Ruben Amorim appears to have put an end to Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United career, and the forward could be on the move in the January transfer window. He is far from the only Premier League player who needs a move, though.
A new year is a time for fresh starts. And there are a few Premier League players who could really do with one.
It appears as though Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United career is coming to an end. Ruben Amorim has left him out of a few matchday squads, and the player said in a recent interview that he is “ready for a new challenge.”
Well, there’s no time like the present, Marcus. Now 27 years old, he isn’t quite running out of time, but he does need to get a move on if he’s going to make the most of his peak years. There are a few obstacles to him leaving, but given Amorim appears to have made up his mind, it might be best for everyone if a move happens.
And he isn’t the only one. Here are seven Premier League players who need a move this January to kickstart their careers.
Marcus Rashford
Two years ago, Rashford had just played an important role for England at the 2022 World Cup. He wasn’t quite a starter but there was plenty of support for the idea that he should be, and his club form suggested it would be harsh to leave him out.
He was in the middle of what would become a 30-goal season. “I think Marcus is capable of scoring 40 goals in a season,” then-Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said in May 2023. “For him, that’s the next step.”
Eighteen months on and the flashes of that version of Rashford have become rarer and rarer. Nobody saw Amorim’s hard-line stance coming, but at the same time, it didn’t come as a complete surprise. Off-field indiscipline and suggestions of a poor attitude have been a consistent backdrop to Rashford’s recent career, and it isn’t all that shocking that his new manager has seemingly given up on him.
There is, however, unquestionably a very good player in there. And he has been that player recently too – just too infrequently to still be considered at the top of his game.
Rashford has seven goals this season in all competitions and excelled in the 2-1 comeback win over Brentford in October. That day, he created four chances, his fourth highest-total in a Premier League game in his whole career, and two were of real quality. One of them earned an assist for an Alejandro Garnacho goal.
He also showed in that game that he is more than capable of playing on the right side of attack. It has been a consistent feature of Rashford’s career that he has been shunted around the forward positions, but although he prefers to play on the left, he is undoubtedly versatile, and that is a huge strength that could help attract suitors.
His wages are the biggest potential issue for any new club, currently on a reported £325,000 a week, so United might end up paying him some of that to play somewhere else. It’s not an ideal situation in any sense, but if Amorim really is done with him, then it would be best for everyone if he moves sooner rather than later.
Christopher Nkunku
Game time has been a problem for Nkunku ever since he signed for Chelsea, particularly in the competitions that he wants to be playing in.
In one and a half seasons in London, he has started just four Premier League games, and his two starts this season have come on the opening day against Manchester City, when Chelsea’s many new signings were still settling in, and earlier this month against rock-bottom Southampton. He has played more minutes in Chelsea’s six Conference League games this season (385) than he has in their 18 Premier League games (326).
Injuries were a big part of the problem last season, but that hasn’t been the case this term: he has been fit to play just about every game. New manager Enzo Maresca just doesn’t seem to trust him fully.
They have a very good player in their squad, and one who shows plenty of quality just about whenever they call on him; he has 12 goals in all competitions this season (mostly in the Conference League), and averages 85 minutes per goal.
But the longer his Chelsea career goes on, the more certain it looks that he isn’t going to become a first-team regular. Nicolas Jackson is rarely unavailable and is proving to be a top-class Premier League forward. Nkunku is being almost entirely limited to cup competitions.
But he’s far too good to be playing only Conference League football and waiting for the odd minute in the Premier League. He was the Bundesliga’s top scorer only two seasons ago. There are plenty of teams across Europe who he could improve.
Wataru Endo
The Japan captain was a surprise signing for Liverpool in the summer of 2023 but he became a solid option at the base of midfield for Jürgen Klopp in what turned out to be the German’s final season at the club.
Endo played 43 games in all competitions in 2023-24 (34 starts), recording two goals and an assist. Only Alexis Mac Allister and Joe Gomez made more than his 76 tackles for Liverpool, while only Mac Allister, Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo competed in more than his 385 duels.
However, at the age of 31, it was always clear that Endo was a short-term solution. Liverpool tried unsuccessfully to sign Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad last summer, and new manager Arne Slot decided Ryan Gravenberch would be his man in the No. 6 role. Slot’s fellow Dutchman has been sensational as well as consistently available, meaning Endo hasn’t had much of a look in this season, with the majority of his 13 appearances coming in the last few minutes off the bench to see games out. His only three starts have all been in the EFL Cup.
