Match magazine’s wonderkid list from 2002 goes viral with Wayne Rooney, Arsenal hero and two talkSPORT hosts included

Match Magazine's list of wonderkids from 22 years ago has gone viral, with some surprise names making the cut.

The popular football publication shared a list of their top 20 stars to watch in the years to come back in 2002, a task that is clearly hard to get right given the varying levels of success of those on the list.

At the top of the list was Wayne Rooney, a name that no one can contest as a star of his generation.

Playing for Everton at the time, Rooney went on to become Manchester United's top scoring player in a glittering career that saw him win just about every honour that club football has to offer.

Rooney's success is in stark contrast to the list's number two starlet, Thomas Butler, whose time at Sunderland ended on a sour note with injury and a legal dispute seeing him fall from prominence.

Kolo Toure, Grant Leadbitter, John O'Shea, Milan Baros, Kieran Richardson and Jeremie Aliadiere were all players who enjoyed relative success in their career, with all seven making the cut for the top 20.

Meanwhile, talkSPORT hosts Jermaine Pennant and Carlton Cole were also included.

Pennant was 15 when Arsenal paid Notts County £2m for him in 1999 and scored a hat-trick on his Premier League debut in 2003. He later played for Birmingham City, and for Liverpool where he started the 2007 Champions League final, as well as stints at Portsmouth and Stoke City before moving into punditry.

Cole started his career with Chelsea in 2001 before enjoying loan spells with Charlton and Aston Villa.

At Chelsea, his manager, Claudio Ranieri said of his fast forward: «I've never coached a young player like Carlton. He's fantastic even though he hasn't really started his career yet. He has a very long contract, and, in my opinion, a very big