The 2022/23 Premier League season ended on Sunday with Leicester City and Leeds United being relegated, joining Southampton who had weeks ago confirmed the drop.
The season had a number of players playing to their full abilities as they helped their respective teams realize their respective goals. In the same breathe, the season also had other players put up really disappointing displays for the bigger part of the campaign.
Below, we look at the top 10 players, in no particular order, who disappointed.
Kalvin Phillips (Man City, £42m)
Kalvin Phillips joined Manchester City after impressing at Leeds United. However, he failed to impress Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and did not make a single start until early this month.
Kalvin has only played 12 matches for Guardiola’s team and we don’t think they would be much more had he not got injured sometime in the season. We hope he can do better next season.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Chelsea, £12m)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made a surprise return to the Premier League after doing so well in the half-season he spent with Barcelona. The Catalan giants offloaded him due to financial problems and Chelsea thought he would replicate the goalscoring prowess he had showcased in Spain and previously Arsenal.
That didn’t happen, and the departure of Thomas Tuchel didn’t help matters. Aubameyang has only played 21 matches for Chelsea, scored three goals, and we understand he is ready to leave.
Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa, £17m)
Another arrival from Barcelona, Coutinho first played for Aston Villa on loan in the second half of the 2021/22 season and impressed then-manager and former teammate Steven Gerrard.
However, things did not go according to plan this season and he has found himself scrapping for game time, playing only 20 matches and scoring just one goal.
Richarlison (Tottenham, £60m)
The Brazilian forward arrived at Tottenham after a £60 million transfer from Everton where he had played relatively well but failed to find his spark at Tottenham, sometimes even blaming his then-manager Antonio Conte for not playing him.
Richarlison played 33 matches but registered only six goal involvements (3G 3A), and ended up saying this season has been sh*t for him. We can’t agree more.
Yves Bissouma (Tottenham, £25m)
At some point regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League, we thought Bissouma had made a career-progressing move to Tottenham. However, we can’t even point to a single match and say this is the Bossouma we knew from Brighton! Injuries have not helped him either.
Antony (Man Utd, £85m)
There is no doubt that the talent is there, but Antony’s performance has not justified the huge transfer fee Manchester United paid to Ajax last summer. Antony has played 39 matches this season but has registered only seven goals and two assists in all competitions.
A lot is still expected from Antony and we will wait to see what he comes up with in his second season in England.
Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, £88.5m)
Another player that arrived in England with a huge transfer fee, Mudryk was expected to take the Premier League by storm. However, his performances (two assists in 15 matches) show that the reverse has happened, and the fact that he only joined in January is not an excuse because there have been players that joined in January and performed exceptionally well, like teammate Enzo Fernandez and Leandro Trossard for Arsenal.
Since he’s just 22 and has a long-term contract with Chelsea, we hope he can turn out as great as his YouTube compilations are.
Anthony Gordon (Newcastle, £45m)
Newcastle might have qualified for the UEFA Champions League for next season but not all players have contributed to that success. One such player is Anthony Gordon, who forced a transfer from Everton to Newcastle last summer but failed to replicate the great form he displayed while playing for the Toffees.
Gordon lost his starting place to in-form players Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak and only managed to play 16 Premier League matches and scored one goal.
Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea, £33m)
Dubbed one of the most prolific defenders in the world a few seasons ago while at Napoli, Koulibaly finally made the long-awaited move to Premier League.
However, just like most Chelsea players this season, Koulibaly has failed to impress in his debut season in England and some of his performances had us wondering if this was the same Koulibaly that once formed a rock-solid defence in the Serie A. No wonder Chelsea finished 12th on the table.
Marc Cucurella (Chelsea, £63m)
Another Chelsea player that has not lived up to the billing. Cucurella put up blistering performances in the left-back position while at Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea paid a huge fee for his services without blinking that much.
However, the Spaniard’s performances dipped and Ben Chilwell became the favourite for his position so Cucurella was only called up when Chilwell was injured or suspended.
Honourable mention: All the players of relegated clubs Southampton, Leeds United, and Leicester City.
Conclusion
Most of these players are still young and we hope they can develop into the players we expect them to be.
