Brentford have finally signed a Premier League champion. Some clubs’ most recent title winner is obvious but Liverpool and Newcastle are exceptions.
Arsenal – Raheem Sterling“Those players have been inspired by top players, top professionals, ruthless winners for many years,” Mikel Arteta said of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko shortly after their arrival from Manchester City.
“They were looking at them, and now it’s their turn to do the same and inspire those younger players that we have in our squad to do the same and to show them what it takes to win, and the level of detail, hunger and dedication that you need to keep winning.”
The pair were integral in one of a great many Arsenal phases which transformed them from European qualification also-rans to Premier League challengers. Raheem Sterling, who won 10 trophies alongside both at Manchester City, was rather less impactful.
Aston Villa – Ashley YoungTwo Aston Villa managers in successive summers deemed Young an integral part of their plans but Unai Emery weirdly does not share the vision of Dean Smith or Steven Gerrard.
“The decision was tactical. It is always about how we can continue developing here,” the Spaniard said after Young’s contract was allowed to expire, the veteran having dragged himself up to ninth for all-time Premier League appearances as a Villa player.
Bournemouth – Gary Cahill“I’ve achieved things I once dreamt of,” said Cahill upon his retirement in November 2022. Beyond the two Premier League titles, pair of FA Cups, Champions League trophy, PFA Team of the Year appearances and 61 England caps, he was probably talking about inspiring Bournemouth to promotion in his final act as a professional.
Brentford – Jordan HendersonThis has been a watershed summer for Brentford even beyond the departure of Thomas Frank.
The Bees had never previously signed a former Premier League winner, with Arsenal favourite, infrequent captain and perennial long-ball provider for Alan Smith knockdowns Paul Davis the last English top-flight champion signed by Brentford.
That was that even as they rose through the league pyramid. But no sooner had the bus stop in Hounslow welcomed one former winner in Caoimhin Kelleher than a second came along in fellow Liverpool alumnus Henderson.
Burnley – Kyle WalkerOnly five players in history have more Premier League winner’s medals than Walker and Burnley could not find it in themselves to sanction moves for Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Denis Irwin or Roy Keane.
Scott Parker will hope the right-back calls on the nous from his first six or so years at Manchester City rather than the final two.
Brighton – James Milner
Their main strength might be extracting millions from Chelsea but Brighton have also tapped into the unique experience provided by serial trophy hoarders like few other clubs.
Adam Lallana was leaned on particularly heavily by Roberto De Zerbi as he started to transition into a coaching role. Fabian Hurzeler has called Danny Welbeck his “connector trying to help everyone” and someone he himself “can learn from” due to his more limited career as a player.
But Milner is the “leader”, the “role model in preparing himself for training and doing good regeneration”. And he almost certainly still wins the Brighton lactate test after extending his contract last month.
Chelsea – Cole PalmerThe Chelsea transfer ethos tends to value young South Americanness far higher than experienced trophy-winning veterancy, but the opportunistic Palmer signing blended the lines somewhat.
While far from a regular in the Manchester City Treble season, Palmer’s 25 appearances included 14 in the Premier League in a contribution more than worth the medals he gave his mum to “clear them out so I can stock up again”.
After a slow start on that front at Chelsea there are Conference League and Club World Cup honours to add to the collection before PSG sign him for a world-record fee.
Crystal Palace – Michy Batshuayi
Nathaniel Clyne joined a month later in October 2020 but made his last Premier League appearance for Liverpool about 18 months before the Reds were crowned lockdown champions.
Across two loans at Selhurst Park, Batshuayi scored a respectable eight goals in 33 games before running the Turkish Super Lig gauntlet of Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray.
Everton – Asmir BegovicDespite falling three short of the five-game threshold to guarantee a winner’s medal, Begovic counts Chelsea’s last Premier League title as one of only two trophy wins in his entire career alongside the 2019/20 Azerbaijan Premier League.
The Bosnian returned from that brief sojourn to provide back-up to Jordan Pickford for a couple of years, because mid-life crises make people do silly things.
