{"id":3746,"date":"2026-05-04T11:56:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=3746"},"modified":"2026-05-04T11:56:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:56:28","slug":"premier-league-prospects-whose-summer-moves-have-led-to-wasted-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=3746","title":{"rendered":"Premier League prospects whose summer moves have led to wasted seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Not every transfer works out as hoped, and a number of excellent English prospects might just be regretting decisions made last summer. A season on the sidelines will feel like a waste, and it would be no surprise to see this group change clubs again in the near future.<\/b><\/p>\n

James Trafford<\/h4>\n
James Trafford thought he was next in line for the throne at Manchester City this season, after the former academy graduate re-signed for the Cityzens from Burnley.<\/div>\n

Two seasons at Turf Moor had seen Trafford add polish to his game, and with Ederson edging towards an exit, a place as the club’s number one was his to grasp.<\/p>\n

Until, of course, it wasn’t. Gianluigi Donnarumma was a market opportunity that City could not turn down, landing one of the world’s best goalkeepers for just \u00a326m.<\/p>\n

Trafford has spent much of the season warming the bench, and while cup competition (and a League Cup winner’s medal) have offered some consolation, the 23-year-old will feel he’s ready for a first-choice role. Expect one to materialise in the summer.<\/p>\n

Liam Delap<\/h4>\n
Liam Delap was hot property last summer, with 12 league goals for relegated Ipswich, even having some suggest the forward was the long-term heir to Harry Kane with England.<\/div>\n
A \u00a330m relegation release clause boosted his appeal, and it was Chelsea who came out on top in a multi-club chase for his services. Delap has struggled in a Chelsea squad stockpiled with emerging talent and has scored only once in 25 Premier League appearances.<\/div>\n

Only 11 of those have come from the start, while he’s picked up more bookings (2) than goals scored. A season of stagnation for the striker after a campaign of rich promise in 2024\/25.<\/p>\n

Harvey Elliott<\/h4>\n
Loan moves are designed to give players a platform to play more minutes. Harvey Elliott’s move to Aston Villa has not exactly gone to plan.<\/div>\n
Unable to break in at Liverpool, Elliott made the move to the Midlands in the summer on an initial loan with a \u00a335m obligation if certain conditions were met.<\/div>\n
He arrived fresh from winning the Player of the Tournament in England’s U-21 European Championship win, but has played only 110 minutes of Premier League football.<\/div>\n

The 23-year-old has not won the trust of Unai Emery, who has deliberately sidelined the winger to ensure that any purchase clause is not triggered.<\/p>\n

James McAtee<\/h4>\n

Another member of England’s victorious side last summer, McAtee, captained the Young Lions to their summer success and was named Player of the Match in the final win over Germany.<\/p>\n

There was plenty of interest in his services, and Nottingham Forest spent \u00a330m to bring him to the City Ground. Four different head coaches have taken charge during a chaotic campaign, and none have trusted McAtee.<\/div>\n

He’s not started a Premier League game since September and has played only four minutes across the club’s last 14 league fixtures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not every transfer works out as hoped, and a number of excellent English prospects might…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}