Including two Bayern Munich signings, here are five players who will be massively missed by a Premier League club having left this summer.
Joao Palhinha (Fulham)
Elite defensive midfielders do not grow on trees for mid-table Premier League teams, but that is exactly what fell into Fulham’s basket with Joao Palhinha. They recently raked in around £50million for the Portuguese international, who will be playing his football for Bayern Munich this season, challenging for titles and enjoying Champions League nights for the first time since 2022.
‘Fulham had a free run at Palhinha in the summer of 2022, which seems bizarre in glorious hindsight. He was linked with Arsenal and Manchester United – to name a couple – but none of the Premier League’s big hitters took a chance on him, even though he was available for a measly £20m. Looking back, the Red Devils will no doubt be kicking themselves, as will pretty much every other team who considered Palhinha and didn’t bite the bullet.
Their loss was Fulham’s gain. Palhinha came in to Marco Silva’s midfield and was a revelation. His defensive numbers were the best in the country, tackling anyone who dared to step foot in his vicinity. Having a rock-solid No. 6 allowed the Cottagers to establish themselves as a mid-table Premier League outfit, with relegation never creeping into their minds. The goals of Aleksandar Mitrovic obviously helped but his absence was barely felt last season; we fear that will not be the case for Fulham post-Palhinha.
We are now deep into August and Fulham are yet to sign a replacement for the 29-year-old. In truth, they could have a £100m transfer budget and they would still not be able to sign someone on the same level. Scott McTominay has been linked but he isn’t really a defensive midfielder.
Fulham also have a long-standing interest in Fluminense’s Andre and we reckon he is their best bet. But if he was going to come to London, it surely would have happened by now. It does look like being Burnley’s Sander Berge, who has been relegated in both of his full seasons in the top flight. He’s no Palhinha-style destroyer, mind.
That hole in the Fulham midfield could put them in danger this season. Relegation is perhaps a bit too pessimistic but it won’t be a comfortable year for them. Out of every sold player this summer, Palhinha will be the biggest miss across the entire Premier League.
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Pascal Gross (Brighton)
From the spine of one team to the heartbeat of another, Brighton let Pascal Gross return to Germany this summer as he signed for Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund for a small fee believed to be in the region of £6m.
On his competitive debut for Dortmund, Gross provided two assists in a 4-1 win in the DfB Pokal. That is a good start. It is also a slightly concerning start as players starting in the part-timer phase of the cup competition are usually not guaranteed starters in the Bundesliga. In that respect, we will have to wait and see what Gross’ role is under new manager Nuri Sahin.
The Germany midfielder was incredibly crucial for Brighton under both Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi, with his importance growing stronger with the latter in charge. In 23/24, he ranked second in the Premier League for key passes, third for progressive passes, joint-third for passes into the penalty area, second for most touches, trailing only Manchester City’s Rodri, while notching an impressive 10 assists, bettered only by Ollie Watkins (13) and Cole Palmer (11).
Brighton are going to struggle to replace that output and new head coach Fabian Hurzeler will hope summer signing Mats Wieffer can be the man to fill the void. Fat chance of seeing Wieffer fill in at right-back or right-wing-back, mind.
Wieffer started his Brighton career with an assist at Everton on Saturday and had 88 touches in total, so it’s not all doom and gloom.
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Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
Tackles and touches are hard to replace, but not as hard as goals; and that is what new Tottenham signing Dominic Solanke brought in abundance for Bournemouth last season.
Andoni Iraola’s greatest achievement in his debut year at the Vitality was getting a tune out of Solanke. Established as an average striker who will get you four goals in the Premier League and 25 in the Championship, Solanke randomly decided to bang in one every two games last term, helping the Cherries record a 12th-place finish with their highest-ever points tally in the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Bournemouth, Solanke has gone and Iraola is left hoping Evanilson can hit the ground running (we are looking forward to his hat-trick against Newcastle United on Sunday to make this null and void). Iraola’s ability to make Solanke a £55m striker gives Bournemouth fans hope that the £31.5m spent on Evanilson can be swiftly justified, but we are not overly optimistic about the Cherries post-Solanke.
Michael Olise (Crystal Palace)
Crystal Palace will take some solace in the fact that they were without Michael Olise more often than they would have liked due to injury, and were nowhere near a relegation battle, even during the miserable parts of Roy Hodgson’s most recent spell. On the other hand, their incredible form at the end of last season coincided with Olise’s return, though it has been hailed as the Oliver Glasner effect.
When he played, the Frenchman would often contribute with a goal or assist, and there is no doubt that he made Palace a much stronger team. Without him on the right wing, Glasner loses so much, and as is the case with Fulham and Palhinha – Olise’s new Bayern team-mate – a £100m budget would not buy someone on the same level because someone on the same level does not want to join Crystal Palace. It is now up to the Eagles to find and nurture a young winger into their Olise heir.
Ismaila Sarr has been brought in by Glasner but is completely different to Olise; he is pacey and direct, while Olise brought more consistency, composure and ability from set-pieces.
It is going to be extremely difficult to replace Olise’s output and there is now increasing pressure on Eberechi Eze to make Palace his team.
Max Kilman (Wolves)
Losing your captain is far from ideal, isn’t it? That is what has happened at Wolves, who got a cool £40m from West Ham for Max Kilman, while also selling injury-prone winger Pedro Neto to Chelsea for £54m.
Losing Neto is undoubtedly a blow but Gary O’Neil was without him for a lot of 23/24, so we think they will survive. Losing Kilman, however, leaves a big void in the Wolves defence and in the dressing room, we assume. He was club captain after all.
O’Neil went with a centre-back partnership of Toti and Yerson Mosquera, who notably grabbed a feel of Gabriel Jesus’ bottom and choke-slammed Kai Havertz, for Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. There is no disrespect intended when I say this, but that is not a convincing partnership. Wolves need to sign a central defender and despite the £94m made from Kilman and Neto, there is reportedly a reluctance to spend big due to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Wolves are also keen on signing a new goalkeeper, so it is unclear if O’Neil will even sign a replacement for new West Ham man Kilman. He needs one.
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