New Delhi: Every season is preceded by a summer transfer window where clubs have full liberty to make changes to their existing squad. More often than not, these changes involve hefty transfer fees for players which makes any transfer dealing between two clubs a gamble. No single transfer can ever be called a guaranteed success before the player takes the field for the club he’s joining for at least a few games.
When Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku from Inter back in 2021, he was largely seen as the missing piece of the puzzle for Thomas Tuchel’s European Champions but in reality he proved to be far from it. The same can be said for when Jadon Sancho signed for Manchester United but he never looked comfortable while playing for the Red Devils. These cases just go to show that no matter how good you were at one club, that doesn’t mean you will continue the same form at your next club.
Now that we’re almost one third into the 2024/25 Premier League season, we have enough of a sample size to see which of this summer’s recruit haven’t been living up to the expectations. While the season is still a bit in it’s early stages and it may happen that some of these names go on to become club legends, they haven’t hit the ground running yet and might be shown the door soon if they don’t find their form.
5) Niklas Fullkrug (West Ham)
Niclas Fullkrug of West Ham United acknowledges the fans after the Pre-Season Friendly match between West Ham United and Celta Vigo at London Stadium. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
German International Niklas Fullkrug joined the Hammers in a deal worth £27 million from last season’s UEFA Champions League finalists, Borussia Dortmund. The 31-year-old striker was seen as a stop-gap solution for the Hammers’ striking problems and it seemed like they have finally gotten someone who was capable of scoring regularly for them. Fullkrug joined with brilliant club and international pedigree and contributed to 26 goals all season for BVB last season.
However, his move to the London Stadium has been woeful till now. Fullkrug was given zero starts by Julen Lopetegui at the start of the season and only gave him 63 minutes of Premier League action across three appearances before he was sidelined via injury. Since the middle of September, the German has been ruled out with an Achilles tendon issue and is yet to take the pitch since. With Fullkrug out and his return date being uncertain along with a lack of quality strikers at West Ham, the club has been struggling bad.
4) Ian Maatsen
Ian Maatsen hasn’t had the best of starts to life at Villa. (Image via Total Villa’s ‘X’)
Moving from one UEFA Champions League finalist to another, Ian Maatsen joined Borussia Dortmund on loan for the second half of the 2023/24 season and proved to be a revelation for the club. Having announced his intention to leave parent club Chelsea, Maatsen joined an exciting Aston Villa side in the summer for a then-club record fee of £37.5 million. It was seen as a shrewd move for the Villans as they had added a quality left-back in a season where they had UEFA Champions League football to compete in as well.
While Maatsen’s move had and still has a lot of upside to it, things haven’t quite worked out for the 22-year-old. He was expected to be the starting left-back under Unai Emery but the Dutch international hasn’t been able to dislodge 31-year-old Lucas Digne from the starting lineup. Maatsen has made nine Premier League appearances till now but hasn’t made a single start in the league, playing just over 150 minutes in total. He’s never played more than 45 minutes in a single Premier League match and is yet to contribute to a single goal.
3) Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea)
Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (22) reacts during the friendly between Chelsea FC and Club America on July 31st, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had a breakthrough season at Leicester City last year under Italian manager Enzo Maresca as he became a key player in the manager’s system. The Englishman contributed to 12 goals and 15 assists in 49 games for the Foxes and was named the club’s Players’ Player of the Season and also the Supporters’ Player of the Season. When Maresca left the midlands club for Chelsea, Dewsbury-Hall decided to follow suit in a £30 million deal for the 26-year-old.
Ever since arriving in London though, he hasn’t been able to consistently break into the club’s starting XI and has sometimes been left off the entire matchday squad as well. Dewsbury-Hall has only made three appearances in the league all season, playing less than one half of a game in total. He hasn’t made the squad in five out of the last six league games for the club and Maresca has himself admitted that he feels for him but given the competition for places, it’s difficult to get Dewsbury-Hall games regularly.
2) Federico Chiesa (Liverpool)
Federico Chiesa new signing of Liverpool at AXA Training Centre on August 28, 2024 in Kirkby, England. (Photo by Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Federico Chiesa was once seen as a highly rated and exciting right winger who could become one of the very best in the world. Instead he accepted a move this summer to play second fiddle to one of the very best right wingers in the world. The ACL injury he suffered in January 2022 set his career back quite a bit and even though it seemed like he’d left his injury concerns behind last season, that hasn’t been the case during his time at Liverpool.
Ever since joining the Reds on deadline day, Chiesa has only made three appearances for the club in all competitions and has only seen 18 minutes of Premier League action in his solitary appearance. He has failed to make the squad in the last five league games for Arne Slot’s side, and has only made the squad twice in the league. He has missed the last few games due to an unspecified injury and there is no scheduled return date for the Italian which makes his injury layoff even more worrying.
1) Joshua Zirkzee (Manchester United)
Joshua Zirkzee celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammate Marcus Rashford during match against Fulham FC at Old Trafford. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
One of Manchester United’s highly anticipated signings of the season, Joshua Zirkzee started his United career with a bang. The Dutchman got off to a dream start at the club, coming off the bench to score the winner on his debut in the opening game of the 2024/25 Premier League season. However, ever since that moment, things have gone downhill for Zirkzee and is already being linked with moves away from the Premier League.
Zirkzee has appeared in all of Manchester United’s league games this season, but has only started four league games. He’s drawn a blank in every game since the opening gameday of the season and has only notched up one more assist sine then. Not only have his stats looked worrying, even the underlying numbers don’t offer much improvement. He’s looked lost when on the field mostly, and only has an xG of 2.45 in the league. He needs to massively improve his numbers if he is to stay at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
A number of players were brought into the league this summer and many of the existing Premier League players switched clubs as well. Keeping that in mind, let’s dive in to find out. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
