Stock Up, Stock Down: The Biggest Risers and Fallers in Europe's Top Leagues

Certain trends are apparent after five games into the domestic leagues around Europe.

It looks like it will be a scrap between Manchester City and Arsenal for the title. FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich look ready to run away with their respective leagues. And Real Madrid will be entertaining, no matter whether Los Blancos are good or bad.

As we head into this prolonged international break, we're also seeing trends with some of the top players: some good, some not so much.

Our Calum Rogers, Leo Collis, Lucky Ngamwajasat and Nick Akerman provide updates on who's been excelling and who needs to improve quickly.

Stock Up: Pascal Groß, Brighton

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Brighton & Hove Albion have an enviable crop of emerging young stars, continuing a strategy that has proved lucrative in the last half-decade. That approach has shot them up to third in the Premier League table after five games, and the Seagulls' 16 goals scored are the most in the division.

But behind that collection of chicks is a wily veteran who is expertly keeping things ticking over. Pacal Groß, a player nearly twice the age of starters Luka Vuskovic and Charalampos Kostoulas, is bossing things with seven goal involvements in just five games, according to Transfermarkt.

Brighton lost a couple of veteran players heading into the 2026-27 season, with James Milner retiring and Danny Welbeck making a surprise move to Chelsea. Groß is now one of just three players over the age of 29 in the squad, with his 35 years sandwiched between backup goalkeeper Jason Steele (36) and stalwart center back Lewis Dunk (34).

But age is apparently just a number for the German. He has played every minute of the Seagulls' Premier League matches this season, and he is arguably one of the best players in the division at the moment. According to Fotmob, he has covered the second-most distance (59.7 kilometers), has created the most chances (15) and even has the most blocks per 90 minutes (2.7).

The $2.3 million that Brighton spent to bring him back from Borussia Dortmund in January is proving to be a steal. 

-Leo Collis

Stock Down: Sandro Tonali, Tottenham

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I may risk the wrath of some readers here a little bit. Sandro Tonali's bad start to the season actually feels more like the air leaving overly inflated expectations to me. He should never have been a £100 million midfielder. The spotlight is just brighter now due to both his cost and the circus at Tottenham.

The general perception of Tonali's quality has certainly dipped. Spurs sit at the bottom of the league, and he is symbolic of a club that has tried to throw money at individuals to satisfy a manager who feels like he could explode at any second. Tonali's problem is twofold: he doesn't have the crowd behind him as he did at Newcastle, and his lack of defining attributes means he's often absent in areas where he's expected to deliver.

For example, Tonali, the defensive midfielder, if that's what's meant to be, finished last season with an average of one successful tackle per game, according to WhoScored. The same as strikers Igor Thiago, Randal Kolo Muani, and Raul Jimenez. He averaged 0.2 blocks per game, the same as Jorgan Strand Larsen and Brian Brobbey. 

While he can keep possession relatively well, he barely registers as a creative force. Tonali has never contributed more than two assists in a Premier League season, nor scored more than four goals outside of Italy. He is quite good at a lot, but without St. James' Park bouncing off any action that goes well, the lack of definition in his game is being exposed.

He is currently dispossessed more times per game than any other Spurs midfielder and is just behind James Maddison for bad touches. He averages one clearance per match, equal to the exiled Richarlison, and fewer successful dribbles per match than Marcos Senesi. 

For £100M, you should always be able to look at a player, even in bad form, and categorically say what their strengths are. Tonali was fuelled by passion up north, where he could set the tone through hard work alone. With that gone, he looks, by the by, a little lost, and half the player he was deemed to be in the summer, if we're going on monetary value alone.

-Nick Akerman

Stock Up: Cody Gakpo, Liverpool

Cody Gakpo looked likely to leave Liverpool this summer. Despite starting a personal-best 32 league games for the Reds last season, Gakpo recorded the joint-lowest goal total in his four years at the club, and many fans seemed happy for him to move on.

Liverpool were a dysfunctional team under Arne Slot last year, though. They went from first in expected goals in 2024/25 with 83.5 to sixth with 61.3, per FotMob. While Gakpo also contributed to that drop, his team's overall reduced output also put more pressure on him to create his own shots.

