10 Players To Watch This Premier League Season
With the Premier League now underway, there are various players that we will be looking out for this season and to see how important they will be for their sides this season. Here are the ten players to watch this season.
- Nicolas Pépé
After their humiliating defeat in the Europa League Final in May, many thought that the Gunners wouldn't be able make any big money signings this summer after failing to qualify for the Champions League for the three consecutive year. However, they have arguably pulled off the biggest coup of the transfer window by signing Ivorian winger Nicolas Pépé from Lille for a club record fee of £72 million. With 33 goals involvements last season in Ligue 1, Pépé will give the Gunners more speed and width to their attack making them more threatening on the counter attack. Gunner fans have every right to be excited about Pépé and the prospect of him playing alongside Lacazette and Aubameyang as they have improved on an attack that scored 73 goals which was bettered by Manchester City and Liverpool.
2. Max Aarons
Despite having just one season to his name as a professional, Max Aarons impressed so much that they were transfer speculation of him leaving Carrow Road for the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham. He was however awarded a new contract showing how they rate him in Norwich City. The 19 year old had a breakout year in the Championship with Norwich City. Scoring 2 goals and making 6 assists from right-back, being awarded the EFL Championship Young Player of the Year and was included in the EFL Team of the Season. Energetic and quick, Aarons is going to be a key asset for the Canaries in how they play as well as their chances of staying up.
3. Sébastien Haller
Haller was part of Eintracht Frankfurt's fearsome front three consisting of him, Luka Jović and Ante Rebić that scored goals for fun in the Bundesliga last season. Haller, himself, played his part scoring 15 goals and making 9 assists in the Bundesliga last season as the Eagles went all the way to the semifinals of the Europa League where scored 5 goals in 10 games. A striker capable of leading the line with his physicality, winning 50.4% of his duels, as well as bringing other players into play with his great link up play, with 69.2% success rate of passes from open play and 1.3 key passes per game, West Ham may have found their most dynamic attacker since Dimitri Payet and will give the Hammers a different dimension in their attack.
4. Mason Mount
With Chelsea under a year long transfer ban, they have to utilize the players that they have at their disposal including some of the young players who have come up from the Chelsea academy. One of those players is Mason Mount. The 20 year old midfielder played on loan at Championship side Derby County under current Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. He impressed in the Second Division, scoring 9 goals and making 4 assists in 38 appearances as the Rams reached the Playoff Final. With 2.5 shots per games, 1.9 key passes per game including 1.4 tackles last season. He's certainly going to give Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek a run for their money and is going to learn a lot from his manager, who was one of the best central midfielders during his heyday.
5. Che Adams
Players like James Maddison and Rúben Neves adjusted to the Premier League with ease last year which is want Southampton hope will happen with Che Adams. The 23 year old signed for the Saints for £15m after a strong season in the Championship. He was one of the top scorers in the Second Division, scoring 22 goals in 46 games for Birmingham City. The striker over performed in his expected goals for Birmingham, with his xG at 18.22 which is less than the likes of Tammy Abraham and Neal Maupay, who were top scorers in the Championship last season. With Charlie Austin gone and Shane Long not a reliable goalscorer, Adams will have get firing for the Saints this season if he has a future in the top flight.
6. Aaron Wan-Bissaka
AWB had a breakout year for Crystal Palace last year, playing 35 games as the young right-back won Player of the Season for his performances which earned him a £50m move to Manchester United. The U21 England international is a full-back who is willing to defend which is hard to see these days with full-backs being required to do a lot in the attacking phase. His 3.7 tackles and 2.4 interceptions shows he can give the best wingers in the league and hard day in the office. He would be required to a lot of attacking play but with 3 assists and 1.7 dribbles per game, he can offer that as well. Some would say the move is to soon or United overpayed but he's a talented full-back that United needed and it will be interesting to see he'll perform with the jump up.
7. Tanguy Ndombele
Spurs were unable to sign anyone for over a year due to the issues with their new stadium. Now that has been sorted out for the new season, Spurs are able to sign players and quickly splashed the cash on French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele for a club record fee of £55m. He is seen as the Moussa Dembélé replacement which is understandable with seven assists, 1.4 key passes and 1.9 dribbles in Ligue 1 last season. He's also strong defensively with 2.4 tackles and 1.5 interceptions in the Champions League. A two-way midfielder, Ndombele will add attacking penetration to Spurs midfield with his defensive strengths.
8. Rhian Brewster
Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp have decided to keep the faith of their current squad meaning some of the players who were unavailable last season will have a considerable part to play this season and one of those players is young striker Rhian Brewster. The 19 year old was part of the England team that won the U-17 World Cup in 2017 where he won the Golden Boot. Highly rated at Melwood, Brewster's wait for his senior debut was stalled due to an injury that has kept him out for over a year. With more competitions this season for the Reds, it looks like Brewster will get chance but whether he would take it will be anyone's guess.
9. Rodri
Manchester City at one point struggled, particularly when Fernandinho was out injured. While he is still brilliant, City will have to prepare for life without the Brazilian and have already started with signing of Rodri from Atlético Madrid for a club record fee of £62m. Compared to Sergio Busquets, the Spaniard is what Guardiola is looking for in his defensive midfielder. He made 3 tackles and 1.2 interceptions last season for Atlético which is respectable but his passing numbers is what stands him out. 56.7 passes per game with a success rate of 91% and 3.4 long passes shows he made ease into Pep's system and his defensive numbers showed he's up for the challenge.