That included an impressive performance at centre-back in Liverpool’s quarter-final victory at Southampton, when he was awarded Player of the Match on the club’s social media.
But he has only accumulated 294 minutes on the pitch as we approach the halfway point of the campaign, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Endo request the ‘end-o’ his time at Anfield in January.
Liverpool reportedly rejected a bid from Marseille in the summer, and unless they can sign another midfielder in January it does seem unlikely they’d sign off on a mid-season exit. But if they do so, you could see plenty of teams being interested.
Kieran Tierney
It might not feel like five and a half years since Kieran Tierney signed for Arsenal from Celtic, mostly because the left-back has experienced so much injury agony in that time.
Tierney has still made 125 appearances (92 starts) in all competitions for the Gunners, but his 69 minutes against Crystal Palace in the recent EFL Cup quarter-final win was his first competitive game for the club since August 2023.
To give you an idea of how many issues Tierney has suffered over the years, his injury history list on Transfermarkt runs over two pages.
Left-back has been a problematic position for Arsenal in the last few years, partially because of Tierney’s injury problems, but these days the Scot is behind Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko and even youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly in the pecking order.
Recent reports that Arsenal are prepared to release Tierney when his contract expires next summer could mean both parties may even consider a move next month, with former club Celtic said to be interested in what would likely be a popular reunion.
Tierney has five goals and 12 assists at Arsenal and enjoyed a respectable loan spell at Real Sociedad last season where he made 26 appearances (17 starts). If he can stay fit, the 27-year-old should still be a good option for someone.
James McAtee
Manchester City are in complete disarray, and they need new signings in January, if only to give the squad a boost of freshness that might spark the rest of the players into life. Any new recruits will only reduce the chances of James McAtee breaking into the team.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has played just 26 minutes in the Premier League this season, and has only played a part in two of City’s last eight games since he came off the bench with his side 3-0 up against Feyenoord in the Champions League last month. That game ended 3-3, of course.
McAtee is a huge talent and showed in making 30 Premier League appearances for Sheffield United last season that he is more than capable of playing regularly in the top flight.
He isn’t, however, good enough yet to play for City, and Pep Guardiola needs players who can transform this team for the better. McAtee isn’t that player and won’t be in Guardiola’s plans any time soon.
There are plenty of Premier League teams McAtee could play for straight away, so even if just on loan, he needs to get away from the Etihad in January.
Emiliano Buendía
Buendía missed the whole of 2023-24 with a cruciate ligament injury and is slowly but surely working his way back into Unai Emery’s plans as he proves his fitness this season.
He has, however, been limited to substitute appearances for Aston Villa in both the Premier League and Champions League, playing at most 14 minutes, as he did in the win at RB Leipzig earlier this month. His only two starts have come in the EFL Cup, a competition Villa are no longer in.
The truth is Villa have strengthened so much since Buendía suffered a season-ending injury before last season even began that he is much further off the first team than he was back then. Villa managed without him for a whole year and are now a Champions League team. Although he’s a very capable midfielder, they wouldn’t struggle were Buendía to force a move in January.
Now 27, he is still yet to transfer the form we saw in his final season at Norwich, when he scored 15 goals and got 16 assists in the Championship, into a top-flight league. He needs to be playing regularly as soon as possible, and it doesn’t look like there’s much chance of that happening at Villa Park.
Miguel Almirón
Miguel Almirón has had an up-and-down time at Newcastle since arriving in January 2019 from Atlanta United. A slow start was followed by an explosive middle, but it seems it could also be quite an insipid end.
It was 2022-23 when the winger found his groove on Tyneside. Almirón scored 10 goals in his first 22 Premier League games that season, one more than he had managed his previous 110 appearances across his first four seasons in the competition combined (nine goals). He ended the campaign with 11 goals in 34 appearances, but has scored just three times in 40 Premier League games since.
Almirón has made just seven appearances in the league in 2024-25, and only one of those was a start. In his total of 137 minutes, he hasn’t managed any goal involvements and has attempted just one dribble and created just one chance.
In all competitions, the 30-year-old has played 219 games for Newcastle, with 30 goals and 12 assists, but manager Eddie Howe has clearly moved on from him, now preferring the likes of Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy.
The Paraguayan has been linked with a move back to Major League Soccer, and with Howe hinting that January transfer incomings are unlikely without outgoings, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Magpies sign off on Almirón’s exit next month.
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