4 Unsung Relegation-Threatened Stars Who Premier League Clubs Must Sign
The assumption is that when a team gets relegated—whatever division they fall from—their squad will be cherry-picked in merciless, unabating fashion by those who fared better in their season’s endeavours; any bright spark emanating from the pits of despair will be snapped up without a second’s hesitance.
While this is often not the case—in 2008-09, Newcastle United lost only four or five first-team players and retained key men, while Burnley have just been promoted using a similar XI to the year they went down, replacing only Kieran Trippier and Danny Ings—the summer of 2016 seems destined to witness three relegated Premier League squads cracked open and picked for parts.
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Aston Villa were officially relegated weeks ago yet still continue to astound in their lack of mettle, with caretaker manager Eric Black insisting on playing all of the supporters’ least favourite players to form some kind of ironic, two-fingered gesture to the boo boys. It’s a team of good players who have woefully underachieved, and many in the squad could excel in better homes.
The other two spots are being heavily contested by three teams: Norwich City, Newcastle and Sunderland. Every week the race to avoid relegation takes a new twist or turn, causing many to alter their projected bottom threes once again.
All four sides boast quality in attacking areas, with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Georginio Wijnaldum and Nathan Redmond all likely to headline summer outgoing lists should their teams go down.
With Villa confirmed as relegated, teams across the country will likely be mulling bids for the likes of Jack Grealish and Jordan Ayew and weighing up the finances as we speak.
But what about the lesser-sung performers on these teams who lean more toward a defensive capacity? Hesitation in taking a relegated defender or defensive midfielder is wise—after all, they’ve at least contributed to the shipping of a lot of goals this season—but plucking the diamonds from the rough is how scouts earn a living, and if a manager can right the player's mindset, you're onto a winner.
Here are four defensive-minded players—one from each relegated or relegation-threatened club—who Premier League sides shouldn’t think twice about snapping up this summer.
Idrissa Gueye, DM/CM, Aston Villa
Beginning with the definitely relegated, Aston Villa fans have had some time to digest a shocking season and apportion blame where appropriate. There are some players who they’d love to see the back of—we’re talking the likes of Leandro Bacuna and Joleon Lescott here—but some who they’d be rather sad (but ultimately understanding) about losing.
Idrissa Gueye tops this list.
The clear Player of the Season for Villa (though the awards ceremony was rightly cancelled so he will receive no such title), Gueye has stuck to his job regardless of the toxicity in the B6 air and given his level best in each performance.
He’s proved superb at breaking up play, ranking second only to the imperious N’Golo Kante in tackles won in the Premier League, and has a lovely tendency to play quick forward passes after nicking possession to set up counter-attacks.
The period in which Villa really fell off the rails pre-Christmas was when Gueye was out; when the sliver of steel they boasted in midfield was injured. His passing is fairly average and he offers very little goal threat, but the energy, poise and strength he brings to a side is something that burns brightly in a poor team.
As an anchor or a box-to-box midfielder he'd be a success in most places, and his mentality is not in question: Despite those around him giving up in late January, Gueye soldiered on.
Potential destinations: Southampton, Stoke City, Watford, Crystal Palace
Timm Klose, CB, Norwich City
Three weeks ago, Norwich were making a beeline for Premier League safety, surging up the table after collecting seven points from a possible nine against Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United. They’d found defensive solidity, keeping clean sheets in two of those three games, and kept Sergio Aguero at bay at Carrow Road.
The catalyst? Timm Klose.
Signed from Wolfsburg in January, he took a few weeks to find his feet but really burst into life in March. He took control of the defensive line, exuding confidence and bringing the error-prone Sebastien Bassong into check. Klose’s aerial power and defensive intelligence rapidly transformed Norwich into a team that were, suddenly, positioned correctly and absurdly stubborn.
Then Klose got injured, and it has all but fallen to pieces. He was man of the match against City and West Brom and scored in the 3-2 win over the Magpies, but 40 minutes into their next game against Crystal Palace he was substituted off hurt. We haven’t seen him since and the Canaries have reverted to their defensive selves of old; they’ve lost three on the bounce and conceded three to Sunderland alone.
Anyone looking for verification of Klose’s impact need look no further than this six-game span.
Potential destinations: Everton, Swansea City
Jamaal Lascelles, Newcastle United
Of all the projections and predictions made when Rafa Benitez took charge of Newcastle United in March, few will have mentioned Jamaal Lascelles becoming a player upon which survival chances may rest, but here he is: leading the line and making a damn good name for himself.
When Rafa took the reins, his initial move was to install a central-defensive partnership including Steven Taylor, but as we saw against Southampton, when Shane Long barely even had to jink to send him spiralling the wrong way in the buildup to a goal, Taylor has lost more than just a single step over the years. At half-time in that game, Lascelles came on and impressed in that small 45-minute sample.
The following week he started, and has since carved out a very good partnership with Chancel Mbemba. He has many of the tools top-tier centre-backs do, with his high football IQ and strong decision-making arguably his greatest attributes.
He and Mbemba form a stopper-sweeper partnership, and Lascelles is the sweeper, utilising good recovery pace and a confidence when squared up against a runner one-on-one to nullify danger.
As his confidence has grown, his passing and distribution has improved, and all of a sudden Newcastle have transformed into a defensively solid side capable of grinding out victories. Lascelles, and by proxy Rafa, are two of the biggest reasons as to why.
Potential destinations: Everton, Swansea City
Jan Kirchhoff, DM, Sunderland
If you ever experience a terrible first day at work, take heed of Jan Kirchhoff’s story and bask in the solace of second chances.
His debut was an unmitigated, unparalleled disaster; he played a part in the concession of three Tottenham goals at White Hart Lane, turning a potential one-point haul into a 4-1 loss. Eurosport collated a number of tweets mocking the German, with some suggesting it was the worst debut in the history of any sport.
Some players may well have crumbled there and then, but Kirchhoff has roared back and become a star performer for Sam Allardyce. Restored to his more comfortable position of anchor midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 shape—as opposed to playing as a third centre-back, like he did at White Hart Lane—he’s been crunching through challenges and breaking up play for weeks.
Arguably his best performance of the season came in the Tyne-Wear derby, where the former Bayern Munich man totalled eight tackles (per WhoScored.com) and dominated the centre against Rafa Benitez’s charges. He does the simple things well: dispossess, pass, take up a new position.
Kirchhoff has the frame of a centre-back and won’t suddenly start slaloming between challenges and taking players on; he plays at a single pace, and all of his attributes are geared toward creating turnovers and starting counter-attacks. That’s a valuable tool in a see-sawing Premier League tactical battle and, quietly, the German can be one of the most effective performers on any pitch.
Potential destinations: Any promoted club, Stoke City, Watford
