Professional football can be a cruel career path. One day, you’re a superstar – the next, people might have forgotten you even exist.
Today, we’ll be looking at five Premier League players who have been seldom seen during the 2025/26 campaign, despite enjoying success earlier on in their careers.
We won’t be including players who are currently injured, as injuries are often out of the players’ control. Instead, we’ll be looking for players who have simply fallen out of favour and aren’t getting games without any sort of explanation from their respective coaches.
Joe Gomez
Joe Gomez started in Liverpool’s most recent game against West Ham United, but outside of this, the 28 year old’s playing time has been minimal this season.
He has made five Premier League appearances this season, with the game against West Ham being the only time he has been named in the Reds’ starting XI in the league, though he did start in a pair of EFL Cup games.
With Liverpool’s defensive woes and injury issues, one may have thought that Gomez would have been afforded more playing time, but Arne Slot has over ideas and has overlooked him on numerous occasions.
Omar Marmoush
This is a strange one. Omar Marmoush looked set for a breakout campaign in the 2025/26 season, but he has not featured much for Manchester City over the last few months.
Marmoush has featured in eight Premier League games over the course of the season, having made just two starts since the beginning of the campaign. Additionally, he has yet to play the full 90 minutes.
He did suffer a knee injury earlier on in the campaign which has affected his playing time, but he is still not getting into the XI despite being fully fit.
Tyler Dibling
With a transfer fee of £40 million, Tyler Dibling was Everton’s most expensive signing of the summer. By that logic, you would assume he would’ve been one of the Toffees’ key players this season, but it hasn’t transpired that way.
Dibling is only 19 and still has plenty of developing to do, but looked like a strong prospect last season at Southampton.
While many expected him to build on that, he hasn’t been given the chance as of yet. He has been named in just one Premier League starting XI this season, only for him to be hooked after the break.
Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley’s career has had plenty of ups and downs. Now at the age of 31, he has been relegated to playing a minor role for Aston Villa.
He hasn’t been named in a single Premier League starting XI this season, though he did score a goal from the bench against Bournemouth.
Barkley is out of contract at Villa at the end of the season – he will almost definitely be looking for pastures new in the summer of 2026.
Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling is still on the books at Chelsea, but has not played a game of football since May of this year while on loan at Arsenal.
He is the only player on this list who has not played any football this season – he isn’t suffering from an injury, he simply is not getting picked.
At the age of 30, Sterling’s career trajectory looks increasingly unclear. He was a superstar at Liverpool and Manchester City – now, he cannot be described as anything other than a forgotten man.