Premier League players not even on the bench…

Daniel Storey

Which players have failed to make the matchday squads for their Premier League clubs this season, despite being fit and (just about) able? They need moves, basically…

 

ARSENAL
Lucas Perez – Striker wants to leave, Arsenal want him to go. So why hasn’t he left yet?
Matt Macey – Third-choice keeper.
Mathieu Debuchy – Nice pulled out of a deal for the French full-back due to his high wages. Most interested clubs will be similarly put off. He’s staying.
Kieran Gibbs – Move to Watford still being talked up, but Gibbs has to agree personal terms.
Chuba Akpom – Leeds and Celtic mentioned for loans; neither have firmed up interest.
Calum Chambers – Gone very quiet since Arsenal rejected a £16million offer from Palace last month.

 

BOURNEMOUTH
Marc Wilson – Defender has been told he is free to leave, with West Brom and Hull both linked, but he’s still there.
Connor Mahoney – Young winger arrived from Blackburn this summer, but still no place.
Aaron Ramsdale – Young goalkeeper some way off the first team.

 

BRIGHTON
Ales Mateju – Czech U21 right-back arrived earlier this month from Viktoria Plzen. Probably will be loaned.
Henrik Bjordal – Striker, 20, is expected to be loaned out.
Soufyan Ahannach – Dutch winger, 21, signed late last week.
Richie Towell – Not given a squad number but still there. Just throw the Towell in.
Connor Goldson – Resuming his career after a heart operation in February. Likely to stay put.

 

BURNLEY
Adam Legzdins – Joined in August from Birmingham to rival Nick Pope. Hasn’t done that yet.
Tom Anderson – Academy graduate, 23, played 35 games on loan at Chesterfield last season. Surely available for a loan?
Fredrik Ulvestad – Midfielder, 25, spent last season on loan in League One with Charlton. Might as well go again.
Dan Agyei – The 20-year-old striker played 22 league minutes last season, but none so far in this campaign.

 

CHELSEA
Wallace Oliveira – Likely to head out on loan again, despite struggling for game time at Gremio.
Matej Delac – He stays. His testimonial might be his first Chelsea game.
Cristian Cuevas – Chile defender, 22, replaced Kenedy on the club’s pre-season tour of the Far East. That’s his action for the season done.
Eduardo – Third-choice goalkeeper that most Chelsea fans would struggle to pick out in a line-up.
Diego Costa – What do you think he is doing today?
Loic Remy – Available for transfer, with Newcastle the latest to be mentioned.

 

CRYSTAL PALACE
Kleton Perntreou – Albanian-Greek goalkeeper is set to leave on loan. Eventually.
Damien Delaney – He’s 36. Does he even want any football?
Hiram Boateng – Can’t quite work out why he hasn’t been loaned out yet.
Jordon Mutch – Will be sold before the end of Thursday. Will be Palace fans’ happiest moment of the season so far.

 

EVERTON
Joel Robles – Out of the picture after Jordan Pickford’s arrival. His work consists of warming up the other goalkeepers on matchday.
Oumar Niasse – Everton apparently want £8m. Surely just accept £5m?
Luke Garbutt – A career on the wane, despite high expectations.

 

HUDDERSFIELD
Ryan Schofield – Fourth choice keeper. Two behind Rob Green in a queue.
Dean Whitehead – The 35-year-old signed a new one-year deal in the summer. Played in the League Cup (badly), but nothing else.
Abdelhamid Sabiri – Only signed t’other day.
Florent Hadergjonaj – Same.

 

LEICESTER
George Thomas – New signing has played three PL2 games but not yet seen in a Premier League matchday squad.
Eldin Jakupovic – New arrival from Hull has been left off the bench in favour of Ben Hamer, which is weird.
Yohan Benalouane – Was branded “reckless” in pre-season by Craig Shakespeare. Might as well leave.
Ahmed Musa – An absolutely dreadful signing.
Nampalys Mendy – Loan to Atalanta has fallen through. It hasn’t gone well.

 

LIVERPOOL
Ben Woodburn – “We want to have him in and around our team,” said Jurgen Klopp during the summer, so a loan move looks unlikely.
Lazar Markovic – Still there. No longer worth £20m.
Cameron Brannagan – Expected to leave on a permanent deal after contract dispute, but still there.
Mamadou Sakho – West Brom now the most likely to sign him, if Jonny Evans leaves.
Ryan Kent – Linked with loan moves to Leeds and Hull. Neither has happened.
Allan – Loaned to Hertha Berlin last season. Likely to do something similar this year.
Jordan Williams – Has been on the bench for the Wales senior team despite last getting on the bench in the league in March 2015. Now 21.
Ovie Ejaria – Went to the Under-20 World Cup, but nowhere near the first team.
Danny Ings – Still working his way back to full match fitness, but no longer injured.

