Premier League players who didn’t get a move: the uncertain XI

Although the Premier League summer transfer window has closed, the futures of many major players are still unresolved.

Other transfer windows remain open, including in Turkey, where clubs can do business until September 13, so transfers can still take place. But with four months until the start of the January window in the major European leagues, The Athletics has selected a starting XI with players who are currently out of favor with their top team.

While not all have been completely ruled out of first-team action, their futures look uncertain.

GK: Odysseas Vlachodimos

Vlachodimos, who made just seven appearances in his only season at Nottingham Forest before joining Newcastle United on July 1, was signed as a makeweight to help both clubs meet the Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR), while midfielder Elliot Anderson went the other way. .

While Anderson, a highly rated 21-year-old Newcastle Academy graduate, has played in each of Forest’s first three games of the season, Vlachodimos is not expected to feature on the pitch under Eddie Howe.

The 30-year-old Greece international was able to leave on loan, but Newcastle failed to find a suitable deal before Friday’s deadline. As it stands, he is behind Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka and is yet to feature in Newcastle’s matchday squad, although Vlachodimos could become Howe’s number two when Dubravka, who is looking for first-team football, comes in January would find a transfer.

With Raheem Sterling having secured a season-long loan deal at Arsenal, Chilwell has the unwanted title as the face of Enzo Maresca’s ‘Bomb squad’ at Chelsea.

It was only a year ago that Chilwell looked set to play an important role under Mauricio Pochettino, with the newly appointed Argentine handing him the vice-captaincy in pre-season. Now Chilwell is definitely out of favor at Stamford Bridge and things seem to be getting tough on the fringes.

GO DEEPER

Maresca: ‘Better’ if Chilwell leaves Chelsea this summer

Maresca prefers inverted full-backs, which doesn’t suit Chilwell’s overlapping play. Marc Cucurella is the Italian coach’s first choice at left-back, and he has also tried out Malo Gusto, a natural right-back, in that position in pre-season. Levi Colwill, who has started in each of Chelsea’s three opening games of the season in central defence, is another option at left-back, although his future appears to lie in the heart of defence.

Chilwell, 27, is one of Chelsea’s highest earners so securing a move in January could be a challenge unless one of the elite sides in the Premier League or continental Europe are willing to absorb his wages. Arsenal are paying less than 50 percent of Sterling’s wages, so Chelsea could be willing to cut their losses to allow Chilwell to engineer an exit.

Tierney was expected to leave Arsenal this summer after spending last season on loan at Real Sociedad in La Liga, but a hamstring injury suffered while playing for Scotland in the European Championship ruled him out of a move.

GO DEEPER

‘There’s no hard feelings from me – Mikel Arteta was 100% right’ – interview with Kieran Tierney

The 27-year-old played a key role at the Emirates Stadium after leaving Celtic in the summer of 2019, but fell prey to Mikel Arteta’s desire to elevate the team to title contenders when he was appointed at the end of that calendar year.

While he may not fit in well under the Spaniard and may never play for Arsenal again with so much competition in his position, Tierney has the quality and experience to find another Premier League club in January – should he not suffer any setbacks in his mail. return from injury.

Tierney assisted twice in 20 league matches last season as Real Sociedad finished sixth in La Liga.

Tierney was loaned to Real Sociedad last season (Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

Unlike teammate Chilwell, Disasi is still in the first team under Maresca, but he will play a significantly smaller role this season.

Disasi was signed from French Ligue 1 side Monaco for £38.5 million (€45 million) last summer and made an immediate impact, scoring on his debut in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool. His best performance of the season came again in February with a 1-1 win against Manchester City, where he scored sixteen goals, the most by a Chelsea player in the competition in eight seasons.

But after suffering an injury that sidelined him for the 6-0 defeat to Everton in April, Disasi struggled to get back into the side as Chelsea’s results improved. Disasi has started just once in the last eight league matches, and that was the humiliating 6-0 defeat to London rivals Arsenal.

Despite featuring regularly under former manager Pochettino, Maresca has no preference for the 26-year-old. Disasi did feature in both games of the Conference League qualifier against Swiss side Servette, as Chelsea confirmed their place in the league stage with a 3-2 aggregate victory and was included in the matchday squad for the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday , but he has yet to register a minute in the league this season.

Kiwior proved a valuable and versatile player for Arsenal in the 2023/24 season, making 13 appearances at left-back in the league, including during a seven-match winning streak. At that point, Kiwior scored once and provided three assists.

