after the club had lacked such a player for years. What made his arrival even more significant were his family ties to Doncaster. Jay’s father, John McGrath, played for the club between 2003 and 2005, helping secure the Third Division title in 2004. Born in Doncaster and raised in the area, Jay’s return to the club holds great meaning for fans. They now hope for a long-term stay, with expectations of similar success to his father or the potential to generate valuable income for the club.
Now in his second season at the club, following a quiet second half to 2023/24, the 21-year-old has had an impressive burst onto the scene in England’s Fourth Division, becoming an integral aspect of Doncaster’s impressive centre-half pairing alongside the tremendous Joe Olowu this season, accumulating 37 appearances so far this season, barring a few missed matchdays through injury. Pairing his great aerial presence with an impeccable defensive composure, the 21-year-old already showcases brilliant footballing intelligence beyond his years, particularly when travelling further up the field. With fantastic diagonal balls to play the Doncaster wingers in behind, his long-distance passing capabilities are second to none amongst his teammates.
Finding strength aerially, winning over 150 aerial duels, McGrath’s dominance in the box in set piece situations allows him to explore his own playmaking capabilities, nodding the ball down for teammates to stroke home. With 14 chances created thus far this season, the youngster establishes himself among the best playmakers in the division from the centre half position. Jay embodies the modern centre back position, sharing equal ability defensively as in transitions, as evidenced by his 51 touches in the oppositions’ box.
For the Doncaster faithful, the age-old question for his future is entirely up in the air. Signing a two-and half-year contract upon joining in January 2024, he will have just 12 months remaining on his deal this Summer, and as one of the most promising young members of the club’s first team, Rovers will be desperate for him to continue at the club, or at the very least maximise how much revenue that he could generate should another club come in with an offer. However, it’s always a challenge to keep one of the best young centre backs in the EFL.
Caleb Taylor
Best Young Centre Backs: Rising through the West Brom academy, before making a total 11 senior appearances for his parent club, Caleb Taylor’s range of loan spells have experienced a tangle of success rates. Spending his first full season in senior football for league one Cheltenham Town back in 2022, the then-19-year-old central defender excelled tremendously in his first real shot at professional football in the EFL. Missing just one league game for the robins over the course of the season, the young star seemed destined for a move higher up the pyramid, following some outstanding performances, and displaying such impressive numbers, solidifying himself as one of the very best defenders in the division that season, despite Cheltenham’s 16th place finish.
Despite this excellence, however, Taylor’s following season unfortunately lacked the same success and spectacle that had been achieved under Wade Elliott’s Cheltenham. Joining automatic promotion hopefuls Bolton Wanderers on a 6-month loan, the youngster was disappointingly restricted to just 7 appearances, and 288 minutes, struggling to feature for the eventual play-off Semi-Finalists.
Having signed a four-year contract with parent club West Bromwich Albion in July 2024, Caleb switched to League One’s other Wanderers – Wycombe – on a season-long loan on August 30th. Having impressed significantly over the first half of the season, Taylor was eventually recalled from his loan spell upon the arrival of the January window, with Wycombe sitting top of the third division. Making just one appearance for the championship side in January, netting a consolation goal in a 5-1 defeat to premier league outfit Bournemouth in the FA Cup, he eventually made a return to Wycombe Wanderers for the remainder of their automatic promotion-chasing campaign, late in the January transfer window.
Standing at a menacing 6”5, Taylor embodies the more traditional style of centre half. With more of a no-nonsense approach to his game, Taylor’s ability in possession of the ball is not necessarily his strongest gameplan. Instead, the 22-year old’s ruthlessness in defensive transitions excels beyond the ability of most of his league one counterparts. Winning a notable 71% of aerial duels, and an even more impressive 6.8 aerial duels per 90 minutes, the West Brom loanee, much like Jay McGrath offers great dominance in either box, on the offence and on the attack.
Signing a 4-year deal in July of last year, it is evident that West Brom see the 22-year-old as one of the best young centre backs in the EFL, hoping that his excellent performances at both Wycombe and formerly Cheltenham will eventually translate onto the Hawthorns pitch.
