Thomas Partey and Man Utd duo among five returning players everyone’s forgotten were rubbish

In the season of the injury crises there are a raft of crocked Premier League players set to return in the new year who could be classed in the ‘like a new signing’ category in January. Title challengers are shuddering at the prospect of Kevin De Bruyne’s return. Remember James Maddison? He was good.

But there are also players who weren’t good but have improved dramatically while being injured. Revisionism has taken hold of certain fanbases, who can’t wait for the return of players who they appear to have forgotten were terrible before they got injured.

Here are five returnees that fans perhaps shouldn’t be hanging their hats on…

Thomas Partey
“When he’s fit, there’s no better midfielder in that side, especially in the holding role than Thomas Partey because the way Thomas Partey plays – Thomas Partey knows how to play that position better than anybody.”

Apart from apparently entirely forgetting about Declan Rice, Kevin Campbell appears to be making the same mistake as many Arsenal fans – confusing the Partey from the start of the 2022/23 season with the one that was named as the biggest bottlejob in our unimpeachable ranking of Gunners players to have crumbled under the pressure of a title challenge.

The last time Partey started a game in defensive midfield he was torn a new one by De Bruyne in the 4-1 defeat to City, before which Gary Neville described him as a “shadow” of the player he was after a string of performances which ultimately convinced Arsenal to spend £105m on a replacement.

They now want an Everton star to be spared the pain of watching Partey lumbering around midfield.

Lisandro Martinez
The vertically-challenged centre-back laughed in the face of the heightist pundits in his first season at Old Trafford, proving size doesn’t matter, before demonstrating that defending very much does in his second.

According to the WhoScored ratings he was the worst outfield player on the pitch in three of the six games he played before getting injured this season, achieving an average score in the Premier League of 6.17, which squeezes him into the top 300 players to have featured in the top flight, out of a total of 309.

Peter Schmeichel slammed him for his display against Brighton, another Manchester United legend said “respect for him” has gone, and Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand didn’t have a scooby what he was doing against Bayern Munich.

Casemiro
‘The Casemiro deal from Real Madrid is one Sir Jim Ratcliffe questioned during his tour of Carrington in March’, The Athletic reported last month, as the Ineos owner quite reasonably suggested signing 24-year-old Declan Rice for double the money of 30-year-old Casemiro may actually have been better for United’s long-term FFP prospects, given the potential for amortisation over a significantly longer contract, and a difference of around £100,000 per week in wages.

In simpler, less clinical terms, Rice is also now better at football than Casemiro, who was brilliant in his debut season but looked at the start of this campaign like a man very much ready to be put out to the Saudi pasture.

In what was quite possibly a career nadir, the five-time Champions League winner was hooked at half-time in the defeat to Brentford by Erik ten Hag, who claimed afterwards that the decision was made in a bid to “play more football”. Ouch.

And yet, because United have been so bad in his absence, with Sofyan Amrabat in particular failing to pull up midfield trees, Casemiro’s return would be a boost. Just not quite the boost a £60m midfielder signed 18 months ago should provide.

Ben Chilwell
Chelsea fan yearning for the return of Chilwell and Reece James bombing down their respective flanks has been replaced by a crushing feeling that they may never actually see those glory days again. They’re both perennially injured, when they have played this season they’ve looked a long way short of their best, and in Chilwell’s case, there remains a question mark as to whether he has the defensive quality to operate in a back four, which certainly seems to be Mauricio Pochettino’s preference.

Levi Colwill was preferred at left-back even before Chilwell suffered his hamstring injury, and Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were always reticent to play the England international on the left of a back four. Chelsea average 1.90 points per game when Chilwell starts as a left wing-back, but just 1.33 PPG with him at left-back.

And Antonio Rudiger spent a significant chunk of that time alongside Chilwell, rather than one of this rabble of expensively assembled also-rans that now compete for a place in the Chelsea defence. Chilwell at left-back in a back four with any combination of the current centre-halves is a recipe for disaster.

Erling Haaland
‘Has anyone seen Erling Haaland?’ asked Goal in their player ratings after the 19-goal striker drew a blank against Aston Villa, extending his goalless streak in the Premier League to two (the joint-longest of his Manchester City career).

But City won just a single point from those two games, prompting the age-old question: Might they be better off without him?

They’ve won six of seven games in his absence, drawing the other, and have another trophy for their troubles. 2.18 PPG with Haaland this season; 2.38 PPG without him. You do the math(s)!