Liverpool’s record-equalling title win saw them top the pile despite making just one signing last summer. Italian international Federico Chiesa was expected to bolster Arne Solt’s attacking threat but the Euro 2020 winner has barely featured this season.
Here’s an XI made up from players who won the Premier League in their maiden season at a club but weren’t really needed…
Goalkeeper: Richard Wright (Arsenal)
After arriving at Highbury in 2001 following a successful spell at hometown club Ipswich Town, Richard Wright was viewed as the heir to David Seaman’s England and Arsenal throne. But a couple of high-profile mistakes in his first season saw doubts raised over his future and despite lifting the Premier League title, he ended up dropping behind the emerging Stuart Taylor in the pecking order. Wright and Taylor failed to grab the No. 1 shirt and both of them later got into the lucrative ‘third choice at Manchester City’ business.
If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try naming the former City ‘keeper who signed for Blackburn at the start of the 1994/95 season but didn’t play a single game as Rovers romped to the title.
Centre-back: Matthew Upson (Arsenal)
Wright wasn’t the first promising English player Arsene Wenger signed who failed to make the grade at Highbury. Matthew Upson arrived at the club in the summer of 1997, at the start of a season that would mark the legendary manager’s first Premier League triumph.
Upson failed to oust the established trio of Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Steve Bould in the centre of Arsenal’s defence but he did go on to play a bigger role in the double-winning campaign of 2001/02 before eventually finding regular first-team football at Birmingham City.
Centre-back: Stefan Savic (Manchester City)
Now plying his trade in Turkey after his long spell at the heart of Atletico Madrid’s defence came to an end last summer, in 2011 Stefan Savic was tipped to play a crucial role in the future of emerging superpower Manchester City. But the Montenegro international was very much a bit-part player amongst the Aguero madness and was promptly shipped off to try his luck in Tuscany with Fiorentina.
Centre-back: Nathan Ake (Manchester City)
Unlike Savic, Nathan Ake overcame a difficult first season at the Etihad and went on to help Manchester City become the first English club to win four league titles in a row. 2020 marked the start of that journey, with Guardiola’s men finishing 12 points clear of local rivals Manchester United. But Ake barely featured in his maiden season, struggling with form and injuries after his move from Bournemouth.
Right wing: Karel Poborsky (Manchester United)
Signed by Manchester United after a memorable Euro ’96 with the Czech Republic that included a superb winner against Portugal, Karel Poborsky was expected to become a star for the Red Devils over the coming years. But the very first game of the 1996/97 season saw David Beckham signal his intentions to make the right-wing spot his own with an incredible goal from the half-way line against Wimbledon. Beckham’s form that campaign kept Poborsky out of the side and made him Glenn Hoddle’s first new pick for the Three Lions as United retained the title.
Central midfield: Owen Hargreaves (Manchester City)
Beckham’s international team-mate Owen Hargreaves would join Manchester United in 2007 and helped the club to Premier League and Champions League success in his first season at the club. But injuries took their toll on the midfielder over the next few years and he barely featured for the Red Devils before departing Old Trafford in 2011.
A shock move to the blue side of Manchester followed but he only played four times for City in the 2011/12 campaign as Roberto Mancini led the club to their first title since 1968.
Central midfield: Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)
Speaking of England international midfielders who couldn’t get a game at the Etihad, Kalvin Phillips may well be in line to be one of many relegated Premier League players reassigned to newly promoted Leeds United. The former Elland Road favourite made a big-money move to reigning champions Manchester City in 2022 but barely featured as the club retained the title. Pep Guardiola clearly felt Phillips couldn’t carry the weight of the shirt as loan moves to West Ham and Ipswich Town soon followed.
Central midfield: Matheus Nunes (Manchester City)
Phillips isn’t the first midfielder Guardiola has criticised despite signing for a huge fee. Matheus Nunes was deemed too dim to play in the middle of the park by the Spanish boss and has been primarily used as a full-back since his move from Wolves. The Portuguese international did pick a Premier League title in his first season with the club but only made 17 appearances.
Left wing: Richard Witschge (Blackburn Rovers)
Dutch international Richard Witschge was signed on loan by Blackburn in their historic 1994/95 season as the club ended an 81-year wait for the title. However, it wasn’t to be a happy union, with Witschge playing just once for the Ewood Park outfit whilst calling the town ugly and claiming Graeme Le Saux didn’t possess the required skills to play ahead of him.
Striker: Dion Dublin (Manchester United)
After narrowly missing out to Leeds in the race for the last ever First Division title, Alex Ferguson wanted a striker to add to his ranks to mount a challenge for the newly formed Premier League in 1992. A youthful Dion Dublin arrived at Old Trafford but a leg-break in September put him out of action and a famous phone call from the reigning champions led to Eric Cantona arriving from Elland Road.
The mercurial Cantona was already well on the way to becoming a transformative figure for the Red Devils by the time Dublin returned from injury and a lack of game time saw him make a move to Coventry City in the summer of ’94.
Striker: Francis Jeffers (Arsenal)
Unfortunately for Francis Jeffers he was more flop in the box than fox for Arsenal after making the move to north London from boyhood club Everton in 2001. The promise Jeffers had shown in his nascent years at Goodison Park failed to materialise at Highbury and he made just 10 appearances in all competitions as Arsene Wenger led the Gunners to a second league and cup double.
