These 10 players should have a new home by now. Why don’t they? Well, in most cases nobody is interested or negotiations are taking longer than expected.
Starting with a player who had agreed personal terms with Tottenham, here are a bunch of Premier League players who should have secured a summer transfer by now.
David Raya
Spanish goalkeeper David Raya has found himself in a bit of a sticky situation. He has rejected several offers to extend his Brentford contract as he actively pursues a move to a bigger club. The Bees set a £40million asking price and obviously expected someone to pay that fee as they brought in Mark Flekken, who is now presumably Thomas Frank’s new No. 1.
Following the expiry of Hugo Lloris’ contract, Raya reportedly agreed personal terms with Spurs, who deemed the £40m fee too high and have since signed Guglielmo Vicario for less than half the price. Raya has also been linked with Manchester United – who recently signed Andre Onana to replace David de Gea – and Chelsea – who have sold Edouard Mendy and opted to make Kepa Arrizabalaga their first-choice keeper.
With a year left on Raya’s contract, Brentford may feel forced to lower their asking price and perhaps Chelsea’s stance will then change. A summer move feels inevitable, but it is anyone’s guess where the Spain shot-stopper will end up.
Nicolas Pepe
Arsenal’s former club-record signing has had a rough time of it under Mikel Arteta. Signed by Unai Emery for £72m, when the Spaniard apparently wanted Wilfried Zaha instead, Nicolas Pepe has scored 27 goals and notched 21 assists in 112 appearances for the Gunners. He also played a big part in their FA Cup success three years ago. But despite the occasional good time, Pepe is clearly surplus to requirements.
The Ivorian winger spent last season on loan at French side OGC Nice, who were not interested in signing him permanently. Arsenal had hoped for a solution by now, but no dice. Saudi Arabia beckons for Pepe; in fact we could not blame you for assuming he was already there. Knowing Arsenal, they will be the only club unable to sell a player to the Middle Eastern before terminating his contract in September.
Arsenal: 22-year-old top in ranking of every signing made by Arteta and Emery since Wenger left
Joao Cancelo
Speaking of Arsenal, they reportedly made Joao Cancelo a transfer target heading into the summer. Those links have died down, though Arteta has voiced his desire to bring in more players, so who knows?
Cancelo spent the second half of last season on loan at Bayern Munich, failing to impress, and is involved in Manchester City’s pre-season tour of Japan, where he will likely get some minutes before a summer move.
Having been linked with the Gunners, Barcelona and a few more clubs, Cancelo was expected to be one of the first names out of the door at the Etihad this summer, but for one reason or another, it has not happened. Pep Guardiola apparently does not see eye to eye with the Portuguese, so you cannot assume City’s asking price is unrealistic. This is an interesting one, for sure. A move to Saudi Arabia could end up being the player’s best option.
City are also poised to sell Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo Silva this summer. The latter has been linked with Paris Saint-Germain, while Laporte’s next destination is uncertain.
Dean Henderson
It is not a case of if, but when Dean Henderson leaves Manchester United for Nottingham Forest. Surely it will be a permanent move, not a seventh loan of his career. Come on, Dean, you’re 26. It’s time to grow up and move out on your own.
Romelu Lukaku
Is there anything more inevitable than Romelu Lukaku realising he has no choice but to join a club in Saudi Arabia? A permanent switch to Inter did seem to be the only option but the Serie A side reportedly backed out of talks after they learned the player was also speaking to Juventus. It’s all a bit weird, to be honest.
Chelsea need a striker. They need a focal point. They need someone who can play in behind and hold the ball up. Lukaku can do all that. However, he doesn’t want to for them, which is proving to be quite the obstacle. Who’d have thought it?
Hakim Ziyech
In fairness to Hakim Ziyech, he was set to join Al-Nassr before something in his medical put the Saudi side off. Fabrizio Romano had said ‘here we go’ and everything! After what happened with PSG in January, we might never see the Moroccan leave Chelsea.
The issue with the medical reportedly led to Al-Nassr offering the player a lower salary, which he was not interested in accepting. They will probably come back soon with the same terms and Ziyech will feel obliged to put pen to paper. Unless the Chelsea fax machine catches on fire or Todd Boehly’s dog eats the paperwork.
Jonjo Shelvey
There was news of a rift between Steve Cooper and Nottingham Forest midfielder Jonjo Shelvey a few months after his move from Newcastle United and Cooper is reportedly eager to part ways with the ex-Liverpool man.
Whether he stays in the Premier League or joins a Championship club remains to be seen. We don’t care about that, to be honest. We just want to see more examples of him inviting girls back to his gaff after a night out only to show them his YouTube highlights.
Several Tottenham players
This is a bit of a cheat, we know. Bear with us.
There are so many Spurs players who should have left by now, but none of them are really relevant enough to merit a spot on their own (says the guy who included Jonjo Shelvey).
Ange Postecoglou has a bunch of returning loanees who could end up being Like A New Signing, while others have no chance of resurrecting their careers in north London. Giovani Lo Celso and Djed Spence are probably the only players falling into the first bracket. Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil, Joe Rodon and Sergio Reguilon are very much done. How they are all still employed by Daniel Levy is beyond us.
Gianluca Scamacca
After a difficult debut season in the Premier League, Gianluca Scamacca has been linked with a return to Italy – more specifically, Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma.
Going from Serie A to the Premier League is not an easy transition and it is one Scamacca struggled with. West Ham also have a pretty shocking record when spending big on strikers, so this one was never going to work, was it?
Moises Caicedo
Fabrizio Romano claimed months ago that Roberto De Zerbi “promised” Moises Caicedo a summer transfer. The Brighton head coach recently denied this is the case. That might explain why the player is still at the Amex and not playing for Chelsea against League Two teams in the United States.
Arsenal wanted Caicedo in January and Caicedo wanted Arsenal right back. It was a match made in heaven but Brighton did not want to sell. Again, they are reluctant to sell with Chelsea this time knocking on the door. Many thought it would be done by now but Declan Rice’s £105m move to the Emirates means the Seagulls want a similar fee for their prized asset, which is really slowing down the process.
