EPL Transfers: 10 Players Who Must Be Sold in This Summer Window

We have long been writing about players and transfers, and in most cases we have either talked about the transfers done or about the possible ones. Finally, I have come up with a list of players who must be sold by their respective clubs before the summer transfer window closes this season.

These players are now in a position where the best thing for both the player and the club will be to sell them off to other clubs.

Let us take a look at the top 10 players who make up this list.

10. Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool): I still don't understand why he is on the team. Though the Reds bought Maxi as a free signing, the wages are not free here.

Maxi signed to Liverpool from Athletico Madrid and since then he has failed to put on a single impressive performance for the team. He was initially a right forward and then became a right midfielder as his career progressed/deteriorated. Undoubtedly one of the worst signings of last season, Maxi reminds me of a needle in the pain. 

However, it would cost very little money to trade him away.

9. Shay Given (Manchester City): Given started his first match this season by sitting on the bench while the manager's number one choice Joe Hart produced a string of brilliant saves for Man City.

Given has told that he is not there to play as a sub in Eastlands and thus may want a move to other clubs. Manager Mancini also has said that he wants his players to be happy and thus Given can decide his future elsewhere away from City.

Arsenal are the possible suitors for the man after a long chase of Fulham's Mark Schwarzer. It is now reported that Fulham could also grab the keeper if they lose Schwarzer to Arsenal. Shay Given is surely not a player to play in the sub role and needs to be traded.

8. Charles N'Zogbia (Wigan Athletic): N'Zogbia did not play a role in Wigan's 4-0 embarrassing defeat to Blackpool, as the manager Roberto Martinez said that he was not in the right frame of mind. However, the truth is perhaps that the player himself did not want to play in the match for which he was charged a large fine by the club.

N'Zogbia is clearly unhappy at the club, either because the club refused to sign his friend Sekou Baradji, who was on trial, or because of his desire to play at higher levels (which he has not kept a secret).

N'Zogbia has attracted interest from clubs like Birmingham City, Sunderland, Juventus, and Marseille and is keen on moving to other choices this summer. A move to Marseille may be on the cards as of now.

7. Manuel Almunia (Arsenal): Do we need logic here? Arsene Wenger and his fans have been trying to offload their misery at the goal since last year. Time and again, Almunia has proved that he is deteriorating with each passing game.

Is it a lack of form or a brimming unwillingness from the player? Whatever the cause, Wenger must find a man in his goal, and it looks like Manchester City's Shay Given is the one for Wenger at this time. And a move for Given to Arsenal would mean a move for Almunia too, probably to Osasuna. 

Arsenal's last match also saw Almunia fooled and beaten by a near post shot from Liverpool's David N'Gog, and Arsenal drew a match with 10-man Liverpool solely because of Almunia.

6. Robinho (Manchester City): Robinho was loaned out by City to Santos last season, the place where he started his career. Robinho had moved out to City from Real Madrid, where he had a good first season but failed miserably in the second with injuries and strings of bad performances.

The forward has made it no secret that he wanted to make his Santos move permanent, but the fees could not be settled. Man City also tried to sell Robinho to Barcelona for a Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the deal looks to have shut down too. Schalke is also interested in the man, and Man City's new interest in Benfica's David Luiz may trigger them to offload Robinho to buy the centre back.

The thing that comes out clear is Robinho's willingness to move to some other club and say a goodbye to Mancini's Man City. With the arrival of Mario Balotelli and James Milner, will Robinho find a starting place in Man City? I guess not, so the forward should be sold.

5. Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea): Needless to say Zhirkov is a player wasted at Stamford Bridge. He rarely gets his first team chances even though he is one of the best players in Chelsea. He became the most expensive Russian as Chelsea signed him to a salary of £18m for four years, and is that too much money to spend on a substitute?

Chelsea are struggling with the absence of a quality striker to support the legendary hitman Didier Drogba, as players like Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou are not on his level.

It would have been wise for Chelsea to sell off Zhirkov with a good price and invest in strikers or even a central defender to fill the hole left by the sold Ricardo Carvalho.

4. Steven Pienaar (Everton): With Mikel Arteta signing a new deal with the club, is it the end for Steven Peinaar? The player has not yet penned a new contract with the club and thus may head to a Goodison exit.

He has raised interests from top clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool, and it would be wise for Everton to sell off the player at some price this season rather than lose him for free the next. Now, take a look at Everton: Is not there the utmost need for a striker out there?

The Toffees can make use of the Pienaar sale money to get a striker to replace the obsolete Louis Saha and Yakubu. Jermaine Beckford is the new star, and the two mentioned forwards are finished on the team, so a new forward is the need of the hour.

3. David Bentley (Tottenham Hotspur): Since his £15m move to the Spurs from the Blackburn Rovers, David Bentley has not been in the good books of Manager Harry Redknapp and has lost his first squad place on the Spurs. 

His stats in Blackburn were pretty impressive, and thus he is being wasted here with the Spurs. This problem may be a result of his being caught so many times with a scandalized lifestyle, but is that a reason to always make him a sub on the squad?

Surely, Redknapp is in no mood to feature Bentley, so a just decision will be to sell the player off and get some cash.

I have here included a link to video where Redknapp admits his dislike for Bentley, and with that you can get lot more funny things from other managers too. 

2. Anderson (Manchester United): The flop-monkey with a price tag of £18m!!! Surely, it is one of Sir Alex's worst decisions at United. Anderson scored his first goal in 2009 for United, but he joined the club two years ago back in 2007.

Anderson was supposed to be a successor to the United Golden boy Paul Scholes as a central attacking midfielder, but he instead is at par with the United reserve squad. Recently injured in a car accident, he is still the same injured Anderson and still that big burden for the club and the fans.

1. Javier Mascherano (Liverpool): Masch needs to be sold by the club for the long-term purpose here. Roy Hodgson's new Liverpool looks better than before and has a strong midfield with Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, and others. While Liverpool has other big flops to sell off like Maxi Rodriguez and Alberto Aquilani, none of them will grant the Reds a big transfer sum like Mascherano will.

lubs like Inter and Barcelona have shown interest in the defensive midfielder of Liverpool, and it would be wise for Liverpool to sell the player at a good price to any big club. Masch's contribution to the club is undoubtedly good, but Liverpool here needs a forward to add strength to the team.

David N'Gog is not as great as Fernando Torres is, and thus bringing in an incoming quality striker to support Torres may turn the tables for the Reds. Gerrard has been great in an anchoring role, and the addition of Lucas back to team could confirm the defensive strengths of the Reds.

PS:  We have other players we could name like Santa Cruz of Man City or Owen Hargreaves of Man United; the list is dynamic and not exhaustive. You are most welcome to give your views.