10. Moise Kean
Everton have struggled to find a Romelu Lukaku replacement and they look to have found that in young Italian forward Moise Kean. The forward scored six goals in 536 minutes with 1.5 shots per game and 0.7 dribbles per game. While these numbers are from very limited numbers, that's the same numbers that Dominic Calvert-Lewin produced last season up front for Everton but in over 1200 more minutes than Kean. This is a big push for Everton to get a young player of Kean's profile with little competition and Kean will definitely get more minutes than he will get at Juventus which will be key to his development.
Honourable Mentions: Youri Tielemans, Joelinton, Billy Sharp, Daniel James, Ismaïla Sarr, Tammy Abraham, Wesley, Neal Maupay, Kieran Tierney, Harry Wilson
With Chelsea under a year long transfer ban, they have to utilize the players that they have at their disposal including some of the young players who have come up from the Chelsea academy. One of those players is Mason Mount. The 20 year old midfielder played on loan at Championship side Derby County under current Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. He impressed in the Second Division, scoring 9 goals and making 4 assists in 38 appearances as the Rams reached the Playoff Final. With 2.5 shots per games, 1.9 key passes per game including 1.4 tackles last season. He's certainly going to give Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek a run for their money and is going to learn a lot from his manager, who was one of the best central midfielders during his heyday.
5. Che Adams
Players like James Maddison and Rúben Neves adjusted to the Premier League with ease last year which is want Southampton hope will happen with Che Adams. The 23 year old signed for the Saints for £15m after a strong season in the Championship. He was one of the top scorers in the Second Division, scoring 22 goals in 46 games for Birmingham City. The striker over performed in his expected goals for Birmingham, with his xG at 18.22 which is less than the likes of Tammy Abraham and Neal Maupay, who were top scorers in the Championship last season. With Charlie Austin gone and Shane Long not a reliable goalscorer, Adams will have get firing for the Saints this season if he has a future in the top flight.
6. Aaron Wan-Bissaka
AWB had a breakout year for Crystal Palace last year, playing 35 games as the young right-back won Player of the Season for his performances which earned him a £50m move to Manchester United. The U21 England international is a full-back who is willing to defend which is hard to see these days with full-backs being required to do a lot in the attacking phase. His 3.7 tackles and 2.4 interceptions shows he can give the best wingers in the league and hard day in the office. He would be required to a lot of attacking play but with 3 assists and 1.7 dribbles per game, he can offer that as well. Some would say the move is to soon or United overpayed but he's a talented full-back that United needed and it will be interesting to see he'll perform with the jump up.
7. Tanguy Ndombele
Spurs were unable to sign anyone for over a year due to the issues with their new stadium. Now that has been sorted out for the new season, Spurs are able to sign players and quickly splashed the cash on French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele for a club record fee of £55m. He is seen as the Moussa Dembélé replacement which is understandable with seven assists, 1.4 key passes and 1.9 dribbles in Ligue 1 last season. He's also strong defensively with 2.4 tackles and 1.5 interceptions in the Champions League. A two-way midfielder, Ndombele will add attacking penetration to Spurs midfield with his defensive strengths.
8. Rhian Brewster
Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp have decided to keep the faith of their current squad meaning some of the players who were unavailable last season will have a considerable part to play this season and one of those players is young striker Rhian Brewster. The 19 year old was part of the England team that won the U-17 World Cup in 2017 where he won the Golden Boot. Highly rated at Melwood, Brewster's wait for his senior debut was stalled due to an injury that has kept him out for over a year. With more competitions this season for the Reds, it looks like Brewster will get chance but whether he would take it will be anyone's guess.
9. Rodri
Manchester City at one point struggled, particularly when Fernandinho was out injured. While he is still brilliant, City will have to prepare for life without the Brazilian and have already started with signing of Rodri from Atlético Madrid for a club record fee of £62m. Compared to Sergio Busquets, the Spaniard is what Guardiola is looking for in his defensive midfielder. He made 3 tackles and 1.2 interceptions last season for Atlético which is respectable but his passing numbers is what stands him out. 56.7 passes per game with a success rate of 91% and 3.4 long passes shows he made ease into Pep's system and his defensive numbers showed he's up for the challenge.
10. Moise Kean
Everton have struggled to find a Romelu Lukaku replacement and they look to have found that in young Italian forward Moise Kean. The forward scored six goals in 536 minutes with 1.5 shots per game and 0.7 dribbles per game. While these numbers are from very limited numbers, that's the same numbers that Dominic Calvert-Lewin produced last season up front for Everton but in over 1200 more minutes than Kean. This is a big push for Everton to get a young player of Kean's profile with little competition and Kean will definitely get more minutes than he will get at Juventus which will be key to his development.
Honourable Mentions: Youri Tielemans, Joelinton, Billy Sharp, Daniel James, Ismaïla Sarr, Tammy Abraham, Wesley, Neal Maupay, Kieran Tierney, Harry Wilson
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