It’s been five Matchdays into the 2026/27 Premier League season, and the leading candidates to win the league are the same as they were last season and in most of the previous five seasons: Arsenal and Manchester City, with a touch of Liverpool. But the rest of the Big Six isn’t even in the top six, as underdogs Brighton, Brentford, and Leeds have been flying high whereas Tottenham Hotspur are in the relegation zone again and both Chelsea and Manchester United are shaping up to be disappointments once more.
Even the top teams, though, have players they might be interested in getting rid of this winter transfer window. Starting with the worst team, Spurs, and ending with league leaders Manchester City, let’s take a look at the best candidate from every club to sell when the next transfer window opens up. Because it’s never too early to start thinking about transfers.
Tottenham Hotspur
I think there are quite a few players the literal worst team in the Premier League would like to sell, but the most obvious candidate to send packing is Brazilian international Richarlison. He and Roberto De Zerbi have had a pretty public falling out, and there is just no way back for Richy after three transfers fell apart – two of them because he understandably didn’t want lower wages at Everton or in the Brazilian league despite those being dream destinations for him.
Richarlison was Spurs leading goal scorer last season in the Premier League, but that honestly just says more about how terrible Spurs were than anything great about Richy. Tottenham don’t have a single great out-and-out striker and have been hurting at the position since Harry Kane took his talents to Bavaria. Dominic Solanke has been even worse, but selling Richy can be a helpful way to clear out space for a new striker. That is, of course, if anyone wants to pay even a little bit of money for Richy for an extra six months when they know they can sign him for free in the summer.
Manchester United
There are honestly a few players who aren’t doing anything for Manchester United and whose wages need to come off the books, but if the Red Devils can somehow find a transfer landing spot for flop Mason Mount, then that would be 100 percent ideal. Mount can never even get on the pitch because of his fitness issues, which have been a constant since he joined the club from Chelsea a few years ago.
Chelsea saw that Mount was nothing more than a No. 10 – and not even a great enough player to be a starting 10 in the Premier League – and then Manchester United somehow said that was a player they wanted to splurge 60 million pounds on. Mount has done nothing at Old Trafford, and it’s time to see if they can let him go. Surely, someone abroad will think he is marketable. Bruno Fernandes has been entrenched as the No. 10 and the main man for this team, and Mount is not good enough to be a part of the solution deeper in midfield, which still remains a big point of weakness for a United side stuck in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Chelsea
Although Malo Gusto was one of the most promising young right backs in European football while at Lyon, his development has stalled badly at Chelsea. And every time he starts and Reece James plays in the midfield, Chelsea fans die a little bit inside. Gusto just does not fit the Premier League, and, to be honest, he should be going to a league like the Bundesliga, Serie A, or back to Ligue 1 in a system where he can play as a wing back.
While Gusto is good technically, his knowledge of the game and defending are abysmal. He is one of the worst defensive players in the world, and he does not bring nearly enough end product attacking wise to make up for it. Gusto can be valuable to someone and should fetch a fair transfer fee at 23 years old, but he’s not the right player for Chelsea at all.
Liverpool
Everyone talks about Florian Wirtz and how disappointing he has been, but actually his old Bayer Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong has been a much bigger flop in terms of just comparing them on the pitch. Wirtz has been disappointing because he’s only been decent compared to a 100 million pound price tag, but Frimpong has been objectively horrendous from Day One.
At no point has Frimpong looked like he belongs at Liverpool, and even though the playing style of the team actually fits the way Frimpong plays with speed and intensity on the counter, the guy is both unhealthy and ineffective. Frimpong has been a massive bust, and his defensive quality has been such a huge downgrade that I don’t ever want to hear anyone complain about Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defending. he’s Franco Baresi compared to this guy.
Frimpong has shown no end product, no quality going forward, and even his speed has been false advertising. He is one of the worst defensive transfers in Liverpool’s history and is in the Malo Gusto bracket of a player who needs to go back to a less competitive league and be a wing back in a back three. Maybe RB Leipzig would take him.
Arsenal
Kai Havertz is playing great football right now for Arsenal, and it’s patently obvious that the German international is the best player for the center forward position. Viktor Gyokeres helped Arsenal win the Premier League last season in role as a big man up top, but he is nowhere near good enough for the Premier League. He’s too slow both physically and mentally, and the goal-scoring spree at Sporting CP looks like a real fluke since he has not even been clinical.
Arsenal had the problem of having all-around strikers who couldn’t score, but Gyokeres is a striker who is not well-rounded at all and still can’t score either. The Gunners paid an insane 55-65 million pounds to Sporting for the Swedish international, and I am sure they regret choosing him over Benjamin Sesko, who was supposed to be theirs with Gyokeres reuniting with Ruben Amorim. I guess Amorim at least got that bit right about his own former player.
I’m not sure who will want to buy Gyokeres, but, again, like the others, perhaps a club in a lesser league would like to a take a gander at the striker. The Turkish Super Lig actually feels like a great fit for him.
Manchester City
Manchester City are about to get hit by a massive hammer after the 114 charges came through, and that means there are going to be players who jump ship and also even penalties that force the club into making some significant sales. But before we go totally crazy with speculating on all that, there are some players City could be looking to get rid of the winter window regardless.
The most glaring is Mateo Kovacic. He is 32 and on an expiring contract, he’s almost never healthy, and his play has fallen off pretty badly. Man City have signed three way better and younger midfielders in Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi, and Enzo Fernandez. Now, players prone to injury who are 32 and on expiring contracts generally don’t fetch big fees, but Kovacic is a multi-time Champions League winner at Real Madrid and even Chelsea.
He is a big enough name in world football that someone in Saudi or Turkey might come calling for that extra six months in the winter window. I mean, if people were bidding for Richarlison, then Kovacic surely has to get at least one call. And if Man City receive an offer, they need to take it.
Purveyor of footy since the 90s. Favor the Premier League and old school Serie A with a touch of Bundesliga. More than a touch. Professional writer for 20 years, covering every sport but now focused on the Premier League and world football. You won’t be able to guess my favorite team.