6 days ago
12
1 PL club with 3 unused
©TM/IMAGO
Premier League clubs are often guilty of overspending on players to fill their bloated squads and stack their numbers. Even with the restriction of a 25-man squad, teams appear to be prepared to leave some players in the stands despite paying them thousands of pounds a week. Transfermarkt has found that there are 18 outfield players who have not been injured this season but are yet to play a single minute of Premier League football.
Sunderland, who brought in 16 new players ahead of the 2025/26 season, have left three squad members out without handing them a minute of football. Bournemouth, Burnley, Chelsea and Wolves are the next biggest offenders with two players apiece, while Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest all have one player left out.
Brighton signed Olivier Boscagli from PSV Eindhoven in the summer, where he made 140 Eredivisie appearances in six years at the club. The defender has made two appearances in the League Cup, scoring once, but the 28-year-old is yet to make his bow under Fabian Hürzeler. The Frenchman joined on a free transfer and has a market value of €20 million - the highest valued player of those not to feature. It remains to be seen whether the Seagulls will be looking to offload him in January or give him more game time once he has settled at the Amex Stadium.
Chelsea's Axel Disasi, along with fellow outcast Raheem Sterling, has been training away from the first-team squad for the first few months of the campaign after being told they are not part of Enzo Maresca's plans. Disasi's market value of €18m reflects his steep decline since arriving in the summer of 2023, while Sterling - the first signing of the Clearlake era - is now valued at just €7m.
Bournemouth's Julián Araujo is the third-most valuable player on the list with a market value of €10m. He made 12 league outings under Andoni Iraola last season but, much like his dressing room colleague Matai Akinmboni, he is yet to appear for the Cherries this term. Next up is Tyrell Malacia, the €8m-valued forgotten Manchester United left-back who saw a loan move away collapse at the 11th hour. Since then, the Dutchman has found it tough to break into Rúben Amorim's starting XI.
Much was made about Adam Aznou's arrival at Everton from Bayern Munich, but the youngster, 19, hasn't been selected by David Moyes. Burnley have been guilty of not giving game time to Mike Tresor and Hannes Delcroix this season despite their difficult start to the season. Enso Gonzalez, a €6m signing from Libertad in Paraguay in 2023, has been frozen out at Molineux along with Tawanda Chirewa.
Yunus Konak (Brentford), Naouirou Ahamada (Crystal Palace), Rhys Williams (Liverpool), Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Timothée Pembélé, Ian Poveda and Jay Matete (Sunderland) are the remaining players yearning for first-team football.
Only time will tell if their situation changes before the transfer window reopens in January.