 

MANCHESTER CITY
Oleksandr Zinchenko – Ukraine international is set to join Napoli this week.
Wilfried Bony – Nowhere near the City reckoning, could return to Swansea for £13million.
Jason Denayer – Latest claim is that he will be part of an offer for Alexis Sanchez.
Tosin Adarabioyo – Centre-back signed a new deal and could feature this term with City short in that area.
Brahim Diaz – Impressed in pre-season, but August means a return to the U23 game.

 

MANCHESTER UNITED
Joel Pereira – Third-choice keeper. Must be patient.
Michael Carrick – Remember him?
Ashley Young – Giving him a new contract worth £120,000 a week was a swell idea.
James Wilson – Striker, 23, was left out of the first-team’s USA tour, preparing for the season with the Under-23s instead.
Andreas Pereira – Apparently off to Valencia. Shame.

 

NEWCASTLE
Tim Krul – Set to leave after spending all last season out on loan, but not left yet.
Jack Colback – Trained away from the first team after reportedly falling out with Benitez. The Championship is calling.
Grant Hanley – Newcastle are open to offers. They paid silly money last year.
Achraf Lazaar – Has been told he can leave.
Massadio Haidara – Happy to let the final year of his contract run down given he would have to take a pay-cut elsewhere. Sexy stuff.
Curtis Good – Utterly forgettable. Curtis bad.

 

SOUTHAMPTON
Jeremy Pied – Battling for his Saints future after missing almost the entirety of last season through injury.
Jordy Clasie – Moving closer to the St Mary’s exit. Worked out really badly following departure of Ronald Koeman.
Virgil van Dijk – Apparently wants out. We must have missed that.
Matt Targett – England Under-21 left-back signed a new long-term deal over the summer.
Josh Sims – Could be allowed to leave on loan to gain first-team experience.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – Another central midfielder who arrived with potential and now has little.
Florin Gardos – Doesn’t even know what potential is.
Jake Hesketh – Needs a Championship loan move like the deserts miss the rain. And I miss you…

 

STOKE
Julien Ngoy – Much is expected of the 19-year-old, who was even linked with Monaco this summer in the event that Kylian Mbappe leaves.
Thibaud Verlinden – Highly-rated 18-year-old winger is expected to push for a first-team place.
Philipp Wollscheid – Sent out on loan last season and looks no closer to the first-team picture under Mark Hughes.
Ollie Shenton – He sounds like a Hollyoaks character and is playing the same amount of Premier League football as one.
Stephen Ireland – Finally closing in on a return to fitness but not yet ready.
Jakob Haugaard – Third-choice goalkeeper.
Giannelli Imbula – Has been up for sale all summer but seemingly no one is interested, at least not at the price Stoke want for their record signing.

SWANSEA
Erwin Mulder – New keeper started the season as third choice. No sign of Scully either.
Mark Birighitti – Australian goalkeeper is expected to move on.
Kenji Gorre – The 22-year-old struggled to make an impression during a loan spell at Northampton last season.

 

TOTTENHAM
Georges-Kevin N’Koudou – The winger offered some encouragement in pre-season but could still be shipped out before the deadline.
Paulo Gazzaniga – Joined from Southampton to be third choice. And he is.

 

WATFORD
Adrian Mariappa – Started six Premier League matches towards the end of last season but remains very much on the periphery.
Brice Dja Djedje – Bought last summer but has yet to make his Premier League debut.
Daniel Bachmann – Third-choice keeper arrived from Stoke this summer.
Tom Hoban – Defender was loaned to Blackburn last season and appears no closer to making the breakthrough at Watford.
Jerome Sinclair – Marco Silva said last week that he had yet to make a decision whether Sinclair would go out on loan after seeing plenty of action in pre-season.
Mauro Zarate – Mauro Zarate plays for Watford?

 

WEST BROM
Callum McManaman – Set to leave Albion before the deadline after being overlooked by Tony Pulis.
Jonny Evans – Future up in the air with Manchester City and Leicester both sniffing around.

 

WEST HAM
Toni Martínez – Sounds like one of your Dad’s mates who wears too much cologne. Is a striker who hasn’t yet made the bench.