Photo of Evan Ferguson playing against Chelsea at 14 confirming his superstar destiny

Evan Ferguson joined some illustrious company when he became one of a few 18-year-olds to score a hat-trick in the Premier League. 

He can now be added to a list which includes Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Chris Bart-Williams who struck three goals in a game in the Premier League, aged 18. 

He was also keeping some good company on Saturday when he scored three for Brighton, as Erling Haaland and Son Heung-min both netted hat-tricks on the same day. 

The scoring feat from Ferguson prompted Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker to liken the young Meath man to the Norwegian star, Haaland on the Saturday night soccer programme. 

And as the above pic shows, Ferguson was marked out as a future star from a young age as he played for Bohemians in a pre-season friendly against the Chelsea senior team - three years ago aged just 14!

The performance on Saturday prompted his manager Roberto De Zerbi to predict he could become one of the top strikers in Europe. 

“His improvement is important for him, for us, for his career because he’s working to complete his qualities, not only score, because he can become big, big, big,” the Italian coach told PA.

“His qualities are enough to become a great player, one of the top scorers in Europe.

“He’s (born in) 2004. I don’t know how many young players like Evan they score these goals in their careers.”