This season, Gakpo has already scored two goals and provided four assists across all competitions, and he's been Liverpool's most consistent attacking threat. And while he wasn't credited with the assist, it was his good work down the right wing that set up Alexander Isak's winner against Bournemouth on Sunday.

Being switched to the right wing may have helped Gakpo become more of a creative force, but his goals playing from the left against Newcastle United in the league opener and Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup suggest he'll still be enough of a goal threat to be a versatile asset across Liverpool's front line this season.

Manager Andoni Iraola has coached big, strong wingers like Antoine Semenyo and Rayan to excellent performances at Bournemouth previously, and while it's still early, the signs suggest Gakpo could be his latest success story.

-Calum Rogers

Stock Down: Viktor Gyökeres, Arsenal

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Viktor Gyökeres' first season at Arsenal was polarizing. He scored 14 goals and finished in the top five in expected goals per 90 minutes among players who started more than 20 games, per FotMob. 

As the marquee attacking signing for a team that finally got over the hump to win the Premier League, the 28-year-old has a fair claim as a legitimate difference-maker in that achievement. 

And yet, in so many games, Gyökeres struggled in nearly every other aspect of playing as a lone striker; he was surprisingly weak as an aerial target, struggled to link play with teammates, and generally looked unconvincing as a top-level forward.

While Gyökeres looked unlikely to be an every-week starter for Arsenal, it seemed that he and Kai would split time after injuries limited the German to just 12 league games last season. So far, though, Gyökeres has made zero league starts and has been an unused substitute on three occasions. 

There is, of course, less need to bring on a striker when you're leading, as Arsenal were in those games, but the fact that Gyökeres only got 18 minutes when Arsenal were being soundly beaten by Brighton & Hove Albion suggests Arteta may have lost faith in him.

-Calum Rogers

Stock Up: Thierno Barry, Everton

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It's quite easy to forget Thierno Barry is just 23 years old. 

His excellent 2024-25 season with Villarreal saw Everton take a punt on a striker who may now be the accidental face of a David Moyes side working tirelessly to combat the failures of the club's board.

Everton's 15-player senior squad puts them at a major disadvantage; when a first-teamer gets injured, they won't have the reinforcements to make up the ground.

That's particularly true with Barry, who is now the club's only recognized out-and-out senior striker. Last season, Moyes consistently rotated him with Beto, largely because neither player could find any decent form. Barry just about started more games, but couldn't make the position his own.

In truth, Everton fans may have been fine with him following Beto through the exit; such was the disappointment of his eight Premier League goals in 38 appearances.

A new, more confident Barry has two goals in four matches so far. Although he still needs plenty of chances to convert, his overall play has picked up and is radiating throughout the rest of the team. 

Barry averages more shots, key passes, and successful dribbles per game than last season, per WhoScored. He's being caught offside less, and his pass accuracy is up by 16 percent. He's finally using those long legs to stretch defenses, providing space and time for midfielders such as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to have greater influence in possession. 

Combine all these little improvements together, and you'll see a maturing player who has settled into a difficult role in a less-than-ideal situation. It's obvious Everton fans appreciate the effort.

-Nick Akerman

Stock Down: Florian Wirtz, Liverpool

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It's still not clicking for Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. 

The German had some excuses last season for failing to reach the heights expected of him, including pressure from the high price tag the Reds paid to buy him, a settling-in period in a new country and league, and a style of play under Arne Slot that didn't exactly suit his abilities. 

But none of those issues really apply in the 2026-27 season, and he's still not delivering the kind of performances that propelled Bayer Leverkusen to the 2023-24 Bundesliga title. In fact, things might be getting worse.

Of course, having to adapt to another new manager might not be helping, but Andoni Iraola is consistently playing the 23-year-old in his supposedly preferred No. 10 position, rather than shifting him to the wing as he often was under Slot. Iraola's more direct approach should really suit Wirtz down to the ground, too.

While he does plenty of running and seems to be relishing work in the press under the Spaniard, he's not strong enough to maintain possession when he receives the ball, and his decision-making has been off the mark. That means those trademark flicks and delicate touches have often met the foot of an opposing defender rather than falling into the path of a red shirt. 

