Premier League squads: The most interesting thing about your club’s 25-man roster

The Premier League squads for the new season are out — a month after the campaign began.

While the timing may be tardy, there were some intriguing sub-plots around who did — and did not — make the cut. The full squads can be found on the Premier League website, but here our experts offer their guide to the most notable aspects of each club’s list.

Arsenal’s inclusion of Scotland international Kieran Tierney could provide Mikel Arteta with yet another option at left-back if needed.

Arsenal already have Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and new signing Riccardo Calafiori who can play in that position, but once back fit, Tierney’s presence may open the door for some of the players to be used in other positions — especially after recent injuries in midfield.

Art de Roché

There were no major surprises about Unai Emery’s 25-man squad. Villa worked hard to shift those on the fringes in the final weeks of the summer, with Alex Moreno and Leander Dendoncker leaving on loan, while two summer signings in Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea also left on loan due to both needing regular game time.

Notably, however, Villa’s three long-term ACL absentees — Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia and Boubacar Kamara — have been included, with Mings, after sustaining the injury last August, nearing a return to full-contact training. Kamara and Buendia are further ahead and working on their match sharpness.

Jacob Tanswell

Is the inclusion of Tyler Adams in the 25-man squad selected by manager Andoni Iraola a surprise? Not really. He’s a USMNT international who cost around £23million plus add-ons when he signed for the club in August 2023. But such has been the midfielder’s injury record, some Bournemouth fans will be reassured simply to see his name mentioned in the context of a Premier League squad.

He has made only four appearances for the club since joining, and none this season as he is currently sidelined with a lower back injury until at least next month. Having him back will be a fillip for Iraola.

Caoimhe O’Neill

Tyler Adams has been beset by injuries (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Aaron Hickey sneaks into Brentford’s 24-man squad even though he is expected to miss most of the entire campaign through injury. The Scotland international has not played since last October after suffering a hamstring problem in training which required surgery, and he had a setback in his recovery last month.

Max Dickov, the 22-year-old son of former Manchester City and Leicester City striker Paul, makes it into the squad even though he has only ever played for Brentford’s B team, along with Ben Winterbottom who is currently on loan with non-League side AFC Fylde.

Interestingly, Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho qualify as home-grown players, even though they represent the Netherlands and Portugal respectively, because of their time spent in English academies before they turned 21.

Jay Harris

Brighton & Hove Albion

The strength in depth in the goalkeeper department has led to a leap forward for 20-year-old Killian Cahill.

The former Shamrock Rovers custodian’s dad Sean was an Olympic hurdler, while mum Terri represented Ireland at senior level in the long jump.

Cahill provides back-up to No 1 Bart Verbruggen and No 2 Jason Steele, as ex-England Under-21 Carl Rushworth (Hull City), current England Under-21 James Beadle (Sheffield Wednesday) and Canadian international Tom McGill (MK Dons) have all been loaned out for the season.

There are no surprises after the business done in the summer transfer window, which included loan moves for several outfield players.

Five players under the age of 21 played a part in the first three league games. Cahill’s compatriot Evan Ferguson and summer signing Brajan Gruda are set to increase that number following injuries.

Andy Naylor

Chelsea’s squad list is a case of who is back in the fold after being earmarked for a transfer throughout the summer.

The biggest name that has made a return from the ‘bomb squad’ is Ben Chilwell, who has been granted his customary No 21 shirt after Chelsea failed to get him off their books.

Talented youngsters Carney Chukwuemeka, Deivid Washington and Cesare Casadei are staying around for the first half of the season at least. But how many minutes the trio will get is surely going to depend on injuries and suspensions.

Omari Kellyman was one of the most surprising buys Chelsea made in the summer. He was bought from Aston Villa for £19million and is already on the treatment table for two months having suffered a hamstring injury. But Chelsea have given the forward hope for some action on his return by handing him the No 37 shirt.

Notably, no one has opted to take the No 9, a number that has become increasingly associated with high-profile strikers who have struggled to deliver value for money like Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Fernando Torres.

Simon Johnson

The inclusion of Rob Holding in Palace’s squad might seem like a surprise after the centre-back had a disagreement with manager Oliver Glasner after the 2-0 defeat by West Ham United on August 24.

The defender was an unused substitute and questioned Glasner over doing a post-match running session which effectively acts as a training session for those players not involved in the game. Holding was concerned about injury but, while he did take part in the session, Glasner subsequently instructed him to train alone with the under-21s. Palace have been contacted by The Athletic for comment.

