As the January transfer window edges ever closer clubs will be looking to move players who are perceived to be taking up valuable squad space and wages.
There will be sides looking to make key additions while others might just be hoping to add depth in certain areas. Premier League clubs are well known for stockpiling far more players than they could ever use.
This invariably leads to players being loaned out to get game time elsewhere or just sitting in the reserves playing Candy Crush on their smart phone.
With that in mind here are 10 players you probably forgot are still contracted to a club in the English top flight.
Nahki Wells
Club: Burnley (on loan at QPR)
Contracted until: 30.06.2020
2018/19 appearances: 20 (all for QPR)
The once hot shot striker has probably admitted to himself that his time in the Premier League is realistically over. The former Bradford and Huddersfield man helped the Terriers get promoted to the Premier League before moving to Turf Moor in August 2017 for £5m.
Since then the striker has hardly featured, only playing nine times in the top flight for the Clarets. He joined QPR on loan in the summer though could find a place at Burnley next season should Sean Dyche’s men fail to avoid the drop.
Eliaquim Mangala
Club: Manchester City
Contracted until: 30.06.2019
2018/19 appearances: none
The French international defender has failed to make an appearance in the Manchester City side this season, in fact, you have probably forgotten he is even on their books but we can assure you he is.
Last season he went out on loan to Everton but a knee injury on his debut against Crystal Palace forced him out for the remainder of the season. It is hard to believe that City once paid Porto £32m for the defender. He has played 57 Premier League games for the club working out at over £560k per appearance…yikes!
Lazar Markovic
Club: Liverpool
Contracted until: 30.06.2019
2018/19 appearances: none
Can you believe that Lazar Markovic is still only 24-years-old? He seems to have been around for an age but then Liverpool fans can be forgiven if they’d forgotten he even existed.
The Serbian winger has only played 19 times in the top flight for the Reds and has been out on loan more times than a library book. The winger was so unfit when he turned up for a spell at Anderlecht last season it was admitted that he needed a six-week intensive training programme just to get him up to speed.
Clearly a player on the way out at Anfield but whether this once talented player, who Liverpool forked out £20m to sign, will ever reach his potential remains to be seen (much like the player this season).
Vincent Janssen
Club: Tottenham
Contracted until: 30.06.2020
2018/19 appearances: none
If you have a postman that looks a bit like Vincent Janssen it may well be Vincent Janssen. He certainly isn’t playing for Tottenham Hotspur at the moment. The £17m flop has really struggled since moving from AZ.
He once won the award for Dutch Talent of the Year but those days must seem like a distant memory for the forward who was loaned out to Fenerbahce last season. He hasn’t even been issued with a squad number for the 2018-19 season though is reportedly recovering from foot surgery.
Lucas Piazon
Club: Chelsea
Contracted until: 30.06.2019
2018/19 appearances: none
The Brazilian joined Chelsea in 2011 after impressing at youth level with Sao Paulo. He has made just one appearance for the club since then and has instead been out on a series of loan spells.
This may come as no surprise to Chelsea fans who have become the Thrifty Van hire of the Premier League with more than 40 players out on loan at other clubs. Piazon is contracted until the end of the current campaign having signed a two-year extension in 2017 but a nasty ankle injury while with Fulham has seen him become a forgotten man in west London.
Reece Oxford
Club: West Ham
Contracted until: 30.06.2021
2018/19 appearances: none
Reece Oxford is the youngest player ever to make an appearance for the West Ham first team at 16 years and 198 days. This initial breakthrough has not been followed up by the success expected.
The player has only played eight times for the Hammers in the Premier League and has been another young English talent to be loaned out. An initial spell at Reading has been followed up by a couple of spells in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach but as yet no one has come in for a permanent deal.
It is clear that Oxford has a big future in the game but West Ham fans will be wondering if it will be at the London Stadium or elsewhere.
Cuco Martina
Club: Everton (on loan at Stoke City)
Contracted until: 30.06.2019
2018/19 appearances: 17 (all for Stoke)
Cuco Martina…who? Many may well be reaching for Wikipedia as they read this but we assure you Martina is still on the Everton books despite only playing 21 times following his free transfer move from Southampton.
The defender, who represents Curacao at international level, has perhaps failed to justify a top-flight career and is really more of a squad player. He played most of his early career in the Dutch second division and must have the world’s greatest agent to have been signed at Premier League level.
He is currently on loan at Stoke who have found Championship life tough to readjust to.
Jordon Mutch
Club: Crystal Palace (on loan at Vancouver Whitecaps)
Contracted until: 30.06.2019
2018/19 appearances: 17 (all for Vancouver)
Jordon is very Mutch the forgotten man in south London and has been shipped to the western coast of Canada to play for MLS side Vancouver.
He hasn’t played a game for Palace since January 2017 but has not yet left the club for good. His contract is up this summer and the Whitecaps have an option to make the move permanent but the 27-year-old is, for now, still a Palace player.
Leander Dendoncker
Club: Wolves
Contracted until: 30.06.2020
2018/19 appearances: 1 (one)
The Belgian international joined Wolves this summer from Anderlecht yet you may be scratching your head as to why. The midfielder has only made one Premier League appearance and is unlikely to make too many more given the quality in the squad.
The move was initially a loan with an obligatory €15m purchase clause but the only clause the Football Association will be allowing this year is the Santa variety as the move was forcibly made permanent.
Dendoncker could become more of a fixture as the games come thick and fast but Wolves fans may need to recheck their programme notes to remind themselves who this guy is.
Andy King
Club: Leicester City
Contracted until: 30.06.2020
2018/19 appearances: none
Andy King is an absolute legend at Leicester City. The Welshman has made well over 300 league appearances for the club helping take them from League One all the way to the Premier League title in 2016.
The player has not played for the club this season and only made 11 top-flight appearances last campaign. He was loaned out to Swansea for a spell but has become a man on the fringes since the title win and could soon be on his way out of the club after 11 and a half seasons.
Cohen Bramall
Club: Arsenal
Contracted until: 30.06.2019
2018/19 appearances: none
The 22-year-old is still an Arsenal player but he is unlikely to be known to many. He signed from Hednesford Town after a successful trial in 2017 and played mostly for the U23 side.
He was sent out on loan to Birmingham last season and played a handful of games but is still waiting to make an appearance for the first team. Given the quality in the squad it is hard to see how Bramall can make that breakthrough.
The youngster could be another player to slip through a Premier League side without ever getting onto the pitch.
READ MORE: Every player rated – Liverpool 4-0 Newcastle
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