Which player would you most like to see back in the Premier League?
Published:
“Never go back to your former club.” It’s one of football’s most famous clichés and a phrase that regularly crops up when a player is linked with a return to one of his previous employers.
Whether thatapplies to CristianoRonaldo and Real Madrid, we’re not so sure. But it got us thinking –which names from the continent would we most like to see return to their oldPremier League stomping grounds?
Withapologies to Salomon Rondon, Idrissa Gueye and Romelu Lukaku, here are the fourwe’d most like to bring back to the top-flight of English football.
GarethBale
Interestover the Welshman’s future is usually enough to keep the rumour mill powered fora whole summer. But wouldn’t it be great to see him lighting up the PremierLeague with Tottenham once again?
It’s beenseven years since Bale last plied his trade in the EPL, picking up a cleansweep of PFA Players’ Player of the Year, Premier League Player of the Seasonand FWA Footballer of the Year awards to boot.
We reckon it’sfair to say he’s only improved since then. And with Harry Kane crying out forsupport up-front, just imagine how exciting Spurs could be to watch with Baleback amongst their forward ranks.
EdenHazard
There’slittle to no chance of Hazard performing a dramatic U-turn and swapping the Bernabeufor Stamford Bridge any time soon. If he can’t cope with the Spanish sun,though, we’d love to have him back.
It’s fair tosay the Belgian was Chelsea’s standout player for most of the seven years hespent in West London, during which time he contributed 85 goals and 54 assistsfrom an advanced midfield position.
He wasn’talways the easiest to keep focused, as the numbers from one or two barrenseasons would attest, but he often won games on his own for the Blues, and thatsort of individual brilliance cannot be ignored.
DimitriPayet
Payet’s exitfrom West Ham in 2017 was more becoming of a TV drama than a footballer. Even so,that shouldn’t detract from just how impressive he was for the Hammers duringhis brief stint in East London.
TheFrenchman scored 11 goals and made 18 assists in 48 Premier League appearances.He also earned a nomination for the 2016 Ballon d’Or, where he finished aheadof both Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne.
They trulywere heady days at the London Stadium. And while it may take apologies andforgiveness all-round to bring him back, there’s no doubting the top-flight isa worse place without the brilliance and magic of Payet.
Diego Costa
Losing Costaout of your side is probably a bit like losing your front teeth; there’s nobite. And in truth, Chelsea haven’t procured a set of replacement gnashers thatcarry the same threat since the Spaniard left in 2017.
Alvaro Morata,Michy Batshuayi and more recently Tammy Abraham have all played their part toone degree or another, the latter particularly so, but none of them really liveup to Costa, who hit 52 goals in 89 PL games.
It’s notjust his goalscoring ability that we miss, though. Rightly or wrongly, theAtletico-man was also one of the division’s all-time great pantomime villains,and for that alone we’d love to have him back.
All oddsand markets correct as of date of publication
