Some suggestions are slightly tongue in cheek, with Romelu Lukaku outscoring every Chelsea player. But Brighton and Fulham might consider their options.
Romain Faivre (Bournemouth)
“It’s great for the club to have secured such a talent in Romain,” said Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake. “We wish him all the best for the coming season and look forward to seeing him continue his development.”
The evolution of their £12.8m summer signing might have been one of few things keeping Bournemouth going through their slog of a debut season under Andoni Iraola, as well as their first full campaign as the new plaything of owner Bill Foley. The American’s hopes of establishing his own multi-club model saw him acquire a minority stake in Lorient a month after taking over the Cherries in December, forming a partnership between the two sides which allowed Faivre to be farmed out in France for one more year upon joining.
In a damning indictment of Foley’s taste in football clubs, Lorient are a point and a place above the Ligue Un relegation zone. But Faivre’s three goals and one assist represents an improvement on every Bournemouth player bar Dominic Solanke. Simply not being injured when he joined makes him an automatic upgrade on most of the club’s other summer signings.
Carl Rushworth (Brighton)
As Roberto De Zerbi continues to insist on shared custody of the Brighton gloves between Bart Verbruggen and Jason Steele, their lack of a Premier League clean sheet since ending Arsenal’s title challenge in May is nudged into increasingly awkward focus. The Italian has changed many a perspective on coaching in his year on the coast, but not every experiment can deliver resoundingly successful results.
They are, at least on some key metrics, both among the worst goalkeepers in the top flight this season. Yet Brighton typically have some phenomenal options on their books, lurking somewhere in the fine print. Tom McGill is the highly-rated third-choice, Carl Rushworth has been one of the best keepers in the Championship on loan at Swansea, Kjell Scherpen is receiving valuable European experience at Sturm Graz and James Beadle is excelling at Oxford. All are aged 23 or under and have been primed for burgeoning careers.
Rushworth might be the current standout, making his 100th Football League appearance recently after working his way up through each of those three divisions on loan. In terms of outperforming PSxG, he ranks second in the Championship this season behind Ipswich’s Vaclav Hladky and that has to mean something. Someone with a laptop and an air-conditioned office would know. Ask them.
The Seagulls do have a recall clause they can activate in January; England goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson, who moonlights at Swansea, reckons Rushworth can become “a top Premier League goalkeeper” in time, so it might serve him far better to continue his apprenticeship.
Brighton fans – forgive me if you know this already – you’ve got an outstanding young keeper on your hands in Carl Rushworth. Top class saves yesterday.
On the subject of loan players, I thought Harrison Ashby, up against a tricky winger in Patrick Roberts, played well too 🦢— Stuart James (@stujames75) November 5, 2023
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
Third time lucky and all that. Lukaku has not only outscored every Chelsea player in both the league and all competitions this season, but his nine goals in Serie A and the Europa League has matched the tally the Blues’ joint highest scorers – Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling – managed in the entirety of last season. And that is even without the added benefit of ever facing an opponent deploying a permanent offside trap on the halfway line.
It would shatter the current record for a returning player’s unfinished business, while likely deeply annoying Jose Mourinho – at least worth consideration.
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Jay Stansfield (Fulham)
A few months of working under Wayne Rooney cannot harm a young forward’s progress and regular Championship opportunities, having previously taken to League One admirably with his late father’s former club Leyton Orient, will prove invaluable. The new Birmingham manager has already praised his “really important” top scorer before warning of the dangers of relying too heavily on a loan player.
But Fulham must at least be tempted by the prospect of bringing Stansfield back early. It is not clear whether such an option is even available to them but five goals in 12 games is a fine return made to look even more impressive through the prism of his parent club’s attacking struggles.
Aleksandar Mitrovic has left a gaping hole that Marco Silva has been unable to fill. The Cottagers are the Premier League’s joint second-lowest scorers and between them Raul Jimenez, Carlos Vinicius and Rodrigo Muniz have one goal from 22 shots. But it would be too soon for a 20-year-old to assume that burden and fast-track established plans.
As Stansfield said when signing a four-year Fulham contract in August: “I can’t wait to be able to come back next season a better player and hopefully play in front of everyone at Craven Cottage.”
Flynn Downes (West Ham)
“Obviously I know West Ham have signed a lot of midfielders, so I knew that would be tough,” said Downes after examining a list of incomings which included Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, before concluding that not even the sale of Declan Rice would boost his prospects under David Moyes.
The £12m summer 2022 signing was made with a philosophical switch to a more possession-based style in mind, but soon became a spare part once Moyes decided reinvention was for nerds. Downes was sustained largely on a diet of Europa Conference League football and even then it was a mild surprise to see him beyond the group stages.
The 24-year-old sought solace in the manager who had chauffeured him to the big Premier League dance. It was under Russell Martin at Swansea that Downes truly caught the eye and his contributions to the coach’s cause at Southampton have not gone unnoticed in certain quarters of a West Ham fanbase that has seen Ward-Prowse and Alvarez run into the ground with inadequate defensive midfield cover.
Daniel Podence (Wolves)
From the 2020/21 season to the 2022/23 campaign, Ruben Neves (19) was the only player to score or assist more Premier League goals for Wolves than Podence (16). That was reflected in the three-year contract the forward signed in September – less so by his departure for Olympiacos on loan.
The suggestion is that ties will be cut more permanently soon but Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs seemed to indicate the move was planned during the Julen Lopetegui era and that “there’s still a possibility Daniel comes back and plays for Wolves again,” even if “it was the right time to let him go and play this season”.
The winger is certainly enjoying his time in Greece, with six goals and three assists in 10 games. With Pedro Neto and Hwang Hee-chan laughably clear as Wolves’ goal threats under Gary O’Neil, it is striking to see another of their forwards excelling elsewhere.
