We’re talking valuable fringe players and we are defining ‘fringe players’ as those who started less than half their team’s Premier League games last season, as long as injuries or loans are not a significant factor.
We have not included players like Abdukodir Khusanov who arrived in January, or teenagers like Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Obviously, that means an XI dominated by players stockpiled by the bigger clubs who are ripe for a new challenge…
GOALKEEPER: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool)
Transfermarkt value: £16.9m
Get him in this XI quick before he completes what will surely be a bargain move to Brentford for an initial £12.5m with add-ons likely to take the deal to £18m. The Bees are shipping out Mark Flekken for a very similar price and bringing in the Irish international who is absolutely ready to be a No. 1 goalkeeper. Will Chelsea live to regret sleeping on this one?
READ: Liverpool have moved on from The Coutinho Money to fund transfer masterplan through bank of Brentford
RIGHT-BACK: Conor Bradley (Liverpool)
Transfermarkt value: £25.3mNo chance of him leaving Liverpool this summer but you might be surprised that for all the talk of him being Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long-term replacement, he only actually started seven Premier League games last season, and the Reds really did waste no time at all before bringing in Jeremie Frimpong as Alexander-Arnold’s actual long-term replacement. Fast-forward to January and we would not be surprised to be talking about a Bradley loan.
CENTRE-BACK: Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal)
Transfermarkt value: £23.6m
He let absolutely nobody down with his performances in the absence of Gabriel late in the season, particularly against Real Madrid. With Arsenal’s first-choice pairing so established, it is said that Arsenal are asking for an eye-watering £60m for the Polish international to ward off suitors. If he wants to leave for more first-team football, he will have to kick up an almighty fuss.
CENTRE-BACK: Nathan Ake (Manchester City)
Transfermarkt value: £21.1mThe Dutchman has had his injury problems but the truth remains that Ake has started fewer Premier League games (8), than he has started on the bench (11) and is clearly nowhere near first choice at City. Now improbably 30, he might want to move clubs if he harbours any hope of starting at the World Cup next year. See also: John Stones.
LEFT-BACK: Ian Maatsen (Aston Villa)
Transfermarkt value: £23.6mJust a year after playing in a Champions League final and then signing for Aston Villa for £37.5m, Maatsen must be wondering where it all went wrong. The answer? Underestimating Lucas Digne, who restricted Maatsen to just 10 Premier League starts for Villa. The silver lining? Two of those starts came in the final, crucial games of the season. The still-dark cloud? He was rotten against Manchester United.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Mikel Merino (Arsenal)
Transfermarkt value: £29.5mThe Spaniard’s limitations as a central midfielder were perfectly illustrated in the cack-handed way he got himself sent off when filling in for Declan Rice against Liverpool. The fact that he had already got himself on the scoresheet also illustrated his worth to Arsenal, though not in his favoured position. He has started only 10 Premier League games in central midfield and will likely start even fewer games if/when Martin Zubimendi arrives.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham)
Transfermarkt value: £21.1mDespite being excellent in the Europa League final, Bissouma is said to be available this summer before he enters the final year of his contract. He started just 16 Premier League games last season as Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur emerged as Ange Postecoglou’s first-choice central midfield. Everton are reported to be one of many clubs interested in the Malian international.
RIGHT WING: Leon Bailey (Aston Villa)
Transfermarkt value: £23.6mSaudi Arabia likely beckons for the Jamaican international who was something of a coup for Aston Villa back in 2021. But last season he was usurped by a raft of big-name signings and was eventually restricted to just 16 Premier League starts. On the final day of the season at Manchester United, Bailey did not even rise off the bench.
ATTACKING MIDFIELD: Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
Transfermarkt value: £25.3mThere is talk of Liverpool valuing Elliott at around £40m but that would be a tricky transfer fee to justify after he started just two Premier League games for the Reds…after the title was already won. Elliott is a lifelong Liverpool fan so he would be understandably reluctant to move, but he will remain uncapped by England for as long as he remains on the Liverpool bench, or even worse considering the imminent arrival of Florian Wirtz.
READ: Wirtz next? Ten greatest signings by Premier League champions obviously dominated by Manchester United
LEFT WING: Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)
Transfermarkt value: £42.2mWe began this XI presuming that Jack Grealish would adorn the left wing but it turns out that Doku has started just 16 Premier League games this season, and makes this team because – at 23 – he is worth considerably more than Grealish. Nobody has claimed a place on City’s troubled left, with Doku, Grealish, Savinho, Omar Marmoush and Matheus Nunes all having spells there with little success. That’s why City continue to be linked with Bradley Barcola and Doku has been linked with a move away to Chelsea.
STRIKER: Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
Transfermarkt value: £42.2mIt’s impossible to think ill of Liverpool’s agent of chaos, but it’s also impossible to think that he could ever become Liverpool’s first-choice striker after starting just eight Premier League games last season. There is persistent talk of Saudi Arabia but surely, Atletico Madrid fancy their chances of knocking the edges off a very rough diamond. Will they pay the reported £60m asking price, though? We make him the 10th best available striker this summer…