Players That Could Help Bottom Half PL Clubs Break Into The Top 10 Part 1

If Sheffield United and Wolves have shown over the past couple of years, and especially Leicester back in 2015/16, it's that everyone loves an underdog. In the cases of the examples mentioned, some noticeable signings made the summer prior helped lead the charge in their seasons as dark horses. Just look at N'Golo Kante, who anchored the Leicester midfield after the departure of Esteban Cambiasso, or Raul Jimenez who's goals have fired Wolves to two successive 7th placed finishes. Today we'll take a look at some signings (not really rumoured in the media) that the newly promoted sides and clubs in the bottom half could make to push on and threaten to break into the top 10 and maybe even the Europa League spots.

Domenico Berardi

If your club needs a creative goalscorer then look no further than Domenico Berardi. The 26 year old is Sassuolo's all time top goalscorer on 88 goals, and scored 14 times in Serie A last season. Sassuolo's vice-captain was averaging 3.9 shots per game, the second most in Serie A behind only Cristiano Ronaldo. This is a shot volume that can only be matched by Liverpool's Mohamed Salah in the English top flight. Playing as an inverted right winger in Roberto De Zerbi's system, Berardi can also play anywhere across the front line. The Italian is not just a goal threat but also a serial creator. He was the league's third highest assist maker in 19/20 on 10, which would be joint 4th in the Premier League with the esteemed company of Salah, Heung-Min Son and David Silva, and gets off 2.2 key passes per 90, similar to that of Paul Pogba. From these figures its clear to see why in the past he'd been linked with moves away from Sassuolo, to clubs such as Spurs, Liverpool and Roma. Aston Villa were linked with him back in January, and for close to £30 million, he could be a great replacement for Jack Grealish, should the Villa homegrown talent leave. Alternatively, the Italian forward could also link up with Grealish in a front three along with Trezeguet, and be the consistent goalscorer Villa craved so much last season.

Southampton could also do with a player of Berardi's skill set, with their top assist maker being Nathan Redmond on 4, followed by Stuart Armstrong on 3. Their second top scorer after the immense Danny Ings was James Ward-Prowse on 5, with only 2 of those goals coming from open play. Only Sofiane Boufal had a higher number of expected assists per 90 than Berardi last season, so maybe the Moroccan deserves more minutes on the south coast in 20/21, but there's denying that Berardi would instantly improve the Southampton frontline if partnered with Ings. Berardi could, too, be the missing piece of Everton's attacking line, provided some of the attacking deadwood such as Cenk Tosun, Sandro and one of Bernard and Theo Walcott can be shifted. Berardi could fit in on the right, with Richarlison moved to the left, Dominic Calvert-Lewin pushed up top and Alex Iwobi pushed to the bench. With the imminent signing of James Rodriguez, there is no reason that attacking line cannot push for a Europa League spot.

Ben Gibson*

Ben Gibson needs saving from his Burnley nightmare. Since signing for the Lancashire club in the summer of 2018, he's played just 6 times including a singular appearance in the Premier League club in 18/19. Last season he made solitary appearance for the Clarets in the EFL Cup in their second round loss to Sunderland, and hasn't featured in a matchday squad since 11th January. In defence of Sean Dyche, captain Ben Mee and England international James Tarkowski have formed a formidable partnership at the heart of Burnley's defence and if it weren't for a thigh injury to Mee that ruled him out of the final six games of the season, they would have both played every minute in 19/20. Irish centre back Kevin Long got the nod to replace Mee in those six games. So why risk signing a player who has hardly played over the past two years?

