The start of the Premier League season is less than two weeks away, but there are still a lot of big-name players who are presumably eyeing a move away from their club before the August 30 deadline.
In some cases, they have fallen out of favour under the current manager, while others want to step up to a bigger club who will fight for titles or play in the Champions League.
The Athletic has picked 10 of the most interesting and high-profile names in the Premier League who may benefit from leaving their current club this summer.
It has been a tough 12 months for Ben Chilwell. This time last year, he was awarded the vice-captaincy under new manager Mauricio Pochettino and impressed in pre-season. With Reece James and Malo Gusto flying on the right side, Chilwell was thriving on the left, higher up the pitch, attacking space towards the far post.
He started the season strongly, getting an assist in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the opening game, but that proved the peak. By the fifth game of the season, he had lost his place in the starting line-up in the league, while 10 days later he suffered a hamstring injury during a 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Brighton.
The injury caused him to miss 13 league matches, and he failed to win his place back permanently due to further injuries, illnesses and the emergence of Marc Cucurella, who ended the season strongly.
Chilwell may have limited minutes at Chelsea this season (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
With Enzo Maresca now at the helm, his situation does not appear any more promising. Maresca prefers inverted full-backs, which suits Cucurella’s qualities far better than Chilwell’s. Maresca has even trialled Gusto as a right-footed inverted left-back in pre-season ahead of Chilwell, who, despite having an excellent work rate and attacking output at his position, does not appear an ideal fit for his new boss.
As the squad’s second-oldest outfield player, Chilwell, 27, offers more than just his qualities on the pitch, which Maresca will surely value. He is, however, one of the club’s highest earners, which could prove prohibitive for a possible move and will be an unwanted financial burden for Chelsea if he does not see regular game time.
Kalvin Phillips had a season to forget last year, barely featuring in the first half at Manchester City and then playing himself out of contention for the Euros with a difficult second half at West Ham.
It’s easy to forget how good Phillips was just a few seasons ago and, at 28, there is still more to come from the midfielder in the right situation. Former England boss Gareth Southgate created headlines after their 1-1 draw with Denmark in their second group game, suggesting the national team had failed to find a “natural replacement” for Phillips and were experimenting with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Gallagher alongside Declan Rice to remedy the issue.
Phillips started against Barcelona pre-season (Rich Storry/Getty Images)
At his best, Phillips combines physicality and running power with the ability to control matches from deep by breaking the opposition down with short and long passes. Fans at Elland Road saw that in a Leeds United shirt, and England followers saw it with the national team, particularly at Euro 2020, where he excelled.
However, since moving to Manchester City in 2022, his career has stalled. Phillips has made just 24 league appearances in two seasons, of which just five were starts. He was part of the City squad that won the treble in 2022-23, but it is a fair assessment that his £42million ($53m) transfer has not worked for either him or the Premier League champions. To revive any hope of making it into the England squad for the 2026 World Cup, Phillips needs to find a move this summer to reinvigorate his career.
When Tottenham Hotspur struggled with injuries during last season’s winter period, Giovani Lo Celso stepped up to remind everyone how good he can be.
After barely featuring in the season’s opening months due to injury and James Maddison’s form, Lo Celso impressed in back-to-back games against Aston Villa and Manchester City in late November and early December, scoring in both matches. He featured consistently until the turn of the year, adding two assists in a 3-1 win against Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve before suffering a muscle injury. He then failed to start a league match in 2024, though was regularly brought on from the bench.
Lo Celso won the Copa America — but may not start for Spurs (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
Despite infrequent minutes in a Spurs shirt in recent seasons, Lo Celso has remained a consistent selection for Argentina. He was part of the triumphant Copa America squads this summer and in 2021. While on loan at Villarreal, he would have been selected for the World Cup-winning squad, too, but a hamstring injury ruled him out. As he proves in fits and starts for Spurs, he has quality, and at 28, has a lot to offer a club.
Perhaps there’s justification for one more year in north London, but with Maddison owning the No 10 position and the competition for minutes deeper in midfield having risen with the arrivals of Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, Lo Celso would likely be better served by taking his talents elsewhere.
Manchester United fans might be forgiven for forgetting Facundo Pellistri exists, let alone that he is still on the books at Old Trafford.
Since signing for the club in 2020, Pellistri has only made 13 league appearances and has spent three periods on loan in La Liga, at Alaves and Granada, respectively. He did feature nine times for United in the league in the first half of last season, starting once in a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace, but Pellistri has largely been a peripheral figure since his arrival for Penarol in his native Uruguay.
Marcelo Bielsa with Pellistri at Copa America (Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
Pellistri is regarded as a promising talent. At just 22, he has already made 26 appearances for Uruguay and was central to head coach Marcelo Bielsa’s plans at the Copa America, where his team finished third. Pellistri started every game at the competition, and scored and assisted in their 5-0 win over Bolivia in the second group game from right wing.
Owing to Jadon Sancho and Antony’s struggles in a United shirt, there might still be room for Pellistri to establish himself at Old Trafford under Erik ten Hag. That said, there won’t be much shock or surprise if he departs permanently this summer.
It’s not often that a player features for two Premier League clubs on loan in one season, but that was precisely the case for Sergio Reguilon in 2023-24.
He joined Manchester United on the final day of last summer’s transfer window to provide cover for Luke Shaw, whose deputy Tyrell Malacia missed the entirety of last season. Reguilon made 12 appearances for United and started twice in the Champions League as Shaw recovered from a muscle injury. United triggered a break clause in Reguilon’s contract, allowing him to return to Spurs and join Brentford on loan, who suffered a full-back crisis of their own with Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry out for the season.