Max Cleworth
Best Young Centre Backs: Rising through the Wrexham academy ranks, Welsh youngster Max Cleworth has been a revelation in the Wrexham defence over the last 4 years, helping the club rise from the depths of non-league to the ever-closer prospect of championship football, as the club near a third-successive promotion.
Enduring a brief loan spell in the CYMRU Premier with Caernarfon in 2020/21, Cleworth played a vital role in the club’s 6th place finish, making 16 appearances between February and May in the club’s run-in to the season’s end. Having made such an imposing contribution during his short spell in the Welsh first division, Wrexham’s eventual call up for the 18-year-old, saw him make 29 first team appearances in the National League in 2021/22, as the club narrowly missed out on promotion, falling to a playoff semi-final defeat against Grimsby.
But this defeat was merely an obstacle for the youngster to advance over. Tallying an impressive 134 appearances for the red dragons in just 4 years, the 22-year-old has certainly made an important contribution to the club’s successes, starting in each of his 34 appearances in the English Third Tier this season. Cleworth embodies the true modern centre back in the English game. Able on the ball with both feet, Cleworth is utilised as a centre half, not solely for his defensive capabilities, but also for his outstanding ability to develop attacking transitions, and his ability to finish them. So much so that the 22-year-old currently tops the charts as the EFL’s highest scoring defender thus far this season, with 7 goals in League one, in addition to one extra in the Virtu Trophy.
Four headers, and three right-footed finishes, the centre back’s positioning in the box for set pieces, even throw-ins, has been essential to Wrexham’s attacking prowess this season. To prevent reliance on the attackers to stroke the ball home, Cleworth has evidently become a reliable source of goals at the top of the field this season, most recently netting in a 2-1 win against Mansfield Town. Without his 7 goals this season, Wrexham would have dropped a total of 6 points, which would see them drop out of the automatics to third place.
Turning 23 in August, the youngster is really only just getting started in his career, and with two promotions and a league title under his belt already, Cleworth is slowly creeping up on his third promotion, something that most professional footballers rarely achieve, especially at this age. Signing a long-term contract extension in July of last year, Cleworth’s future sits firmly in the hands of his boyhood club Wrexham, and now contracted until 2027, it is pretty clear that the centre half remains in the Wrexham spotlight for contention, should the Red Dragons find themselves in the championship next season.
Brodie Spencer
Best Young Centre Backs: At just 20 years old, Huddersfield Town’s Brodie Spencer has already earned himself an inspiring 14 senior caps for Northern Ireland. Joining the league one side on a permanent basis from Northern Irish side Cliftonville ahead of the 2020/21 season, the then 16-year old originally joined the club as a midfielder, before eventually finding himself in the right-back position for the under 17s, quickly progressing through the age groups in his debut season at the club. As a result of his excellent performances in the academy, Brodie went on to make an early impression at the club, excelling as both a right-back and as a central defender. Making his league debut at just 18 years old, Brodie made his national team debut three months prior, without any senior experience, in June 2022, providing an assist for Northern Ireland men’s first goal in a 3-2 win over Kosovo.
And soon after, senior football, and the youngster’s first real break came knocking. In search of regular gametime at a senior level, Scottish Premiership giants Motherwell entered the frame, taking Spencer on a 6-month loan deal in the 2023/24 winter transfer window, where the defender made a serious impression on the Huddersfield men’s game.
Brodie Spencer personifies the modern footballer, but in no ordinary way. Whilst other forementioned centre halves are able on the ball, and can contribute to goalscoring and transitions, and all that jazz, Brodie Spencer is more suited, generally, to the title of a utility player. So much so, that at every separate footballing institution that he has performed for, the 20-year-old has taken up an entirely different position. Whilst Spencer started off as a Midfielder for Cliftonville, his alteration to a right back in Huddersfield’s academy developed his defensive capabilities.
In contrast to this, however, Spencer’s utilisation at both Motherwell and Northern Ireland, saw him contributing to the two sides’ attacks, instead of defence, as a winger, on either the left or right side. This season alone for instance, has seen the ‘central defender’ play as a left midfielder on 5 occasions, a central defender on 14, a right midfielder on 8, as a right back on 2 occasions, and finally as a left back, on 4. Mind blowing.
