Unlucky 13: The PL players with over 4,000 minutes on clock
It’s time to find out which Premier League players have featured the most often this season. There are 13 Premier League players who have played over 4,000 minutes of football.
13) Nicolas Otamendi (4,017 minutes played for Manchester City and Argentina)
He’s only started 26 Premier League games but centre-halves rarely get taken off. Especially centre-halves who are first choice for Argentina. To be fair he looked excellent against a Crystal Palace side wearing flip-flops on Saturday.
12) David Silva (4,030 minutes played for Manchester City and Spain)
The man with the magic feet. He is 31, for God’s sake; give the poor man a break. We love him.
11) Riyad Mahrez (4,034 minutes played for Leicester and Algeria)
A group-stage exit for Algeria at the African Cup of Nations prevents Riyad Mahrez from scaling the heights of this list – although he ticks over 4,000 minutes. He will surely move this summer.
10) Antonio Valencia (4,043 minutes played for Manchester United and Ecuador)
And he fractured his arm. Remarkably, he has only actually started 27 Premier League games, but Manchester United have played a lot of games. Jose Mourinho may have mentioned it.
9) Gary Cahill (4,086 minutes played for Chelsea and England)
A lack of European competition cannot hold Gary Cahill back. The man just keeps on playing. He has become Mr Chelsea (and also, Mr England)
8) Dele Alli (4,111 minutes played for Tottenham and England)
It would have been more but for that pesky red card. The PFA Young Player of the Year has been second only to Eden Hazard in terms of brilliance when it comes to attacking midfielders in the Premier League this season.
7) Jan Vertonghen (4,157 minutes played for Tottenham and Belgium)
This is what happens when Belgium play eight – count ’em – internationals in less than a season. You’ve gone mad, Roberto.
6) Laurent Koscielny (4,239 minutes played for Arsenal and France)
Without him, the Arsenal defence falls apart. No wonder Arsene Wenger is reluctant to give him a rest.
5) Eric Dier (4,378 minutes played for Tottenham and England)
The Englishman with the most minutes this season. But Eric Dier cannot claim to have played the most often of any Tottenham player. Oh, the drama. Is this why Manchester United want to pay £40m for him?
4) Christian Eriksen (4,398 minutes played for Tottenham and Denmark)
Christian Eriksen might have played the equivalent of almost 50 games for club and country since August, but he’s still lazy and has a terrible hairline. And only one of those two statements is true. Oh and he has been one of the Premier League’s best attacking midfielders.
3) Alexis Sanchez (4,438 minutes played for Arsenal and Chile)
Obviously. We all knew he’d pop up somewhere in the upper echelons when ranking players with loadsa minutes. It takes a brave man to even substitute him, to be fair.
2) David De Gea (4,590 minutes played for Manchester United and Spain)
Despite Sergio Romero being Manchester United’s first-choice goalkeeper in cup competitions for large swathes of the season, Spanish Dave ranks second. Bloody good, he is.
1) Paul Pogba (4,620 minutes played for Manchester United and France)
Ridiculous. He played in every single game for France at Euro 2016 as they lost in the final after extra-time. That was on July 10. He made his Manchester United debut on August 19, and so barely enjoyed a pre-season. Have a nice rest this summer, Paul; we’re pretty sure you are going to be bloody brilliant next season.
Matt Stead