But with Glasner having only 24 senior players, including three goalkeepers, the 28-year-old was required to be named in the Premier League squad. Glasner did not rule out the possibility of a departure for Holding in January. “This is his and the club’s decision but it’s not possible before so the next opportunity for him is January,” he said.

Matt Woosnam

Rob Holding’s future at Palace looks precarious (Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Anyone hoping for clarity on Dele Alli’s future yesterday will have been left disappointed.

The former England international, whose Everton contract expired at the end of last season, is continuing his long rehabilitation from a groin injury and is still without a club.

Crucially, there remains space in Everton’s squad for that to change. With Youssef Chermiti, Roman Dixon and Harrison Armstrong classed as youth players, the room is there on the first-team list for free agents like Dele to be added after the deadline, should they wish.

Patrick Boyland

Perhaps the most exciting name at Fulham doesn’t even feature on their 24-strong list of senior players.

Josh King, an England Under-18 international who captained his national team earlier this month, is widely seen as the club’s next big academy talent — following on from the likes of Ryan Sessegnon, Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho.

King, 17, is now training with the first-team squad and such is his reputation, many expect to see him feature at Premier League level sooner rather than later.

The other curiosity is Carlos Vinicius’ inclusion. The Brazilian forward did not travel on the club’s pre-season trips to Portugal and Germany, and was expected to leave over the summer. He was close to joining Red Bull Bragantino in his homeland, only for the deal to be shelved once Jay Stansfield joined Birmingham. Now he is back in the fold.

Peter Rutzler

The three senior players that would have been at risk of missing out after the club’s busy summer of spending — Marcus Harness, George Edmundson and Freddie Ladapo — departed at the end of the window, with the former two being sent out on loan and the latter’s contract being mutually terminated.

Ipswich, however, are in the minority of clubs who have named a full 25-player squad. This means free agent Janoi Donacien cannot be added to the squad before the January window opens. The 30-year-old right-back’s contract expired in the summer, but he has remained at the club to train during pre-season as he continues his comeback from a long-term groin injury. Donacien is one of just two players remaining from the side that was relegated to League One in 2019, alongside Luke Woolfenden.

Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap both still count as under-21 players but will be important first-team regulars for Kieran McKenna this season.

Ali Rampling

Leicester City

Unlike in previous seasons, when Leicester City had to leave out a senior player from their 25-man squad, there has been no such issue this year. With the number of under-21s included in Steve Cooper’s squad, there is no repeat of when Nampalys Mendy could not be registered for the 2021-22 season.

In fact, Leicester have named four goalkeepers in their squad and will even have room to add another senior player in January as Abdul Fatawu, Michael Golding, Facundo Buonanotte, Bilal El Khannouss and Will Alves were all born on or after January 1, 2003. Golding is expected to feature predominantly in the development squad this season but Fatawu, Buonanotte and El Khannouss are all expected to have prominent roles, while Alves has also caught Cooper’s eye in training.

Rob Tanner

Liverpool’s squad is compact but packed with quality. Whether this will be the last time we see all of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold in a Premier League squad again remains to be seen. All three are out of contract at the end of this season and yet to decide what happens next.

Perhaps the most interesting player is Conor Bradley. The attacking right-back, who broke into the first-team picture last season, has featured in every game so far this term, replacing Alexander-Arnold on each occasion. Liverpool are excited by his potential and plan to push him further.

Slot has name-checked the 21-year-old in almost every press conference and did so again yesterday, when asked if Alexander-Arnold was finally ready for 90 minutes: “Sometimes it’s about having someone like Bradley who can do the job well too,” he said. “I have a whole team to manage and prepare for the season so it is also important for Conor to get his minutes.”

Gregg Evans

Conor Bradley could be a big player for Liverpool this season (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Manchester City

Manchester City’s squad depth is often said to be the envy of the rest of the Premier League, but even if that is the case, it is a matter of quality over quantity.

Pep Guardiola’s preference is for a small, closely-knit group. That has been questioned on those rare occasions when City’s resources have appeared stretched but, after winning six of the last seven titles, it cannot really be questioned as a philosophy.

There are no notable absentees who might otherwise have been expecting minutes in this season’s 25-man selection and after a quiet summer window, the returning Ilkay Gundogan is the only new addition. Fellow summer signing Savinho falls into the under-21 category, so does not need to be included.