Yet somehow, despite all of this chopping and changing, the defender has exceeded all expectations statistically as a defensive unit, when you consider the amount of gametime that has been spent further up the pitch. Unsurprisingly, Spencer’s attacking capabilities are of great quality, particularly in chance creation and dribbling capabilities (this is where his time as a winger comes in – with 36 touches in the opponents’ box, and 23 successful dribbles) but in defence, his unquestionable pace and grit to close down attackers is immense. Spencer sits in the top 99% of centre halves for tackles won, with 49, making a significant 98 recoveries, and 42 interceptions, which account for his mentioned pace. With 71 tackles according to OPTA, Spencer leads the line for Huddersfield Town defensively, with 28 tackles more than second-placed Kasamu, with 43.
At just 20 years old, the youngster looks set for the big leagues. Already starring for his home nation Northern Ireland on the international stage, Spencer’s key utility traits are not to be underestimated, and without a shadow of a doubt drive his value through the roof for any clubs that may wish to pursue him in the Summer. Able on either foot, on either side of the field, and on any height up the pitch, Spencer embodies the ideal premier league prospect, and we will surely see him among the nation’s elite in the coming years.
Tyler Bindon
Best Young Centre Backs: For Reading, such an extensive period of horror ownership and mismanagement now sees them in an ugly position, balancing up the likelihood of their club’s existence in a month’s time. And whilst there has been very little positivity surrounding the cub over the last few years, this season’s league one campaign has been as close to enjoyable as possible, as they find themselves in a with a shout of playoff football.
But within this despair, their star-studded first team offers a silver lining, all be it a small one. Featuring the likes of Harvey Knibbs, Charlie Savage, Lewis Wing and many others, the Reading team showcases some real ability across the field, but more importantly, in the defensive department. On loan for the duration of the season from premier league side Nottingham Forest, New Zealander Tyler Bindon has solidified himself as one of the stars, not only in Reading, but also league one as a whole.
It would be pretty fair to say that the 20 year old has had quite an eventful career thus far. Rising through the academy ranks of Los Angeles FC U17s in the United States, the centre half made the move to England’s third tier aged just 18 in 2023. Having performed at U19 level for the United States prior to the move, Bindon showcased early maturity, and made his debut in the same season that he signed for the Royals.
Displaying such composure and maturity on the ball has made him one of the best young centre backs in this short impression, Bindon made another 43 appearances for Reading over the remainder of the season, becoming a regular performer in the Reading defence. And, unfortunately for Reading, the teenager’s performances caught the attention of some English giants, with Champions League chasers Nottingham Forest winning the youngster’s signature in the January window of 2025, for an estimated £1.2 million. Signing a long-term deal until June 2028, Bindon was allowed to remain at the Royals on loan for the remainder of this season.
Changing his represented nation from the USA to New Zealand, Bindon, aged 20, has already accumulated a staggering 15 senior appearances for his national team, alongside netting three times. Bindon made his debut two years ago as a late substitute against the Democratic Republic of Congo in October 2023, before starting against Greece in the following weeks of November. In a personal background, his mother and father both went on to represent New Zealand in their respective sports. His mother, Jenny, made 77 appearances in goal for the nation between 2004 and 2014, whilst his father, Grant, was captain of the nation’s volleyball team.
Statistically, Bindon has been one of, if not the best and most rounded central defender in the EFL this season. Showcasing strengths in every department of football, Bindon has developed into a real Rolls Royce defender, and his move to Nottingham Forest has come at the perfect time. On the ball, Bindon displays brilliance, with an outstanding 87% passing accuracy, the centre half surpasses many of the division’s midfield numbers, and with 120 accurate long balls, the defender offers an added creative outlet from the back for his teammates to build out quickly from on their counter-attacking transitions. Defensively, Bindon is just as excellent.
Within the top 95% of defenders for recoveries, the 6”3 central defender has mastered every aspect of his defensive role, aerially, in duelling scenarios, alongside his brilliant sense of anticipation. Making over 40 interceptions, Bindon’s defensive awareness has become one of the strongest aspects of his game, and is something that most footballers can not easily develop. This makes the youngster an asset for the Royals, and despite his movement onto pastures a new come the end of the season, Reading can certainly be proud of the part that they have played in this young star’s development and found one of the best young centre backs in the EFL.
