The Premier League’s summer can do a lot to make us forget what we witnessed over the previous 12 months, and even longer.
The transfer market’s madness has a habit of doing that each year, as new or moving names demand that we consider what might be over the following year in England.
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While we consider how much better a player like Declan Rice may make Arsenal, we occasionally discount a holdover who was oh-so-special in driving the Gunners to the brink of a title.
This can be done for almost every club. How might Mateo Kovacic change Man City? A good question, but what about those key pieces that drove the club to a treble.
Below, we detail a few players who might’ve slipped your mind these warm months as the summer flings that are splashy transfers dance through your minds. Ignore them at your own risk.
Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal
Arsenal had dropped points just twice when Gabriel Jesus left the lineup at the World Cup break, having authored five goals and six assists in driving the Gunners to a 12-1-1 record and the top of the Premier League table.
The North Londoners would drop points four times in the 12 matches he missed with a knee injury, and he’d miss all but a half of the Gunners’ ill-fated two legs versus Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last 16.
Arsenal did not lose a match when Jesus got a goal or an assist, going 10W-2D when he made the scorekeeper scribble his name on the sheet.
Among forwards in the top-five rated leagues, UCL, and UEL, FBRef.com ranks the Brazilian in the 90th percentile or better in (clears throat) tackles, interceptions, blocks, successful take-ons, touches in the attacking 18, progressive passes received, pass completion %, shot-creating actions, non-penalty xG, expected assists, and assists.
All we’re saying is... look out.
Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool
Liverpool has a new captain, and it’s former Ballon d’Or finalist Virgil van Dijk.
The now 32-year-old center back is going to have several big jobs this season. There’s the obvious task of taking full hold of the leadership reins from Jordan Henderson and leading both young and new players back into title-contending form. New vice captain Trent Alexander-Arnold will certainly help with that as well.
The eye test wasn’t kind to Van Dijk last season, but the numbers are asking whether we were scapegoating “VVD” for Jurgen Klopp and Co.'s failure to address the midfield ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
Van Dijk’s last Premier League season was a mixed bag apart from Liverpool’s rough run. According to fbref.com, he passed better than ever (90.5%) regardless of pass distance. His touch numbers were up from the previous three seasons and his touches in his own half were way up, and his defensive numbers took another step back toward his 2019-20 season (the last before his major injury).
It’s tempting to use Alexander-Arnold as Liverpool’s key piece given he could play a midfield role should Liverpool not solve its positional problems in the transfer market, but VVD’s new status as captain confirms his talismanic status and he’ll clearly play a major part in organizing the Reds’ midfield whether it’s sorting out the new boys or making sure Alexander-Arnold is able to perform at his very best.
Rodri, Manchester City
Rodri arrived to Manchester City from Atletico Madrid in 2019 and learned Pep Guardiola’s system while the club failed to achieve its three-peat aims and finished 18 points back of Liverpool.
So the Spaniard simply re-racked City and chewed up minutes like no field player as the team won three-straight Premier League Trophies and capped it with a treble.
Rodri in Premier League
20-21: 2751 mins (2nd to Ruben Dias)
21-22: 2901 mins (2nd to Joao Cancelo)
22-23: 2938 mins (1st)
Rodri has also started virtually every important European game for City during his time at the club save the semifinal second leg and final in 2020-21.
Why is he so important to Pep Guardiola? There are many, many reasons to detail but arguably the most important is that the 27-year-old’s ability to run the midfield and control a game allows Kevin De Bruyne (now 32), Jack Grealish, and friends to focus on the attack.
With Ilkay Gundogan gone and players vying to fill his void while Mateo Kovacic learns a new system and Maximo Perrone and Kalvin Phillips represent some uncertainty, Rodri’s presence will remain critical the mission of City becoming the first ‘four-peaters’ in the Premier League since — checks notes — ever.
Raphael Varane, Manchester United
We can discuss at length the magnificent first season of Casemiro at Old Trafford, and he’s an easy name to circle when it comes to how much success Man United can have this season.
But Varane has proven over two season that his presence is just as critical to United’s success, if not more. While United steadied its sans-Varane game last season, the numbers appear notable.
Manchester United 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons
with Varane in Premier League: 24W-13D-8L — 1.89 points per game
without Varane in PL: 15W-3D-13L — 1.54 points per game
If we want to go with a smaller sample size, consider that United led Sevilla 2-0 in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinal first leg when Varane left the match through injury. It drew that game 2-2 and then lost the second leg 3-0 without him.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Varane has missed Premier League time with a groin injury (two games), hamstring injury (six games), illness (one game, twice), a muscular injury (three games), a leg injury (three games), and another foot injury (five games).
He’s also missed time when the boss prioritized European or cup competitions, so that’ll happen this year, too. But there’s no debating that when he’s out there, the team has a much better chance of achieving its goals and there will be new faces learning roles this season that need Varane (and Casemiro) doing work next to, behind, and in front of them (Andre Onana).
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 30: MMA fighter Francis Ngannou meets Raphael Varane ahead of the pre-season friendly match between Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund at Allegiant Stadium on July 30, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Manchester United via Getty Images
Best from the Rest
While Chelsea, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton, and Aston Villa all have reasons to dream of tempting the Premier League title and certainly will aim for the top four, none have as compelling a case as Man City, Man United, Arsenal, and Liverpool.
Still, here’s who we think is most mission critical to the five missions in question, in alphabetical order.
Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins — With apologies to Douglas Luiz and Emiliano Martinez, there is no reaching Villa’s season goals without a fit-and-firing finisher like Watkins, who scored 15 times with six assists last season and should have even more chances with Moussa Diaby and Youri Tielemans cueing up chances.
Brighton and Hove Albion: Moises Caicedo — Stings to read for Brighton fans but regardless of their earned and immense faith in Tony Bloom (and Roberto De Zerbi), it’s difficult to picture the Seagulls competing well in the Europa League and Premier League without Mac Allister and Caicedo.
Chelsea: Enzo Fernandez — The World Cup winner has to run a midfield as the second-most senior member... and there’s no guarantee that barely-older Conor Gallagher will be a starter in front of him. Chelsea has sold Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, and Mateo Kovacic in the last eight months. And there’s a brand new boss in town who will have to put a ton of faith in his sensational 22-year-old. We think he’s up to the task.
Newcastle United: Bruno Guimaraes — He reads the game. He progresses the ball. He finishes the attack, whether through key pass or finish. Sandro Tonali arrives to provide more freedom for Guimaraes, and Sven Botman has a year of experience behind both in Eddie Howe’s system. This could be the year Newcastle’s thoughts that it had the best Bruno in the Premier League makes an even stronger case to advocates of Man United’s new captain.
Tottenham Hotspur: Richarlison — Obviously this should read Harry Kane, but that would and should bring even more “You’re cheating!” accusations than using Moises Caicedo for Brighton. So we’ll take one of Brazil’s top performers at the 2022 World Cup, the man who followed up four-straight double-digit goal seasons at Everton (all comps) with a grand total of three last season, his first at Spurs. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Co. are going to set up the pins. Can “Richy” knock them down?