When Middlesbrough were relegated at the end of the 16/17 season, their former captain was linked with a host of top flight clubs but he chose to stay another year to help the Teesiders push for an immediate return to the Premier League, resulting in his £15 million move to Burnley. There clearly must be something about the centre back that led to the likes of Chelsea eying him up 3 years ago. In 16/17 he formed part of a Boro backline that conceded 53 goals (10th best in the league) compared to their 55.3 expected goals against. Their expected goals against that year was the 6th worst in the league but compared to last season it was better than 10 clubs including Arsenal and Southampton, so evidently it was Middlesbrough's attack that lead to their relegation and the praise heaped on Gibson and his defensive collegues was fully deserved. His tackles per 90 stood at 0.8 in 16/17 and dropped marginally to 0.7 the following season in the Championship, similar to Victor Lindelof of Manchester United and Norwich's Ben Godfrey, who has been lauded for his perfomances this year. Gibson's interceptions per 90 was at 1.5 when he last starred in the Premier League for Boro, similar to Brighton captain Lewis Dunk and Chelsea's Fikayo Tomori. However, its Gibson's monstrous 6.2 clearances per game from 16/17 that makes him stand out defensively. This would be good enough to be 5th in the Premier League in 19/20.

If you want a no nonsense defender then Gibson seems to be the man, and it seems all 3 promted side might be in need of his services. With Ben White returning to Brighton leaving Liam Cooper as the only senior centre back to have played a substantial amount of minutes last year, Leeds could do with a centre back. However, Gibson would have to battle it out with new signing Robin Koch from Freiburg to nail down a starting XI place. West Brom have a reasonable selection of central defenders: Ahmed Hegazi, Kyle Bartley, Semi Ajayi and new signing Cedric Kipre. Apart from Hegazi, none of the other Albion options have substantial Premier League experience, with Bartley featuring a small handful of times during his time at Swansea, and so Gibson's experience may prove valuable. Bartley has also proven error prone several times throughout his WBA career and so moving him on to bring in Gibson may prove shrewd business by the Baggies. Finally, Fulham could seriously do with an upgrade in central defence with 3 out of 4 of the centre backs on their payroll being relegated with them just a year ago. Both Tim Ream and Denis Odoi are past it and have an error in them each just waiting to happen. Alfie Mawson seems to have dropped off with just 1.5 tackles and interceptions per game. With Michael Hector seemingly the only adept centre back on roster, Fulham should swoop now whilst Burnley are willing to cut their losses before Norwich get their rumoured deal across the line.

*this was initially written a day before his Norwich deal was confirmed so please bare with me!

Marko Grujic

Marko Grujic's career appears to be at a crossroads. After a seemingly successful two year loan spell from Liverpool at Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga, its now uncertain whether he'll return to the German capital. There appears to be no route for him to the Liverpool first team, with talent such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Curtis Jones regularly warming the bench, and all seemingly ahead of the Serbian in Jurgen Klopp's plans. With only 52 minutes under his belt in the Premier League for the Kop, it could be time to test himself out in the league at a lesser club. A solid midfielder, Grujic is still only 24 years old and still has plenty of time to improve before he reaches his peak years. In the Bundesliga last season, he put up 1.9 tackles and 0.8 interceptions per game, very similar to Manchester City's Rodri and Wolves' Leander Dendoncker, along with 2.3 clearances per game, which would be the 4th best for a central midfielder in the Premier League. Going forward, Grujic has declined on 18/19, with his shots per game falling from 2.1 to 1.2 and his key passes per game dropping from 0.7 to 0.4. His dribbles per game lie at 1, which is similar to the likes of Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

So who might need a midfielder of Grujic's talents? Southampton seem to be an option for the Serbian with just Oriol Romeu as the only senior holding midfield choice for Ralph Hasenhuttl after the departures of Harrison Reed and Mario Lemina to Fulham, and academy product Will Smallbone still to leave his imprint on the Saints' side. Grujic might be able to slot in alongside Romeu as part of double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 with James Ward-Prowse or Stuart Armstrong sat in front. The Serbian could also prove to be an option for Newcastle, who have Isaac Hayden as the only designated defensive midfielder in the squad with Jonjo Shelvey's talent being his ability to pick out a pass and seeing Nabil Bentaleb return to Schalke after the end of his loan deal. Whether Grujic would thrive under a Steve Bruce system remains to be seen but he's definitely worth taking a chance on if Hertha Berlin choose not to take him on permanently.

Stats from WhoScored.com and Understat.com