EPL 2016/17 - 5 players who have been frozen out by their clubs
There are a lot of instances in football where a newly brought player seems to fit in like a glove. Everything seems to fall into place and click, and a player who should simply be getting adjusted to his new surroundings has already become an integral part of the team; taking it to new heights in the process.
However, for every such instance, there are those where things simply do not work out. A player finds himself frozen out of the first-team picture, training with the under-21 team, his route to a first team call-up effectively blocked for a myriad of possible reasons.
Also read: Last chance saloon: Five players who deserve one last loan move before their futures are sealed
It could be an attitude issue, there may have been a change in management and the player doesn’t suit the style of football that the new manager wants to impose, it might be poor performances when the player has actually played, it might be horrendous luck with injuries, a fallen through transfer or in the worst-case scenario, it might just be a personal vendetta against the player.
Here, we take a look at some of the players who have been frozen out from the top EPL clubs.
#1 Mathieu Debuchy
Club: Arsenal
Age: 31
Position: Right-back
Debuchy moved to Arsenal in the summer of 2014 on a long-term deal for about a fee of £12 million from Newcastle United. At the time of the signing, he’d come off one of his best seasons in the English top-flight and was viewed as a solution to the problematic full-back situation at Arsenal.
Having initially started very well – his first competitive appearance for the club being a 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield – he had a torrid time with injuries, being repeatedly ruled out for large chunks of the season.
His poor luck coincided with the meteoric rise of Hector Bellerin, who went on to establish himself as one of the best right-backs in the league.
He was never able to usurp the Spaniard from his position, making only 7 appearances in the first half of the 2015-16 season before leaving on loan to French side Bordeaux.
The Frenchman had a move cruelly blocked this August due to the yearly injury crisis at Arsenal and it seems as though he’ll be forced to wait it out until January to kick-start his career at another club.
(Video courtesy: Spor Öyküleri YouTube channel)