Fulham – WillianThe man loves London. And as long as this perverse arrangement whereby Fulham release and then sign him every summer is consensual then that is fine.
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Leeds – Stuart TaylorBack in those halcyon days when players had to make an entire 10 league appearances to qualify for a winner’s medal, Arsene Wenger teased Taylor with the prospect of ending the 2001/02 season empty-handed.
The keeper had played nine games heading into the final day against Everton and even though the Gunners had wrapped up the title, Richard Wright was given the nod.
Taylor was made to wait until the 86th minute before coming on as a substitute. And he still conceded. Then he joined David Hockaday’s Leeds in 2014. Not sure which is more embarrassing.
Liverpool – Alex ManningerAnother back-up to David Seaman, it required special dispensation from the Premier League itself to grant Manninger a medal for his services to Arsenal’s first Premier League title push.
The Austrian waited patiently for his opportunity in north London, the first of which came about in late January 1998 with an injury to Seaman. Manninger played six league games and kept a clean sheet in each, including a famous victory at Old Trafford, before being named Player of the Month for March.
Unable to earn the gloves long term, Manninger embarked on a journeyman career which brought him back to England almost two decades later for a season with Liverpool before retirement, joining in the same summer as Sadio Mane, Joel Matip and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Manchester City – Ilkay GundoganPep Guardiola deemed it enough of a mistake to bring Gundogan back within a year when Manchester City did little to prevent his departure for Barcelona in 2023.
The player himself might well have regretted his return when he made 54 appearances in a gruelling and often chastening season, at the end of which interest from Turkey might have looked awfully enticing.
Manchester United – Jonny EvansUnless Ruben Amorim develops a sudden urge to sign Alexander Buttner, this will be the first season Manchester United have no Premier League winner in their squad since 1992/93, and the first Manchester United squad containing no-one who played under Sir Alex Ferguson since 1974.
Fair play to Jonny Evans for keeping those records intact while “hammering” his teammates in a WhatsApp group with Rio Ferdinand and Anderson.
Newcastle United – Sol Campbell
In the world of inconceivable team-mates, Campbell and Andy Carroll feels particularly difficult to picture.
Nottingham Forest – Divock Origi
Liverpool supporters can likely accurately describe 41 of the often pivotal and almost always slapstick goals scored by Origi for an English club; Forest fans would struggle to recall the 42nd, plundered in an ill-fated 22-game loan from AC Milan.
Sunderland – Darron Gibson“I might be off my face in here but I still want to play for Sunderland,” Gibson told the disbelieving patrons of a bar in the aftermath of a heavy pre-season defeat to Celtic in August 2017, before identifying Lamine Kone, Jeremain Lens and Wahbi Khazri as being less enthused by the prospect of wearing the red-and-white stripes.
Gibson had only joined the previous January as part of an unsuccessful bid for Premier League safety; by the following March he was released.
Tottenham – Joe HartJose Mourinho felt Hart was “the best English goalkeeper” as recently as April 2021 and the Portuguese was able to “sleep well” knowing he had a version of his ultimate favourite player: someone itching to prove Guardiola wrong.
Hart did well when called upon, going unbeaten in his 10 appearances and keeping five clean sheets. But his lasting legacy in north London was to get the Spurs squad massively into cricket and for that he should be deeply ashamed.
West Ham – Kalvin PhillipsIt was claimed that West Ham coaches were ‘taken aback by his attitude in training and behind the scenes’ when Phillips was still in the middle of a disastrous 10-game loan spell from Manchester City.
They were probably fairly surprised when Phillips was caught giving the middle finger to a fan who called him “useless” after one of his appearances. And it wasn’t even the one in which he was sent off for two yellow cards three minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Wolves – Diego CostaNot only a free transfer which granted Costa the opportunity to net the single goal which dragged him above Efan Ekoku, Trevor Sinclair, Juan Mata and Darius Vassell in the all-time Premier League scoring stakes, but a perfect transfer of a man who remains unretired and thus likely to become the entrant for Manchester United on this list by September.