5 Promoted players who could succeed in the Premier League next season
Following Fulham’s victory over Brentford in the Play-Off final, the 2019-20 EFL Championship campaign is finally over. The Cottagers’ win means that they’ll be joining Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League next season.
The trio of promoted teams can probably be expected to struggle somewhat – as most promoted sides do in their first Premier League campaign. However, all three sides have a number of players who appear to be ready to hit the ground running. Do that, and they could help their side to survival.
Here are 5 promoted players who are ready to succeed in the Premier League.
#1 Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United)
The fact that Kalvin Phillips was linked with an England call-up despite playing in the Championship rather than the Premier League should tell you a lot about his ability. Initially used as a box-to-box midfielder, the 24-year old was converted into a holding man by Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa in the 2018-19 campaign.
Since then, the results have been remarkable. Leeds conceded just 35 goals this season. And while credit can be given to defenders such as Ben White and Luke Ayling, it’s impossible to overlook the job Phillips did as their screen.
But despite registering high in defensive statistics – averaging 2.6 successful tackles and 1.4 successful interceptions per game – he’s not just a tough tackler. The Leeds academy product is also great on the ball, with an excellent passing range that allows him to get things moving forward and begin attacks.
His passing has proven so good in fact that Leeds fans have nicknamed him the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’.
At the Premier League level, where the pressure on a defence can be suffocating at times, Phillips may well turn out to be Leeds’ most important player. And if he can take to life in the Premier League well, there will definitely be a clamour for him to be called up for England, too.
#2 Matheus Pereira (West Bromwich Albion)
West Brom’s charge towards Premier League status was helped greatly by two loan stars – wingers Matheus Pereira and Grady Diangana. But while Diangana is expected to return to parent club West Ham in the summer, Baggies fans will be thankful that Pereira has instead joined them in a permanent deal.
If the Brazilian can replicate his Championship form in the Premier League – or even come close – then the £8.25m fee that West Brom paid for him will quickly look like a bargain. Despite a slow start to his career in the Midlands, Pereira has been simply phenomenal for the majority of the 2019-20 campaign.
Appearing in all 42 of the Baggies’ games, he scored eight goals and registered 16 assists, meaning he was involved with more goals than any of Slaven Bilic’s other players. With an incredible ability to hold onto the ball in tight situations, nobody created more chances than his 3.1 per game in the entire competition.
Essentially, it appeared that the Brazilian was simply too good for the Championship on more than one occasion. 2020-21 will mark his chance to prove that he can succeed at the Premier League level. And after the way he’s performed, it’d be hard to bet against him doing so.