5 forgotten Premier League players who need to leave their club in January

We are just five games into the Premier League season, and already the table is beginning to take shape. We have already seen which teams are well set up for a good season, and those who are going to struggle towards the lower end of the table.

The two teams that have made perfect starts to the season are Chelsea and Liverpool, winning all five of their games. The Blues have adapted well to life under Maurizio Sarri, while Liverpool will have expected a fast start having spent big in the summer.

Manchester City have started where they left off last season, making an unbeaten start in the league. It has been a different story on the other side of Manchester, as it has been a tough start for United, and the pressure is growing on Jose Mourinho.

At the other end of the table, West Ham lost every one of their first four games, before picking up an impressive win over Everton at Goodison Park. Burnley, Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City have also started slowly, and none of the four have won yet this season.

There have been some impressive individual performances as well so far this season, with both Eden Hazard and Virgil van Dijk attracting attention. However, there have been players who we haven’t really seen much of, and need to try and force a move away from their clubs come the January transfer window.

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#1 Victor Moses (Chelsea)

Moses has seen very little action this season

It’s a shame to see Victor Moses on this list, as he had three spells away from Chelsea on loan in an attempt to earn a chance back at Stamford Bridge. He finally got that under Antonio Conte in 2016, and he shone in the Italian’s 3-4-3 system, reinventing himself as a right wing back. He was a key player in Chelsea’s run to the Premier League title in the 2016/17 season, and remained first choice the following year, despite the £21 million purchase of Davide Zappacosta.

However, he has fallen out of favour under Maurizio Sarri. The former Napoli manager has switched to a 4-3-3, and there isn’t really a place for Moses in the side. He isn’t good enough to play as a right back, and he is behind Willian and Pedro as far as a spot on the right wing is concerned. It is a shame, but he will have to leave Chelsea for the sort of first-team action he is looking for, because it seems unlikely that he will get that at Stamford Bridge.

#2 Lazar Markovic (Liverpool)

Markovic initially joined Liverpool in 2014

Believe it or not, he’s still there. Markovic made the £20 million move to Liverpool in the summer of 2014, just months after Liverpool had fallen agonisingly short in the Premier League. There were high hopes for the Serb when he joined the Reds, and many saw him as someone who could help fill the gap left by Luis Suarez, who had left Anfield to join Barcelona.

It didn’t quite work out that way though, and after a disappointing first season, he was loaned out to Fenerbahce. He has also had loan spells with Sporting Lisbon, Hull City and Anderlecht in the subsequent seasons, but has never really been good enough at any of them. He is still at Liverpool, but nowhere near the first team, and he needs to do everything he can to leave the club this January.

#3 Vincent Janssen (Tottenham)

Janssen never fulfilled his potential at Tottenham

Remember him? Janssen was the man Tottenham signed in 2016 to act as back up for Harry Kane, but never really lived up to expectations. He made the move to North London with a big reputation, having come off the back of an excellent season with AZ Alkmaar, during which he scored 27 Eredivisie goals in just 34 games. The big test for him was whether he was capable of thriving from the bench, with Kane the undisputed number one striker.

He didn’t adapt well to life in the Premier League though, and scored just two Premier League goals in his first season. That was his only season in the Premier League, and he wasn’t given another chance with Tottenham, and spent last season on loan at Fenerbahce, where he scored just four league goals. He didn’t manage to secure a move away from Spurs this summer though, and hasn’t appeared for the first team yet this season, and it seems increasingly unlikely that he will.

#4 Danny Drinkwater (Chelsea)

Drinkwater has fallen down the pecking order under Maurizio Sarri

Chelsea paid £40 million to bring Drinkwater to Stamford Bridge last season, reuniting him with former teammate N’Golo Kante, with whom he won the title at Leicester City during the 2015/16 season. However, he struggled to make an impact at Stamford Bridge, and it was evident from an early stage that he did not have the attributes needed to succeed at Chelsea.

He has dropped even further down the pecking order this season, with both Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic joining Chelsea. Drinkwater does not suit the way Sarri wants his side to play, and the main reason that he is still a part of the Chelsea squad is that he is English, and fits the need for homegrown talent. He isn’t going to play much first-team football for Chelsea, and his best way to do this is to leave the club.

#5 Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City)

Mangala has never looked convincing defensively at Manchester City

Manchester City have spent hundreds of millions of pounds over the last decade, bringing in some world class talent from around the globe. Not Mangala though, he most certainly was not world class, and it wouldn’t be wrong to describe him as a waste of £32 million. At that fee, he was one of the most expensive defenders in English football, but never proved that he was worth that amount.

At the back, he was sloppy, lazy, and simply all over the place at times. It was almost a surprise that he stayed at City for the 2015/16 season, but he was never going to be kept around under Pep Guardiola.

He then struggled away on loan at Valencia and Everton, and didn’t do enough to earn himself a permanent move away. He is still contracted with Manchester City, but there is little to no chance that he will play for them again, and he has to get away from the club as soon as possible.