The same applies to Josko Gvardiol, the injured Oscar Bobb and 19-year-old midfielder Nico O’Reilly. After impressing in pre-season and twice being named as an unused substitute since the start of the campaign proper, it will be interesting to see how many opportunities Manchester-born O’Reilly is afforded given the pedigree ahead of him in the pecking order.

Mark Critchley

There are a couple of notable names in Manchester United’s squad list, although each for different reasons.

Tyrell Malacia is included despite the fact he is still waiting to return from a knee injury which has kept him sidelined since the start of last season. Erik ten Hag said on Friday that Malacia is expected to return to team training shortly after a complicated recovery.

The other is Dermot Mee, a 2002-born, 21-year-old goalkeeper who is yet to make a senior appearance but will be fourth choice after most of United’s other young goalkeepers went out on loan this summer.

Sekou Kone, the 18-year-old midfielder signed from Malian side Guidars FC, is listed in the under-21s category as expected. Interestingly, Kone was not included in United’s Europa League squad.

As he has been at the club less than two years, Kone would had to have been named in United’s A-list to play in Europe but was left out. Mee and 17-year-old full-back Harry Amass, who joined from Watford in 2023, were preferred instead.

Mark Critchley

Goalkeepers make up 20 per cent of Newcastle’s senior 25-man Premier League squad, which is a curious statistic but which prolongs the fallout from their difficult summer window.

All of Nick Pope, Martin Dubravka and Mark Gillespie, as well as summer signings Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy, have made the cut, given that Lewis Hall, William Osula and Lewis Miley do not have to be named due to being under the age of 21.

Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles, who are both sidelined with ACL injuries that could rule them out for much of the remainder of 2024, are both eligible to play before January, too. Had Marc Guehi joined from Crystal Palace, though, one of the goalkeepers would likely have been omitted ahead of either of the centre-backs.

Chris Waugh

The only notable exclusion from the Nottingham Forest squad was that of Emmanuel Dennis.

It was not a huge surprise that Dennis was not included, given that Forest have been keen to find him a move this summer. His last appearance was at Crystal Palace in May 2023 and he spent last season on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir in Turkey and then at former club Watford.

Forest could have included the 26-year-old had they wanted to, as they had space for one more senior player in their 25-man squad, with Eric Moreira and Zach Abbott still under 21.

Paul Taylor

Emmanuel Dennis seems to have no future at Nottingham Forest (George Wood/Getty Images)

Manager Russell Martin has admitted the squad Southampton ended the summer with is bigger than ideal, after moves away for those on the fringes failed to materialise.

Kamaldeen Sulemana had been in talks to join Ajax while Armel Bella-Kotchap was set to join Hoffenheim. Neither deal went through, leaving Southampton with a bloated squad over the 25-man limit. As a consequence, Martin took the step to leave out long-term absentee Gavin Bazunu, having signed another goalkeeper in Aaron Ramsdale and being well-stocked in the position.

Jacob Tanswell

The most interesting part of Tottenham’s 25-man Premier League squad is an inclusion.

Sergio Reguilon has not played for Spurs since April 2022, since when he has had loan spells at Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford. It was no secret that Spurs were trying to find him a new club in the summer, but no move materialised. Ange Postecoglou was very clear at the end of the window that Reguilon had to make his own decision on his future and would not automatically be reintegrated into the first team.

But while Reguilon was not included in Spurs’ squad for the Europa League, he is for the Premier League. With Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies the first-choice left-backs, and Djed Spence also playing there in pre-season, he is unlikely to force his way back into the team any time soon. But if there was an injury crisis, he would at least be available.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

West Ham

There were no noticeable omissions from West Ham. All nine summer arrivals were named in the 25-man squad but there is still room for head coach Julen Lopetegui to add a free agent if he is short of cover at centre-back.

Kaelan Casey is the fourth-choice defender, following Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd’s departures. Lewis Orford, who signed a five-year deal in August, is a highly-rated talent and could feature in cup games. The midfielder had interest from Aston Villa in the summer transfer window. Oliver Scarles featured in West Ham’s pre-season of America and Lopetegui will closely monitor his progress for the under-21s.

Roshane Thomas

Given the relatively small squad at Gary O’Neil’s disposal, Wolves were never expecting any problems complying with the 25-man squad rules and so it has proved.

The fact that Sasa Kalazdic and Boubacar Traore, who will both be ruled out for several months yet due to injury, have been included underlines just how much room the club had to play with in their line-up.

That is partly to do with the fact that summer signings Rodrigo Gomes and Carlos Forbs, who are expected to be regular members of matchday squads, are classed as under-21s so did not need to be named.

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