5 players who English clubs might regret selling abroad last summer | Premier League 2019-20

The summer transfer window of 2019 saw the Premier League’s biggest clubs doing plenty of what has now become routine big business, buying some of the world’s best players for countless amounts of money, with the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and even lower level sides like Aston Villa spending well over £100 million.

However, the 2019 window was also notable for the amount of players that Premier League sides shipped out of England to clubs across the rest of Europe. And while some clubs can have no qualms over the players they sold, a handful of others must regret their sales heavily.

Here are 5 players who Premier League clubs must regret selling abroad last summer.

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#1 Romelu Lukaku

Everyone knows about the problems that Manchester United have had in recent weeks when it comes to scoring goals; the Red Devils have hit just 36 goals in Premier League action this season, lagging far behind the likes of Liverpool (60), Manchester City (65) and Leicester City (54) and they have suffered in particular since the injury suffered by top scorer Marcus Rashford in January.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have even been reduced to signing Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo – who is 30 years old and scored just 1 goal in his last Premier League season – in an attempt to give them more firepower. All of this makes it even more likely that United must regret selling Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan last summer.

there’s a new king in town pic.twitter.com/w9yv4cVzrJ

— R.Lukaku Bolingoli9 (@RomeluLukaku9) February 9, 2020

The Belgian striker has been on fire since moving to Serie A, scoring 17 goals in 23 appearances for his new club, and his form should hardly come as a surprise; Lukaku has always scored goals on a consistent basis, including 28 in the Premier League for United in his two seasons at Old Trafford.

Keeping the Belgian would not have even impacted on the development of Rashford, who tends to play from a wider position anyway; Anthony Martial has largely been used as Manchester United’s central striker and he has just 8 goals in the current campaign. Lukaku might’ve fetched a hefty fee of around €80 million, but Solskjaer would probably love to have a goalscorer of his calibre at his disposal right now.

#2 Kieran Trippier

Spurs could really do with Kieran Trippier, who was sold to Atletico Madrid last summer

One of the more surprising moves of the summer saw Tottenham and England right-back Kieran Tripper move to Spain’s La Liga with perennial title challengers Atletico Madrid. At the time, the move felt like a smart one for Spurs; they’d made a huge profit in selling a player they bought for just £3.5 million for around £20 million, and to add to that, Trippier appeared to have peaked at the 2018 World Cup and had struggled for form throughout 2018-19 campaign.

However, just over six months later, Spurs fans – and the club’s new boss Jose Mourinho – would probably love to have Trippier back in north London. Not only has the right-back been able to regain his spot with England’s national side, but he’s also been on tremendous form for his new club in Spain.

Trippier has appeared in 16 of Atletico’s 23 league matches, and thus far his new side have conceded just 15 goals in La Liga, compared to 32 conceded by his old team in the Premier League. What’s more, Trippier has also maintained the kind of pinpoint delivery that made him so highly rated in the first place, registering four assists in all competitions with a Man of the Match-level performance coming in a Champions League game against Juventus.

Given his replacement at Spurs – Serge Aurier – has struggled for consistency and has made a number of rash mistakes during the season, there can be little doubt that the north London side regret selling the England international despite making a profit.

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#3 Idrissa Gueye

Could Idrissa Gueye have prevented some of Everton's problems this season?

Everton were once again one of the Premier League’s biggest-spending sides during the summer, spending millions to ink the likes of Andre Gomes, Alex Iwobi and Moise Kean, but the Toffees also made a big sale when they signed off the departure of holding midfielder Idrissa Gueye to Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of around £30 million.

However, since the Senegalese midfielder’s departure, Everton have largely struggled for traction in the Premier League – with an upturn in form only beginning once manager Marco Silva was fired and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. Midfield in particular has been a weak point for them, with Morgan Schneiderlin and new signing Fabian Delph not looking up to scratch.

It’s in this area that the Toffees must miss Gueye greatly; the tough-tackling midfielder scores far more highly in practically every statistic in comparison to those who have attempted to fill his boots at Goodison Park, and it’s hard not to imagine that Everton may not have struggled so badly under Silva had they not sold him.

Sure, the Senegalese international is now 30 years old – meaning a £30 million fee was a decent return – but with Everton now pushing for a European slot next season, the Toffees must wish they still had one of the Premier League’s most consistent performers.

#4 Marko Arnautovic

West Ham could use the goalscoring skills of Marko Arnautovic now

West Ham are currently one of the Premier League’s struggling sides; the Hammers sit in 18th place in the league table and an upturn in form hasn’t even come since under-fire boss Manuel Pellegrini was sacked and replaced by David Moyes in late December. One of the biggest issues the Hammers have had is the lack of goals; they’ve scored just 30 thus far, with only a handful of teams managing less.

Part of the reason for that is undoubtedly the loss of their last season’s top goalscorer, Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic, who left under somewhat of a dark cloud in the summer. Arnautovic had previously requested a transfer away from the London Stadium – with ultra-rich Chinese side Shanghai SIPG hovering with a big money offer – but ended up staying until the summer, when a £22.4 million bid was accepted by the Hammers.

However, while Arnautovic’s attitude could’ve been brought into question at times, it’s hard to argue with his record in front of goal; the Austrian striker got off to a quick start for his new club, scoring nine goals and registering three assists in just seven starts for Shanghai, including a four-goal haul in their final game of the 2019 season.

None of West Ham’s strikers, in contrast, have come even close to Arnautovic’s effectiveness; club record £45 million signing Sebastien Haller has scored six times, but it’s taken him 26 games to do so and he’s hardly set the world on fire. Arnautovic might’ve been a pain to deal with at times – but the Hammers could definitely do with his goals now and may well regret their sale of the Austrian.

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#5 Ola Aina

Could Ola Aina have eased Chelsea's problems at left-back?

A major part of Frank Lampard’s Chelsea revolution has seen him embed academy products like Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Reece James into the Blues’ starting XI, but one graduate of their academy who was unfortunate to miss out on a chance at Stamford Bridge is Nigerian international Ola Aina.

Aina was sold to Serie A side Torino last summer for a fee of £9 million following a successful loan stint there during the 2018-19 season, and the versatile defender – who can play on either side of the pitch as both a full-back or a wing-back – has been performing well in Italy since his move, appearing in 19 of Torino’s 23 games thus far.

Chelsea meanwhile have done well in Premier League action and currently sit in fourth place in the table, but one major area that Blues fans would probably suggest that Lampard needs reinforcements in is at left-back, as both Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri have failed to impress during the current campaign.

The likelihood is that Chelsea will have to sign a new left-back in the summer – and will probably have to splash out big money for whoever they target, with Leicester’s Ben Chilwell having been mentioned. But had they not sold Aina in July 2019, the Blues may well have been able to plug the gap with an academy graduate – and an established international - every bit as talented as those that have broken through this season. It’s a move that Chelsea surely regret now.

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