The new season is almost here, and usually it is the new players who get everyone excited. When you can project your own optimism onto a player you do not know much about, there is nothing quite as satisfying as the unknown. Who knows? This player might be everything your squad has been lacking.
However, what about the players who are present already? Those who enter 2024–25 after a challenging 2023–24, but who also bring a sense of uncertainty with them? Will these athletes who have shown us their worth and shown enormous promise—and in some cases, absolute demonstrated ability—come back? Was the previous season the start of the end and the fulfillment of the vow not to come?
Here are 10 players to re-watch this Premier League season…
In an era where it is nearly impossible for a player to go unnoticed, you constantly scan the worldwide tournament scene for future rising stars. But you were frequently struck by their direct, strong, and skillful left-winger throughout the Netherlands’ games at Euro 2024, and you pondered if he could play in the Premier League.
That left-winger was, of course, Cody Gakpo, but with his somewhat peripheral role at Liverpool the previous season, it was easy to mistake him for a new player. His longest string of Premier League starts was four, towards the end of the season, and he never really had a “run” in the club. When he did play, it was almost always on the left.
Actually, he only started one league game from the left of a front three; Luis Diaz typically started from the wing. Instead, he spent most of his time passing through the middle. He is more effective when coming off the left, as the above chart demonstrates. One wonders if Arne Slot, who will have witnessed him at closer quarters in the Eredivisie, where he did play wide more frequently, will place him there more frequently.
After his dispute with the manager the previous season, Jadon Sancho appeared to have no chance of recovering from the news that Erik ten Hag would be staying at Manchester United. However, the two supposedly met in the summer, things were sorted in a pleasantly mature way, everyone shook hands, and there was comparatively little drama.
Where will Sancho play now that he is back in the fold? Amad, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, and Joshua Zirkzee are just a few of United’s many versatile options. Joshua Zirkzee can play anywhere along the front line. Could he make a mid-range play? Zirkzee, Rashford, and Rasmus Hojlund are more experienced choices there. It was one thing to mend his personal relationship with Ten Hag, but it might be more difficult to earn a spot on the starting lineup.
You could fit about half of the Chelsea team on this list, but we will stick with one to keep things brief and varied. Moises Caicedo was nowhere near the player Chelsea believed they were buying for the majority of the season, but he did show improvement toward the end, culminating in that incredible goal halfway through the championship game.
The output differential between his debut season at Stamford Bridge and his final season on the south coast is depicted in the following graphic. The data indicates that, despite Chelsea having spent over £100 million on him, he was essentially poorer at everything, but he is also far more capable than that.
Will he be more like 2022–23 in 2024–25 after a season under his belt, playing for a new manager, and feeling the strain of that transfer fee a little bit later?
It has been reported that Jack Grealish is back to his best following a disappointing season in which he was left off of England’s Euro 2024 roster and reduced to a supporting role at Manchester City. He was hardly even given a chance to be selected because of his poor performance at the end of the previous semester, but he seems to have bounced back during the summer.
Pep Guardiola recently declared, “From what I have seen thus far, one week here and in pre-season on tour, I adore it.” The City manager is known for being very merciless when it comes to selections. If Grealish’s preseason effort continues, he will return as a crucial player despite Jeremy Doku having a successful first season and the City club having a wealth of other wide alternatives.
The conventional thinking holds that Arsenal will not win the Premier League unless they get a world-class center-forward, but as long as they score goals from other sources, it is not totally accurate. Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, and Bukayo Saka all fulfilled their half of the bargain last season, surpassing the total from the previous campaign, although Gabriel Martinelli only managed six goals and spent the majority of the season on the bench, at least after March.
The aforementioned chart shows that his fundamental statistics have not changed significantly over the previous few seasons: he is essentially taking roughly the same amount of shots and receiving chances at roughly the same rate; the only difference is that he did not convert as many of those shots into goals as he did the previous season. When Arsenal becomes Manchester City’s primary rivals once more, Martinelli’s return to form from a few seasons ago will be extremely beneficial in defeating the titans.
It feels a little strange and unexpected that Ivan Toney is still employed at Brentford. There are not many clear destinations for him, at least not if he wants to stay in England and make a big step up. This could change before the transfer window closes.
Even if his appearances at Euro 2024 were undoubtedly spectacular, he had a strange domestic season following his return from a gambling ban: he scored in four of his first five games back but failed to find the net in the other twelve games. Has that caused teams to lose interest? Do they simply want him to become a free agent come summertime? It is hard to say, but for a guy who spent the majority of last season talking quite candidly about relocating, this summer has been unusual.
In light of the situation, it seems that Sean Dyche is work from the previous season has not received enough credit; he managed to bring a team with a crippling points deduction and ownership-related uncertainties to a comfortable level of safety, which was quite an accomplishment. Even more remarkable is the fact that he accomplished it practically without a center forward.
Although Dominic Calvert-Lewin appears to be the kind of striker you would create in a lab, his stellar theory fell apart last season. Although he scored seven goals in 26 games—which is not bad—two of those goals were penalties, and he underperformed his xG more than any other player in the Premier League. Will that prove to be a random anomaly or an indication of something a little more sinister?
When it comes to football players created in a lab, Evan Ferguson resembles what would happen if a mad scientist decided to create an Alan Shearer for the TikTok generation. Large, forceful, and well-placed shot—basically flawless, at least theoretically. Though Ferguson’s first season with Brighton (10 goals in 25 appearances) suggested the eye test was accurate and he could be the Premier League’s next great center-forward, his second season (six goals in 36 appearances) raised more questions. This season, however, will mark Ferguson’s third season with the Brighton first team.
Nobody is freaking out because Ferguson will not turn 20 until October, and his 2023–24 campaign was cut short by injuries both at the beginning and the conclusion. It will be interesting to watch how he performs under Fabian Hurzeler when he is ready, even though he might not be ready for the opening weeks of the season.
Ange Postecoglou dismissed the idea this week of employing Dejan Kulusevski as a center forward, either in the traditional No 9 role or as a fake one. That was expected given that Dominic Solanke had recently signed and that Richarlison and Son Heung-min were also viable choices. This begged the question, “Where does Kulusevski fit in?”
His position was firmly on the right side throughout the majority of his first year at Spurs, but by the end of the previous campaign, he was playing in midfield, on the left, right, and as a No 10.
This season, there may be more uncertainty because of Solanke’s arrival, which is likely to cause Son to permanently switch back to the left and provide the young players Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall further alternatives in the middle. Does he have to establish a firm stance? Will he serve as Tottenham’s offensive Swiss Army Knife, filling in wherever needed? Could he replace James Maddison given his lackluster play following his injury return?
After pursuing Ibrahim Sangare for a considerable amount of time, Nottingham Forest signed him for a club record £30 million in the summer of last year. Sangare’s first season at Forest, however, had a rough beginning, a slight downturn in the middle, and it was best to keep the conclusion to himself.
At first, he appeared unsure, lacking the swift and assured forward movement that Forest believed they were experiencing. He then caught malaria in November while serving for his country, which is enough to ruin anyone’s season. After that, he traveled to the Africa Cup of Nations but returned hurt, missing another month of play. He was little used for the remainder of the season since other midfielders had surpassed him by then in the hierarchy.
Though there have been suggestions that they should cut their losses this summer, it appears that Forest will stick with him because he still possesses all the qualities that initially attracted them to him. He is definitely someone to keep an eye on if they were correct.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
