Although the Premier League’s summer transfer window has closed, many big-name players still have their futures unresolved.
Other transfer windows remain open, including in Turkey, whose clubs can do business until September 13, so moves could still happen. But with four months until the start of the January window in the major European leagues, The Athletic has picked a starting XI of players who currently find themselves out of favour at their top-flight side.
Though not all have been ostracised completely from first-team action, their futures look uncertain.
GK: Odysseas Vlachodimos
Vlachodimos, who made just seven appearances in his sole season at Nottingham Forest before joining Newcastle United on July 1, was signed as a makeweight to assist both clubs in complying with profit and sustainability rules (PSR), with midfielder Elliot Anderson going the other way.
While Anderson, a highly-rated 21-year-old Newcastle academy graduate, has played in each of Forest’s opening three matches of the season, Vlachodimos is not expected to play an on-pitch role under Eddie Howe.
The 30-year-old Greece international was free to leave on loan, but Newcastle failed to find a suitable deal before Friday’s deadline. As it stands, he ranks behind Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka and is yet to make a Newcastle matchday squad — though Vlachodimos could become Howe’s No 2 should Dubravka, who is looking for first-team football, find a move in January.
With Raheem Sterling securing a deadline-day season-long loan to Arsenal, Chilwell holds the unwanted tag as the face of Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea ‘Bomb squad’.
It’s only a year since Chilwell looked set to play an important role under Mauricio Pochettino, with the newly-appointed Argentinian handing him the vice-captaincy in pre-season. Now, Chilwell is firmly out of favour at Stamford Bridge and appears set to struggle on the fringes.
Maresca prefers inverted full-backs, which does not fit with Chilwell’s overlapping game. Marc Cucurella is the Italian coach’s first choice at left-back, and he has also trialled Malo Gusto, a natural right-back, in that position in pre-season. Levi Colwill, who has started in central defence in each of Chelsea’s three opening matches of the league season, is another option at left-back, though his future appears to be set at the heart of the defence.
Chilwell, 27, is one of Chelsea’s highest earners, so it may be challenging to engineer a move away in January unless one of the elite sides in the Premier League or continental Europe are willing to take on his salary. Arsenal are paying less than 50 per cent of Sterling’s wages, so Chelsea may be willing to cut their losses for Chilwell to engineer a move away.
Tierney was expected to leave Arsenal this summer, having spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad in La Liga, but a hamstring injury suffered while playing for Scotland at the European Championship ruled him out of a move.
The 27-year-old played an important role at the Emirates Stadium after leaving Celtic in summer 2019 but was a casualty of Mikel Arteta’s desire to elevate the team into title contenders when he was appointed at the end of that calendar year.
While he may not be a good fit 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 himself another Premier League club in January — should he not suffer any setbacks on his return from injury.
Tierney assisted twice in 20 league appearances last season as Real Sociedad finished sixth in La Liga.
Tierney spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad (Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
Unlike team-mate Chilwell, Disasi is still around the first team under Maresca, but he is set to play a significantly reduced role this season.
Signed for £38.5million (€45m) last summer from Monaco of France’s Ligue 1, Disasi made an immediate impression, scoring on his debut in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool. His best performance of the season came against Manchester City in another 1-1 in February, where he made 16 clearances, the most by a Chelsea player in the league in eight seasons.
But after suffering an injury which sidelined him for the 6-0 defeat of Everton in April, Disasi struggled to get back into the side as Chelsea’s results improved. Disasi started just once in the final eight league matches, and that was the humiliating 6-0 defeat to London rivals Arsenal.
Despite him featuring regularly under previous manager Pochettino, Maresca does not favour the 26-year-old. Disasi did play in both legs of the Conference League qualifier against Swiss side Servette as Chelsea confirmed their place in the league phase with a 3-2 aggregate victory and made the matchday squad for the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday, but he is yet to register a minute in the league this season.
