It is the crazy time of the year, the summer transfer window, when a player’s market value spikes base on a few goals and assists. This time of the year tends to see the biggest transfer moves, and the most money shelled out for talent. It also sees the most overrated English Premier League players attempt to prove the critics wrong about them.
The summer transfer market always sees teams dig deep into their pockets for new English Premier League players who just don’t pan out. Whether its due to injury, form or being homesick, these players seem to regress. That doesn’t seem to stop another side from taking them on and paying top dollar for them. With the transfer market in full swing and money being thrown around like it is nothing, here are the 5 most overrated English Premier League players ahead of the upcoming season.
Xherdan Shaqiri – Stoke City
When Xherdan Shaqiri arrived at Stoke in July 2015, he had already played for two of the biggest clubs in Europe – Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. Despite both clubs desiring the Swiss playmaker, neither felt it necessary to keep him.
It looked like Stoke had got a bargain when they paid £12 million for Shaqiri. However, the midfielder has been lacklustre for a team that seems to have far fewer ambitions than fans. The Swiss has seven goals and eight assists in 48 matches with Stoke. That number isn’t great, and with the reputation he came with, Shaqiri was expected to deliver more to Stoke.
John Stones – Manchester City
Was John Stones overrated in 2016-17 or did he just fail to live up to the hype and price tag? Stones arrive at the Etihad last summer from Everton for just under £50m. In 27 matches, he was poor and lacked concentration in big moments. Manchester City’s all-around defence was poor throughout the season despite giving up just 39 goals. Based on the price tag and the performance, Stones cannot be overlooked as being on the top 5 most overrated list.
Mesut Ozil – Arsenal
Mesut Ozil is a five-time Germany Player of the Year and a World Cup winner, yet he regularly goes missing in Arsenal matches. In 33 games, Ozil tallied eight goals and nine assists last term, a decent return; but compared to teammate Alexis Sanchez, Ozil hasn’t been as important to the team. Ozil’s contract expires next summer and it looks like he could leave during this summer transfer window. But will any side pay his nearly £300,000-a-week wage demands? Some desperate souls surely will.
Anthony Martial – Manchester United
Anthony Martial was bought from Monaco to be the future of Manchester United. Yet, after two seasons, it looks like the youngster’s time at Old Trafford could be up. The Red Devils paid £51m for Martial, and after being brought into the side slowly, he has done little to show he was worth the money. Last season, he scored four goals and tallied six assists in 25 matches. The season prior he tallied 11 goals in 31 games. His decline had much to do with manager Jose Mourinho, who is likely to sell the Frenchman like he did Dutch ace Memphis Depay.
Jamie Vardy – Leicester
Jamie Vardy – like the entire squad at Leicester – had one really good season. Of course, that one season saw the team win the Premier League. As the cliche goes, the team played over their head, and were massively helped by poor years from Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. Vardy may have tallied 24 goals that term, but that was his best season outside of non-league football. He followed it up by scoring 13 goals in 2016-17, but it wasn’t until February that Vardy begin to find the net more regularly. Eight of his 13 goals came in second half of the season.