The 2024-25 season hasn't been rosy for every star player, with some in need of a fresh start elsewhere
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There just isn't the same pizazz about the January transfer window as its big-brother summer offering. It's that much harder to shift your deadwood, that much harder to force a move, that much harder to bring in your top target.
Yet we could still be thrown some treats this time around with a number of star players on the chopping block, and in a lot of cases, a move to pastures new might be in the best interests of all involved parties.
Some of these guys are in the headlines all the time, some you may have forgotten even exist. No matter, it happens to the best of us, and that's why we're here. GOAL has picked out 10 Premier League players who could really do with a fresh start this window.
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images Sport1Marcus Rashford
Well, we were only ever going to start with one man, weren't we? Marcus Rashford has made no attempt to hide his desire to leave Manchester United, be that through training sessions seemingly so poor he can no longer make the matchday squad despite Ruben Amorim's wishes, or via the interview in which he spelt it out to the club his want for a 'new challenge'.
Rashford's issue is unlikely to be United's reluctance to part ways, rather finding a suitor to take on his significant wage packet and a setup willing to absorb the extra baggage he'll be bringing upon any exit from Old Trafford.
Even if Rashford is happy to take his talents abroad, pickings may be slim in Europe's top five leagues, and a move to Saudi Arabia with Cristiano Ronaldo has been touted while still being within the realms of possibility.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport2Ben Chilwell
Remember Ben Chilwell? You should, it wasn't long ago he was considered England's best left-back. Now, he can't get a look in at Chelsea, even despite various injuries all across their backline.
New head coach Enzo Maresca was firm with his plans for Chilwell upon his summer arrival at Stamford Bridge, publicly insisting his fellow Leicester alumni wasn't in his plans. And yet he still couldn't find a buyer before the window shut. Poor Chilly.
Now is the time for Chilwell to leave Stamford Bridge, and with left-back still a problem position for so many clubs at home and abroad at this point of a testing season, he should be able to get the move he desires.
AFP3Jack Grealish
Here's a whacky idea that football's lawmakers should think about introducing – if a £100m player ever goes an entire year without scoring a goal, they should be released from their contract. Sounds fair enough, right?
Alright, maybe that doesn't actually marry up with 'rights' and 'ethics', but you get the gist of it, don't you? Jack Grealish going the entirety of 2024 without a single goal for Manchester City is the surefire sign his time at the Etihad Stadium is over.
There's still a player in Grealish surely. He was never simply a ball-carrier to dead ends in his Aston Villa days and he is barely afforded opportunities to break into a sprint at City. Alongside Rashford, he might have the highest upside of players potentially on the market this month.
AFP4Ederson
Every goalkeeper in the modern era has a lowlight reel of their high-profile errors. That's just the way the game's gone. But when those gaffes are increasingly close to one another, it probably means you're in a state of irreversible decline.
Ederson, for all of his skills and his unique style of play, was never really a shot-stopper when Manchester City's backline had adequate protection in front of it. Without Rodri to keep danger at bay, he's been exposed as sub-rate in that department.
Stefan Ortega has proven a more than capable deputy over the last few seasons, so if City receive an offer to take Ederson off their hands, they should certainly mull it over.
