Players who don’t deserve to be at a top Premier League club

It is the dream of every professional footballer to play for a high-profile club. Some players get the chance to graduate through the academies of these clubs and progress to the first-team, while others earn their moves to the clubs on the basis of impressive performances elsewhere.Playing for a top club gives the player a chance to showcase his skills to a very wide audience, given the following that the top clubs have. Many players manage to become firm fan favourites with their talent and performances.However there are some players at these top clubs, who on the basis of their talent and recent form, would not merit being in and around the first-team. Some of them did merit their moves on the basis of their past record, but their recent performances don’t justify their presence at the club. The progress of a few has been marred by injuries and lack of opportunities, while others were unnecessarily and incorrectly hyped up.We look at a few players who are presently at some of the higher-profile clubs in England but do not deserve to be there, judging on the basis of their recent performances, and will probably do well to move to smaller club.

#1 Micah Richards

Debuting for England in 2006 at the age of 18 and becoming the youngest defender to play for the national team, Richards seemed destined for a glorious career. Manchester City, the club where Richards graduated through the academy to reach the first-team, was soon taken over in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi United Group, but he managed to keep his spot in the side initially and was one of the key members. He was even nominated for the club’s Player of the Season award in the 2011-12 league winning season.

However, soon after Richards was displaced by Pablo Zabaleta in the starting XI, and even though Manchester City won the league again in the 2013-14 season, he wasn’t eligible for a winner’s medal having not made sufficient appearances over the season.

Richards has seen only 778 minutes of Premier League action since May 2012 and will do well to move to another club, probably to a mid-table club where he can get regular football.

#2 Tom Cleverley

The Manchester United Academy product was seen by many as the long-term answer to central-midfield woes for the club as well as the England. His initial games for the club and the national team raised hopes, but soon after his performances dipped and so did the hype. Maybe it was a case of talent, or probably the heightened expectations which weren’t practical did him in.

The player who was once prophesized to be the next Paul Scholes hasn’t managed to meet the expectations and had a very average 2013-14 season for the club. The arrival of Ander Herrera at Old Trafford is likely to affect his chances of getting regular game time.

Update: Reports indicate that Manchester United have received an £8 million bid from Aston Villa, but at the time of writing this piece, Cleverley remains a Manchester United player.

#3 Scott Sinclair

The former-Chelsea product built his reputation at Swansea City, as he first helped the Welsh club gain promotion to the Premier League in 2011 and later enjoyed a successful first-year in the league for the side. His performances meant that there was interest from bigger clubs and Manchester City swooped to sign Sinclair on a 4-year deal in 2012.

However a combination of abundance of talent in the City squad, indifferent form and a surgery meant that Sinclair found very limited opportunities at the club, as he played just 190 minutes of league football and made only 14 appearances across all competitions without scoring any goal. Sinclair was loan to West Brom in 2013 to help him get some regular first-team football, but he found opportunities very limited under manager Pepe Mel and was mostly relegated to playing reserve team games.

Now back at Man City after the completion of the loan period, Sinclair faces an uncertain future, and the player who was once tipped to be an England international is now struggling to find regular football.

#4 Marouane Fellaini

The player joined Manchester United from Everton for £27.5 million last summer after a long transfer saga which went on for the entire duration of the window and got completed only as a last-minute deadline day deal. With his prior association with David Moyes, who never quite managed to win over the Red Devils’ fans, Fellaini became an unpopular signing too, and his performances for the team almost never met the expectations and he failed to create much impact over the season.

The fact that the club was looking to off-load the player this summer, willing to take a huge loss from his purchase transfer fee, bears testimony to the fact that Fellaini struggled to establish himself at a top club, and will probably be better suited to a lower-profile one like Everton where he excelled.

#5 Abou Diaby

The long-serving Arsenal player is unlucky to be featured in this list as injuries have massively restricted his playing time for the team. Diaby, who has also been capped by the French national side 16 times, suffered a career-threatening anterior cruciate ligament injury in March 2013 and was out of action until the final day of the previous season. This was just the latest in a series of injuries which have hampered his career.

While Arsene Wenger has shown great faith and supported him all through, the fact that Arsenal have heavily invested in improving their squad over the last two summer windows and are presently in the market for another defensive midfielder means that a fit-again Diaby will find chances to play very limited. The player now enters the final year of his contract with the Gunners and a move to a smaller club where he would get time to settle and regularly play first-team football may probably bode well for his career.

#6 Glen Johnson

Yes, he was the first-choice right-back for England at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Yes, he continues to feature in the Liverpool starting XI whenever he is fit. And yes, he was arguably the best right-back in Premier League not too long ago.

But the performances of Johnson have dipped so alarmingly in recent times that Liverpool fans would almost unanimously prefer youngsters Jon Flanagan, Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno to play ahead of the experienced Johnson. There is always a hint of nervousness when Johnson is attempting to thwart an opponent’s attack, and lack of optimism when Johnson is venturing into the opponent’s half to create chances.

The fact that there was absolutely no interest in the player, who enters his final year of contract with Liverpool, and not much desire on Liverpool’s part to extend the player’s stay at the club means that Johnson will in all likelihood see out this season at Liverpool, and then move on to a smaller club next summer on a Bosman.