Ten Premier League stars who won’t be sold this summer but should be
The rumour mill is turning and few are resistant to the transfer tittle-tattle.
Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes have both been linked with moves away from Manchester while the lure of Saudi Arabia remains for some of the Premier League’s very best. But this isn’t a list of transfers we expect to happen; the opposite in fact.
We’re pretty confident all 10 of these players won’t be sold this summer, but think they should be.
Mykhaylo Mudryk (Chelsea)
Enzo Maresca may well be the man to get the best out of Mudryk. What we all saw of him at Shakhtar Donetsk hasn’t chimed with what we’ve seen at Chelsea, and that has quite reasonably led many people to the conclusion that the coaches have been to blame. But there are other possible issues that aren’t so easy to fix.
Maybe he isn’t suited to the Premier League. Maybe he misses home. Maybe Shakhtar was the perfect club with the perfect system to suit his unique style. Maybe Chelsea is the antithesis of that dream scenario.
It’s hard to imagine – unless you’re a particularly optimistic fan – that a player so short of confidence and tactical awareness can be transformed to the extent where it wouldn’t be worth fielding offers before his value plummets further. It’s down to €35m from a high of €70m.
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Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)
Mikel Arteta has no shame when it comes to copying Pep Guardiola and in his latest bid to follow in his mentor’s footsteps he’s signing as many centre-back-cum-full-backs as possible.
Riccardo Califiori has followed Jurrien Timber, giving the Spanish boss a quintet of versatile defenders along with Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior – though the latter may be on the move – to accompany the best centre-back partnership in the Premier League last season.
William Saliba isn’t going anywhere unless a behemoth club steals him away, so amid a sense that something has to give in order not to be overstocked with defensive options, Gabriel is the obvious fall guy.
It would be a bold move given how brilliant he’s been for the last couple of seasons, but at 26 and with two years left on his contract, Arsenal would get a decent fee, and with Guardiola-like evolution in mind, Califiori alongside Saliba may be the next mutation.
Mason Mount (Manchester United)
The Red Devils have said they would not accept an offer from Paris Saint-Germain or anyone else for Bruno Fernandes unless it was ‘monumental’, and we would still have doubts as they would have to spend a significant portion of that transfer fee on a like-for-like replacement, because for all of his qualities and the fact that he plays in similar spaces on the pitch, Mount isn’t that guy.
He’s not going to create the most chances in the Premier League, as Fernandes has done for the last two seasons. He has neither the vision nor the quality to deliver passes to match Fernandes. He’s an in-your-face counter-presser with an eye for goal who looks like a real pain in the arse to play against.
And United would be better for having a player like him in the team, but – and we still can’t understand how Erik ten Hag didn’t see this when he got the club to spend £55m on him last summer – there isn’t space for him and Fernandes. It’s an easy choice between the two.
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Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
It’s all gone a bit quiet on the Saudi front and we don’t blame Arne Slot for wanting to keep Salah. Things could get very ugly very quickly for the Dutch boss if he can’t rely on the goals and assists the Egyptian’s sure to provide.
But if he doesn’t leave this summer, Salah will leave in a year for nothing, so the question for Slot and Liverpool is whether 20-30 goals is worth £100m. Their answers may be different, but it may even be in the manager’s best interests to rip off the plaster and use the money to sign a replacement as well as another top player to boost his resources.
John Stones (Manchester City)
He started just 12 of the 31 Premier League games he was fit for last term despite playing a pivotal role in the treble-winning campaign the season before and showing in the latter stages of Euro 2024 that he’s still got all the tools to be a top centre-back at the highest level.
We’re not about to question Guardiola’s use of defenders, but he does have quite a few and with Stones seemingly fourth at best in that pecking order it may be prudent to sound out potential buyers with a couple of years remaining on his current deal.
Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa)
He had to bide his time before getting himself into the team last season – venting his frustration while he watched – and his promotion was as much down to injuries, specifically to Boubacar Kamara, as it was due to an uptick in his impact from the bench or effort in training.
Douglas Luiz has gone but has been immediately replaced by Amadou Onana, and manager Unai Emery will be wondering whether there’s a place for Tielemans in his best team. A midfield trio of Kamara, Onana and McGinn looks most likely, while Jacob Ramsey and new signings Ross Barkley and Enzo Barrenechea provide further midfield options.
Villa could surely get a decent wedge from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere for a player in his prime they bought for nothing. Tempting.
Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham)
Lovely on the eye but injured a lot and perhaps not entirely reliable in big moments or big games. Very Spursy, you could say. We won’t, but you could.
He started 13 Premier League games last season and 17 the season before, but that game time is likely to be reduced further thanks to the arrival of Archie Gray, who joins Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr as central midfield options for Ange Postecoglou. Two years left on Bentancur’s contract, and a return to Serie A feels most likely.
Matheus Nunes (Manchester City)
He may well improve significantly in a second season at City as many do under Guardiola, but Nunes’ debut campaign looked suspiciously Kalvin Phillips-y.
Unlike Phillips, Nunes has the benefit of being able to play in multiple positions, not vying one-on-one with the greatest player in the world for a starting spot, but he still only started seven Premier League games, looking – excuse our French – weak as piss in pretty much all of them.
Unfortunately for City, unless a Saudi side comes in for him, they’re highly unlikely to find a club willing to spend anywhere close to the £55m they paid Wolves for him last summer, but then – as they’ve found out to their cost with Phillips – that value is only going to go in one direction when game time isn’t in the offing.
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Solly March (Brighton)
Was one of the best players in the Premier League as a whole at the start of last season before an injury in October kept him out for the rest of the campaign. This is less about March’s dwindling impact – he may very well be just as good under Fabian Hurzeler when the new season gets underway – and more about Brighton’s frankly ludicrous wealth of options on the right wing.
Amario Cozier-Duberry and Yankuba Minteh have arrived from Arsenal and Newcastle respectively, joining returning loanees Adrian Mazilu and Abdallah Sima in the squad with Simon Adingra. Even if we’re to assume two or even three of those players are to head out on loan, Adingra and Minteh will surely stay, meaning Hurzeler will have three players for one position if March isn’t given his… y’know.
Diogo Dalot (Manchester United)
A player who divides opinion between those who are Manchester United fans and those who aren’t. People without Red Devil leanings look at the right-backs at rival clubs – Ben White, Kyle Walker, Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold – and see Dalot as an obvious weakness. United fans (not all of them) place extortionate value, perhaps for the lack of it elsewhere, on his grit and desire to win.
Reports suggest United have decided to boot Aaron Wan-Bissaka out instead, but Dalot would likely fetch them more money and will presumably be playing second fiddle to Noussair Mazraoui or whichever other right-back they buy in any case.