Reguilon, right, had some bad moments at Brentford (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
While there were glimmers of Reguilon’s quality, finishing with a respectable four assists in 16 league matches in a Brentford shirt, he also had his struggles. He was tormented by Mohammed Kudus in a 4-2 defeat to West Ham United in February, receiving a red card and conceding a penalty inside just five minutes in a 2-1 defeat to Burnley.
With Destiny Udogie the clear first-choice starter under Postecoglou at Spurs, the 27-year-old needs a permanent transfer to gain stability and rediscover the form that earned him five caps for Spain.
After four years, 62 league appearances and four goals, Wolves supporters’ hopes that Fabio Silva will live up to a club-record £35million price tag have largely diminished.
Before Silva moved to Wolves, he had set several club records at his previous club, Porto, often beating Ruben Neves, whom he’d join up with at Molineux. At 17, he became the club’s youngest goalscorer, creating significant hype, but while he is still only 22, it’s fair to say that excitement has dwindled.
Silva on loan at Rangers last season (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
He has never fully established himself as a starter, which is perhaps a reason that he has not yet exploded into the talent many thought he’d become, yet Silva has made little impression when given an opportunity.
His two goals in two matches against arch-rivals West Bromwich Albion earned him some favour with the support, but after three unremarkable loan spells away at Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, respectively, he appears surplus to requirements under Gary O’Neil.
While Mikel Arteta and Gareth Southgate have remarked on how well he has adapted to being a No 2 goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale needs to become a starting goalkeeper again to revive his career.
He was Arteta’s starting goalkeeper in the 2022-23 season when Arsenal went close to winning the Premier League and made some vital match-winning saves. Crucially, however, his tendency to make occasional mistakes prompted Arteta to sign David Raya from Brentford last summer, and the Spanish goalkeeper has now usurped the 26-year-old as Arsenal’s clear No 1.
Aaron Ramsdale was with the England squad in the summer but didn’t start (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
While these mishaps might be a characteristic of his high-energy persona, Ramsdale has the quality to be an elite shot-stopper if he irons them out. As evidenced by mistakes made when deputising for Raya on several occasions last year, Ramsdale seems best suited to a situation where he is the undisputed starting goalkeeper, allowing him to grow and build confidence without the pressure of intense competition.
With most of the Premier League’s established top-half clubs having already sorted their starting goalkeeper for the season, Ramsdale may have to look to continental Europe or the bottom half of England’s top flight for consistent minutes.
Despite never truly establishing himself as Arsenal’s starting striker, Eddie Nketiah has always been reliable in the goal department. In just 10 starts last season, he scored five goals, including Arsenal’s opener of the campaign in a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest, and a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of Sheffield United.
The season before, he scored four goals in nine starts. The season before that, he registered five goals in eight starts. If you present Nketiah with a good opportunity inside the box, the likelihood of England Under-21s’ record goalscorer taking it is pretty high.
Nketiah playing against Liverpool pre-season (Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images)
Lodged firmly behind Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and, by last season’s evidence, Leandro Trossard in Arteta’s plans at centre-forward, it’s time for Nketiah to leave the Emirates Stadium permanently to continue developing. Marseille stepped up their efforts to sign the 25-year-old in late July, lodging an offer worth around €20million (£16.8m), but Arsenal have a considerably higher asking price.
Arsenal’s insistence on landing a fee closer to their valuation may prove prohibitive but, at this stage, a move away appears the best solution for all parties.
It’s no secret that Ivan Toney has been pushing for a move away from Brentford for a while.
After returning from an eight-month suspension for betting offences in January, the 28-year-old said that he wants to play for a top club who will fight for titles, and it appeared this summer would be the opportunity for him to secure a transfer away.
Toney had a taste of the big time at Euro 2024 with England (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Brentford even signed a replacement, completing a £32million club-record deal for Igor Thiago from Club Bruges. However, after Thiago suffered a meniscus injury that looks set to sideline him until the end of the year in a 5-2 friendly win over AFC Wimbledon on July 20, Brentford may need Toney to stay until at least January.
With just one year left on his contract, Toney could depart for free next summer, though if he wants to unseat Harry Kane as England’s first-choice striker, he may want to move sooner rather than later.
There was significant excitement on the south coast when Brighton confirmed the free-agent signing of Mahmoud Dahoud, who had been released from Borussia Dortmund, last summer, but the two-time Germany international failed to live up to the billing.
Dahoud, who first came to prominence at Borussia Monchengladbach, made 141 appearances at Borussia Dortmund over six years at the Westfalenstadion, where he won two domestic trophies.
Dahoud returned to Germany on loan last season (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
While he never truly fulfilled his potential at Dortmund, he joined Brighton as an experienced operator for one of Europe’s biggest clubs, bringing quality and know-how to a young, ambitious side. However, Dahoud failed to establish himself under Roberto De Zerbi, making 14 appearances in all competitions before leaving on loan for Stuttgart in his native Germany in January.
While De Zerbi has departed for Marseille, Dahoud is not in the plans of new Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler either. To get his career back on track, Dahoud looks set to depart the Amex Stadium without ever making much of an impression.
(Top photos: Eddie Nketiah by Alex Pantling and Ben Chilwell by Mike Zarrilli; both via Getty Images)
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