Kiwior proved a valuable and versatile squad player for Arsenal in 2023-24, filling in at left-back on 13 occasions in the league, including during a seven-match winning streak. On that run, Kiwior scored once and provided three assists.
However, due to Jurrien Timber’s return to fitness after missing the majority of last season with a cruciate ligament tear and the £42million signing of Riccardo Calafiori, Kiwior does not appear to have a role under Arteta. After missing out on the matchday squad in the opening-weekend 2-0 win over Wolves, Kiwior has been included in Arteta’s two most recent squads, but he is yet to get onto the pitch.
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 January’s 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 the Premier League level for a long time, so it is easy to forget he is still just 23.
He has a breakout season in 2022-23, but injuries and Brighton team-mate Joel Veltman’s consistency have meant Lamptey has struggled to re-establish himself as a starter.
A first appearance of the season came in last week’s Carabao Cup win over League One neighbours Crawley but he is yet to register his first minutes in the Premier League. There could now be a window for Lamptey to impress under new head coach Fabian Hurzeler, as Veltman went off with an injury in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal on the weekend.
Still, as it stands, he remains on the fringes of Brighton’s squad.
It has been a difficult few years for Guedes, who once looked set for a career at the top of the game.
Guedes has failed to establish himself in the starting XI at Wolves since moving from Spanish club Valencia in 2022-23 and has spent portions of the last two seasons on loan at Benfica in Portugal and back in La Liga with Villarreal. The 27-year-old was linked with a transfer all this summer, but after one failed to materialise, he finds himself on the fringes of Gary O’Neil’s starting XI.
He has 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 side Burnley 2-0. Due to his impressive performance midweek, O’Neil gave him an opportunity in the league on the weekend from the bench, replacing the goalscorer Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the 75th minute in a 1-1 draw away to Nottingham Forest.
Given Wolves’ long-term struggles in front of goal, O’Neil could be tempted to give Guedes another shot — even if he looked set to depart in this window.
After spending a season out on loan at Watford in the 2022-23 Championship, Choudhury broke back into the Leicester City side for their title-winning campaign in that division last season but now finds himself out of favour again at the King Power Stadium.
Choudhury was an unused substitute in Leicester’s opening two Premier League fixtures, then came off the bench to assist a goal in their 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Tranmere Rovers of League Two last Tuesday. However, Choudhury did not make the squad for the league game at home against Aston Villa on Saturday, where Leicester lost 2-1, and he appears firmly out of manager Steve Cooper’s plans.
While Eriksen continues to retain an important role for Denmark’s national team, he is now little more than a fringe player at Manchester United.
The now 32-year-old was an important part of the United side in his 2022-23 debut season, making 28 league appearances, but saw his role diminish in the following on as teenager Kobbie Mainoo emerged from the academy ranks to take his place in the team.
Despite fellow central midfielder Scott McTominay recently departing for Italy’s 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 to Mainoo under Erik ten Hag, but it appears his days as a starter at the club are over.
Almiron, who had a significant impact for Newcastle in the 2022-23 season as they qualified for the Champions League, was linked with a move away from St James’ Park for much of the summer’s transfer window.
Earlier in the window, a move back to MLS with Charlotte FC fell through. Almiron knows the North American league well after spending three years at Atlanta United from 2016 to 2019, helping them win the title in his final season.
As Friday’s deadline drew nearer, the now 30-year-old was involved in discussions for a swap deal involving Anthony Elanga, but Nottingham Forest declined Newcastle’s proposal. Almiron made his second league appearance of the season on Sunday, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, but he does not appear close to Eddie Howe’s starting XI despite a lack of natural right-sided wingers in the squad.
(Paul Ellis ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
West Ham United made Ings available for transfer back at the beginning of the window, but he did not secure a move.
The former England international played five minutes off the bench in the 2-1 opening-weekend loss 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 then left out of the matchday squad by new head coach Julen Lopetegui for both the 1-0 win against Bournemouth, his first pro club, in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday and on Saturday, as Manchester City beat them 3-1 in the league. Now aged 32, his future at the east London club remains uncertain.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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