Football fans love to see homegrown talent coming through their academy. That familiar chant -- "He's one of our own" -- will invariably go up from the stands when a breakthrough player catches the eye, with supporters forever asking who the next youngster to get offered a chance in the first team is likely to be.

So The Athletic is launching a new weekly series looking to answer that very question. We will be attending games across the country to take a closer look at some of those prospects making a positive impression in under-21s football.

As many of these will be teenagers still in need of time to develop, both physically and technically, their progression can be hard to predict. Only around six per cent of elite academy players make it to the professional game, so we will not be making sweeping judgements over where their talents might take them.

But there will be reasons our picks are generating positive reviews within the sport, and we will seek to capture the flashes of quality that mark them out as having the potential for senior careers.

To kick off the series, we travelled to non-League Tamworth for a tie in the National League Cup -- a competition for sides from the fifth tier of the English game and invited under-21 teams from that age group's Premier League 2 -- to study a Northern Irishman at Everton who comes highly rated with both club and country.

Name: Braiden Graham

Club: Everton

Date of birth: November 7, 2007 (17)

Position: Forward

Born in nearby Ballygowan, Graham initially made his name at Belfast's Linfield in the Northern Ireland Premiership when, in March 2023, he became the youngest player to make a senior appearance for their first team at the age of 15 years, 137 days.

His first senior goal came nine months later, and Graham was tipped for a bright future by Linfield's manager David Healy, who is the Northern Ireland national team's record goalscorer. Healy's 13-year international career brought him 36 goals in 95 appearances for his country, so he knows a fair bit about the art of scoring.

Graham has played for Northern Ireland from under-16 level to under-19s, scoring in all four age groups, and was on the bench for the under-21s in a Euros qualifier against their Georgia counterparts earlier this month. He joined Everton as a scholar in July last year and signed his first professional contract just four months later, after impressing in the under-18s.

The forward was involved with Everton's senior squad during pre-season this summer and has now stepped up to under-21 level, scoring both goals to give Paul Tait's side a 2-1 away win against Solihull Moors in their opening National League Cup game last month.

As Tamworth proved against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup's third round last season, their Lamb Ground isn't an easy place to play, with its sloping, artificial surface being home to a direct and physical National League side.

Graham operated as a second striker alongside 6ft 1in (187cm) 20-year-old Coby Ebere, who carried the physicality in Everton's attack while the teenager floated in a role off the left, often dropping in to link play but occasionally looking to use his pace in behind the Tamworth defence.

He had Everton's best chance of the first half when he was able to break past the hosts' rearguard, but although renowned for his assured finishing, he could not beat goalkeeper Leon Phillips on that occasion.

The second of Everton's four group matches in the competition was a frantic and scrappy affair, in which Graham showed intelligent movement to find space between the opposition back line and midfield and displayed a desire to receive the ball on the turn and look to play forward. His movement was not dissimilar to that of Tottenham and England's James Maddison, another attacking midfielder with a slim build.

Graham was marked by Jordan Cullinane-Liburd, an experienced non-League defender 13 years his senior, but avoided any physical encounters and would often sniff out pockets of space to exploit. He also appeared to have a good temperament, never complaining to the referee or his team-mates and concentrating instead on his own game.

Not all his touches were successful, but he produced the one stand-out moment of quality in the second half to score Everton's equaliser. After taking the ball on the turn, boxed in by three Tamworth players, he showed quick feet to create space before curling a shot from just inside the penalty area into the far corner.

He would have had a much simpler finish not long afterwards as he stood unmarked in front of an empty goal, but substitute Justin Clarke chose not to tee him up and tried instead to beat the 'keeper himself -- unsuccessfully.

Ultimately, the experience and physical power of Tamworth's grown men proved crucial as they scored from a set piece to win the match 2-1, but the trip to the Midlands was a worthwhile exercise for Graham and his team-mates, away from the more technical opposition of their own age they encounter in Premier League 2.

Several scouts watched on from the main stand and Graham was the player on the pitch who stood out most notably.

The Prospects: Braiden Graham, Everton