However, due to the return of Jurrien Timber after missing most of last season due to a cruciate ligament tear and the signing of Riccardo Calafiori for £42 million, Kiwior do not appear to be a factor under Arteta. After missing out on the matchday squad in the 2-0 win over Wolves on the opening weekend, Kiwior has been included in Arteta’s two most recent squads but is yet to take the field.

The 24-year-old is a Poland international and undoubtedly has the quality to start in the Premier League. If his situation does not change before the January transfer window, he could push to move elsewhere for the second half of the season.

(Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)

Lamptey has been around at Premier League level for a long time, so it’s easy to forget that he’s only 23.

He is having a breakthrough season in 2022/2023, but injuries and the consistency of Brighton teammate Joel Veltman have seen Lamptey struggle to re-establish himself as a starter.

A first appearance of the season was last week’s Carabao Cup victory over League One neighbors Crawley, but he is yet to register his first minutes in the Premier League. There could now be a chance for Lamptey to impress under new head coach Fabian Hurzeler, as Veltman left with an injury in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal this weekend.

Yet, as it stands, he remains on the fringes of Brighton’s squad.

It’s been a tough few years for Guedes, who once looked set for a career at the top of football.

Guedes has failed to establish himself in the starting line-up at Wolves since joining from Spanish club Valencia in 2022-23 and has spent parts of the past two seasons on loan at Benfica in Portugal and back in La Liga with Villarreal. The 27-year-old was linked with a move all summer, but after one fell through he finds himself on the fringes of Gary O’Neil’s starting XI.

He is yet to start in the league this season but he impressed in the Carabao Cup last week, scoring twice as Wolves beat recently relegated Championship team Burnley 2-0. Due to his impressive performance in midweek, O’Neil handed him a chance in the league from the bench this weekend, replacing goalscorer Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the 75th minute in a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest.

Given Wolves’ long-term struggles in front of goal, O’Neil could be tempted to give Guedes another chance, even if it looked like he might leave in this window.

After a season on loan at Watford in the 2022/23 Championship, Choudhury broke back to Leicester City for their title-winning campaign in that division last season, but has now fallen out of favor again at the King Power Stadium.

Choudhury was an unused substitute in Leicester’s first two Premier League games, but then came off the bench to assist a goal in their 4-0 Carabao Cup win over League Two’s Tranmere Rovers last Tuesday. However, Choudhury did not make the squad for Saturday’s league match at home to Aston Villa, where Leicester lost 2-1, and appears to be firmly out of manager Steve Cooper’s plans.

Although Eriksen continues to play an important role for the Danish national team, he is now little more than a fringe player at Manchester United.

The now 32-year-old was a key part of the United squad in his debut 2022-2023 season, making 28 league appearances, but saw his role diminish in the following spell as teenager Kobbie Mainoo emerged from the academy ranks to take his place to take. in the team.

GO DEEPER

Christian Eriksen is the odd one out in United’s midfield

Despite fellow central midfielder Scott McTominay recently leaving for Italian side Napoli, Eriksen was an unused substitute in United’s first two league matches of the season and was only brought on with five minutes remaining in the 3-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool on Sunday.

Eriksen could still be a backup for Mainoo under Erik ten Hag, but it appears his days as a starter at the club are over.

Almiron, who made a significant impact for Newcastle in the 2022/2023 season as they qualified for the Champions League, was linked with a move away from St James’ Park for much of the summer transfer window.

Earlier in the period, a return to the MLS with Charlotte FC fell through. Almiron knows the North American league well after spending three years with Atlanta United from 2016 to 2019, helping them win the title in his final season.

GO DEEPER

The proposed transfer from Almiron to Charlotte FC collapses

As Friday’s deadline approached, the now 30-year-old was involved in discussions over a swap deal involving Anthony Elanga, but Nottingham Forest turned down Newcastle’s proposal. Almiron made his second league appearance of the season on Sunday, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, but he will not feature in Eddie Howe’s starting XI despite a lack of natural right winger in the game . the team.

(Paul Ellis ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

West Ham United made Ings available for transfer at the start of the window, but he was unable to secure a transfer.

The former England international played five minutes off the bench in the 2-1 opening weekend defeat to Aston Villa, one of his former clubs, but was an unused substitute in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace the following Saturday.

Ings was subsequently left out of the squad by new head coach Julen Lopetegui for both the 1-0 win against Bournemouth, his first professional club, in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday and on Saturday, when Manchester City beat them 3-1 in the match. competition. Now 32, his future at the east London club remains uncertain.

(Top Photos: Getty Images)