Change candidates included
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There are many reasons why footballers with a high market value only receive a few minutes of playing time: new club, new coach, old coach or too strong competition. However, the result is often the same: an unhappy player and possibly a desired move in the next transfer window. Transfermarkt looks at the professionals who were in the squad for at least two thirds of the games in the domestic league and who have played less than 200 league minutes after over a quarter of the season.
In six of nine possible games – he was not yet signed on the first matchday – Borussia Dortmund’s summer signing Fábio Silva made it into the Bundesliga squad. After an adductor injury with which he came to BVB, the 23-year-old striker is still in the development phase and has fitness problems. More than 36 minutes in the cup against Eintracht Frankfurt (5:3 nE) were not yet possible. The Portuguese recently sat on the bench twice in the Bundesliga, although things weren’t going well for his striker colleague either.
At 23 years old, Silva is slowly but surely falling out of the talent age group. This can be credited to the valuable but rarely used players at Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Eliesse Ben Seghir (20), Claudio Echeverri (19) and Jeanuël Belocian (20) have only rarely been on the field. The latter has only been fit since September after a cruciate ligament tear and has recently been used more by coach Kasper Hjulmand.
There are more question marks behind Ben Seghir’s 32 million acquisition. The winger received the most playing time before Hjulmand’s hiring, which usually only sees him for a few minutes. Bayer boss Simon Rolfes explained what was missing for the youngster to make a breakthrough and took him to task: “It often happens with young players that they have problems in the first half of the year. He has to get used to our close combination game in order to be able to use his qualities. He is away from home for the first time, has to acclimatize socially and football-wise, and also get used to the intensity of the Bundesliga. He was also injured in preparation.” Nevertheless, Ben Seghir still needs to “improve physically”.
RB Leipzig has the most millions in the Bundesliga comparison and no great prospect of a regular place: striker Conrad Harder (20) and ten-man Andrija Maksimovic (18) cost a total of 38 million euros in the summer and have not played a major role so far. The Serb in particular should have more credit given his young age and the move from his youth league. Defensive talent El Chadaille Bitshiabu (20), substitute keeper Maarten Vandevoordt (23, one appearance in the cup), Amadou Haidara (27, was injured for a few weeks), Timo Werner (29) or Lukas Klostermann (29) also hardly get a chance. The latter trio is among the candidates for change in winter.
Nottingham & Co.: Millions spent on the bank
In an international comparison, Jamal Musiala (22, FC Bayern) and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (23) are the ones with the highest market value with little or no playing time – albeit due to injury. This also applies to Omar Marmoush (26, Man City) or Piero Hincapié (23), who moved late from Bayer 04 to Arsenal FC and who collected minutes for the first time at the end of October. What is striking when looking at the transfer market database is that a particularly large number of Premier League players have high market values but only little playing time in the most expensive league in the world.
On the one hand, this is due to the higher market value level in the English House of Lords, which is related to the greater purchasing power. Nevertheless, it is clear that high transfer fees are paid there and that this does not necessarily give the players a regular place straight away. For example, because they are talented and perhaps not ready yet, see 40.5 million euro signing Tyler Dibling (19) at Everton FC (62 minutes in four PL games) or Archie Gray (19), who moved to Tottenham Hotspur for 41.3 million euros a year ago.
Others get the playing time they lack in the league in other competitions: Arsenal youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly (19) and Ethan Nwaneri (18) or Jorrel Hato (19) from Chelsea FC regularly play longer in the EFL Cup and Champions League than in the Premier League. It has a different aftertaste at the crisis club Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees struck on the transfer market in the summer for 236.9 million euros and also signed Omari Hutchinson (22, cost 43.4 million), Arnaud Kalimuendo (23, cost 30 million) and James McAtee (23, cost 25.5 million). The trio has a combined total of 321 minutes in the Premier League so far and does not completely make up for this in other competitions. The fact that Nottingham has already changed coaches twice has hardly helped their situation so far.
At Brighton & Hove Albion, the Greek striker duo Stefanos Tzimas (19) and Charalampos Kostoulas (18) cost a total of 61.5 million euros and have hardly played a role so far. However, due to their age, the top scorers should be given a lot more time to get used to the game by coach Fabian Hürzeler than if they were already fully trained players.
It’s different with Aston Villa’s loan players Jadon Sancho (25) and Harvey Elliott (22). The former Dortmund player is at least seeded against teams like Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League, but has to be content with rather short substitute appearances in the league. Elliott was also on the list in Leipzig in the summer, but chose Birmingham in order to get more playing time than at Liverpool. That could have been a mistake: Elliott, who was the best player at the U21 European Championship in the summer, currently seems far away from playing time with the Villans and the English national team. According to “The Athletic”, he cannot cope with coach Unai Emery’s methodically strict tactical system.
It remains to be seen whether the loan can be canceled early in the winter. However, other players are already among the candidates for a move in the January transfer window. Real Madrid’s 47.5 million striker Endrick plays almost no role under Xabi Alonso, Olympique Lyon is the favorite for a loan signing. The Brazilian was also traded to Manchester United, where he could have taken the squad place of former Bayern talent Joshua Zirkzee (24) if a transfer was completed. The Dutchman also mostly sits on the bench under Ruben Amorim, while home-grown Kobbie Mainoo (20) at least plays as a joker in most games.
Zirkzee has recently been linked with a return to Serie A, where he shone at FC Bologna. According to “Relevo” transfer journalist Matteo Moretto, Roma is interested in a loan, but the salary could be a stumbling block. According to Fabrizio Romano, Mainoo is on the SSC Napoli shortlist.