Alli to Konaté: Premier League players with a point to prove
There was a time when it seemed inconceivable that the gifted midfielder who so often joined the dots for Leicester could be excluded from Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad, yet Maddison not only missed the England cut but lost his automatic club place in the spring. Towards the end of the 2020-21 campaign a player whose considerable self-assurance can sometimes spill over into arrogance was left on the bench by Brendan Rodgers for some important matches. Maddison possesses the talent to be one of the first names on Rodgers’s team sheet but he must first relocate his mislaid on-field poise and humility.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
The striker signed a new threeyear contract worth about £250,000 a week last September but it failed to exert the desired effect. Instead, the goals stopped flowing and Aubameyang
ended last season having scored only 10 times in the Premier League. Throw in some distinctly average all-round performances and it was no surprise when he was dropped for the odd big game by Mikel Arteta. Having turned 32 in June, now is the time for Aubameyang to fulfil a pledge to turn himself into an Arsenal legend and be placed in the same exalted bracket as Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.
Joelinton (Newcastle)
Steve Bruce freely admits that his £40m Brazilian striker – a club record signing – is not over-fussed about scoring. “The great strikers, the goalscorers, all they’re interested in is scoring goals,” said Newcastle’s manager. “But Joelinton is not like that. He certainly hasn’t got that mentality.” Bruce hopes, after two seasons and six goals in 69 appearances on Tyneside, that a forward who turns 25 on Saturday will benefit from swapping his No 9 shirt for the No 7, allowing Callum Wilson to wear No 9. The plan is to deploy Joelinton primarily in the wide left attacking role in which he impressed at Hoffenheim rather than at centre-forward. Maybe, just maybe, he can finally confound the doubters.
Robin Koch (Leeds)
When the ball-playing 6ft 4in centre-half arrived from Freiburg for £13m last summer, Leeds fans were suitably excited. But Koch’s first season was disrupted by serious knee trouble which necessitated surgery. The 25year-old recovered to make Germany’s
Euro 2020 squad and his determination to impose himself finally on Marcelo Bielsa’s first team was emphasised when he returned for pre-season training after only a fortnight’s holiday. Koch, who commands about £46,000 a week, is believed to be among the highest earners at Elland Road; now he must prove he is worth it.
Billy Gilmour (Norwich on loan from Chelsea)
The list of players loaned out by Chelsea who rarely, if ever, set foot on the Stamford Bridge pitch is extremely long but hopes are high Gilmour will prove a notable exception. The Scotland midfielder is only 20 but, given his debut by Frank Lampard, had clocked up 11 first-team appearances before being loaned to promoted Norwich. Gilmour was voted man of the match on his full Scotland debut in the Euro 2020 0-0 draw against England in June but his tournament involvement was cut short by a positive Covid test. He hopes to continue justifying the hype by helping Daniel Farke’s side find their Premier League feet but, for all his rich promise, this represents Gilmour’s biggest test to date.
Ferran Torres (Manchester City)
The 21-year-old Spain winger with a centre-forward’s eye for goal was a bit-part player for City last season but he made Pep Guardiola take notice by scoring a brilliant hat-trick at Newcastle
in May. Now City’s manager has pencilled in his two-footed talent for a significant role, possibly playing off his No 1 target, Tottenham’s Harry Kane, in the front three. The indications are that Torres possesses the skills to establish himself as one of the Etihad Stadium’s biggest stars but he must confirm that he truly belongs in Guardiola’s glittering firmament by producing consistently high-calibre performances. When he signed for City from Valencia, Torres took over the No 21 shirt vacated by his hero, David Silva. Can he take the chance to make himself as near-indispensable as Silva once was?
Danny Rose (Watford)
The former England left-back did not play a minute of senior football with Spurs last term, when he was sent to train with the under-23s, and he joined promoted Watford as a free agent this summer. At 31, Rose theoretically has time to add to his 29 England caps but a defender ostracised by Tottenham’s former manager José Mourinho, never looked properly fit – or fully engaged – during an undistinguished loan at Newcastle in 2020. Rose possesses sufficient ability to become one of Watford’s key players but does he still have the desire? The Vicarage Road going is likely to get tough at times but will Rose demonstrate he retains the toughness to get his game moving?
Dele Alli (Tottenham)
It is no exaggeration to say Alli and Mourinho did not get on. He was brought back into the fold by the Portuguese’s caretaker successor at Spurs, Ryan Mason, last spring but proved strangely tentative. At 25, a versatile creative talent able to play across midfield and as a second striker is keen to add to his 37 England caps yet, after being central to England’s efforts at Russia 2018, Alli was miles from selection for Euro 2020. A new club manager offers a clean slate and Nuno Espírito Santo seems keen to reintegrate him into his first team after deploying him in central midfield in pre-season. Should Kane depart, Alli has the goalscoring ability to help compensate but desperately needs to pull his socks up and start reminding everyone how gifted he is.
Jack Butland (Crystal Palace)
Three years ago Butland was part of Gareth Southgate’s England World Cup squad in Russia; last season he made one Premier League appearance for Palace. At 28 all is far from lost for a goalkeeper desperate to impress the new Selhurst Park manager, Patrick Vieira. If displacing Palace’s established first-choice keeper, Vicente Guaita, will not be easy, Butland is far too talented to be a permanent understudy. It is not so long ago that the 6ft 5in Bristolian was regarded as arguably England’s best goalkeeper. After a run of terrible luck with injuries, the former Stoke player is fit again and facing something of a watershed campaign. At his best, Butland is brilliant; time perhaps for him to remember the adage about form being temporary but class permanent?
Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool)
Injuries in central defence cost Liverpool dear last season but Jürgen Klopp has invested £36m in the 6ft 4in Konaté. Quick, extremely strong, dominant in the air and blessed with a velvet touch, the France Under-21 international looks a fine addition but must prove he can transpose his Bundesliga form to the Premier League while staying fit. Perhaps worryingly, ankle trouble interrupted his progress in Germany but at least RB Leipzig’s habitually high defensive line means he is accustomed to the defensive pressures entailed in playing for an often aggressively high-pressing team. Klopp will be keen to refine the 22-year-old’s passing and improve his goalscoring but the newcomer’s principal challenge is to help double bolt Anfield’s back door.