Maybe that's partly down to his teammates, and it's clear that he's still being bypassed in the middle of the park in favor of wing play too often—which might be a holdover from years of playing with Mohamed Salah. But given how often he is muscled off the ball, it's not surprising that other options are preferred to supplying Wirtz when opponents are in the vicinity.

You would think Liverpool would persist with the German, hoping that everything comes together. He's getting more opportunities to play alongside Alexander Isak, and there are occasional glimpses of chemistry developing. It's just not happening as rapidly as those of a red persuasion would like. 

However, if performances remain lackluster, Iraola might have to look at other options in the starting XI.

-Leo Collis

Stock Up: Raphinha, FC Barcelona

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After a 2024-25 season that put Raphinha in contention for the Ballon d'Or, the Brazilian took a step back during the last campaign.

His 13 goals and three assists in La Liga paled in comparison to the 18 and 12, respectively, he got the year before, with his season heavily impacted by hamstring injuries.

But in 2026-27, it looks like he's fully fit, and the results have been remarkable. Playing as the central striker following Robert Lewandowski's departure, the 29-year-old has reached entirely new heights. 

In just seven La Liga games, he's nearly matched his goal involvements from last season (12 goals, three assists), and his chemistry with Lamine Yamal has truly been a sight to behold. Those 12 goals have him at the top of La Liga's scoring charts, five ahead of closest challengers Kylian Mbappe and Rayo Vallecano's Sergio Camello. 

Raphinha is excelling after being handed the goalscoring responsibility, helping the Blaugrana to a healthy five-point lead at the top of La Liga. If he keeps up this rate of scoring in domestic action, he will comfortably surpass his season-high record (18), and he will be on course to break Lionel Messi's record of goals in a single La Liga season (50 in 2011-12).

Barcelona's doomed pursuit of Julian Alvarez in the summer transfer window might have proved to be a blessing in disguise, with Raphinha emerging to lead the line with effortless brilliance and putting the club as favorites in every competition. 

-Leo Collis

Stock Down: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Paris Saint-Germain

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Khvicha Kvaratskhelia entered this season with big expectations. As one of the few star-level players not to have played in the summer's World Cup, the Georgian was expected to get off to a hot start.

That hasn't happened. Kvaratskhelia has just one goal and one assist across seven appearances in all competitions, and his expected goals per 90 rate in Ligue 1 has dropped from 0.48 last season to 0.29 so far, according to FotMob. He's still getting shots off at a similar rate, but he's struggled to generate clear openings so far. Despite his summer break, Kvaratskhelia has looked jaded, along with the rest of his more-traveled teammates. 

The slow start isn't anything to worry about at this stage, though. Kvaratskhelia scored just five goals for PSG before Christmas last season, then hit 13 after the winter break, and he was utterly devastating in the latter stages of the Champions League.

But for a player who was viewed as having an outside chance at winning this year's Ballon d'Or, those hopes already look to have been extinguished. And with PSG off to a slow start in Ligue 1, which has them in sixth after five games, there has to be some disappointment that their star winger hasn't been firing so far.

-Calum Rogers

Stock Down: Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, Real Madrid

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There's no doubting the talent of Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior. But after two-plus seasons of playing together, it's becoming apparent that the two don't fit on the same team.

It all comes down to positioning. Developed as a natural left winger, Mbappé drifts left and takes up similar positions to Vinícius. Unfortunately, that hampers Viní's effectiveness and leaves Real Madrid with two players occupying the same space.

That was glaringly apparent in Los Blancos' 2-1 defeat to city rivals Atletico in the Madrid derby on Sunday.

And while no one can complain about the goals return from the French star, 7 goals in 7 La Liga games, the tactical headache it has given José Mourinho and, before him, Carlo Ancelotti has hamstrung Real Madrid.

It also doesn't help that both stars are allergic to tracking back. Madrid currently ranks last in La Liga for distance covered per match. For a defensively minded manager like Mourinho, those stats must keep him up at night.

Madrid actually had a get-out-of-jail-free card with Arsenal's reported summer interest in Vinícius, but the Brazilian's contract extension means that Madrid's left-heavy issue will continue for the foreseeable future.