The 2022/23 Premier League season has come to an end, and what a crazy season it’s been.
From an unexpected title challenge by Mikel Arteta’s young Arsenal side to Liverpool finishing outside the top four despite thrashing rivals Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield.
Leicester City being relegated from the league would have been almost as improbable as their title win back in August, and then we have the gold-plated circus at Chelsea.
This year has also seen several truly excellent campaigns from some of the league’s best players – think Erling Haaland breaking records and Harry Kane doing his best to salvage Tottenham Hotspur’s terrible season.
There has, however, also been a year to forget for some players, so we have compiled a list of the top 10 most disappointing players in the Premier League this season.
We have excluded those players that have barely played, however, as it’s hard to judge someone if they aren’t playing – we can hear Kalvin Philips breathing a sigh of relief already.
10. Antony
Now this might seem somewhat harsh on the Brazilian, he did score in the Carabao Cup final after all.
It’s true that at points, the tricky winger has shown serious promise, but this is a ranking of most disappointing players in the Premier League, and in that competition, he hasn’t delivered to a level that justifies his £85m price tag.
In 25 league appearances, he has returned just six goal involvements, which is certainly disappointing.
9. Gianluca Scamacca
Just qualifying for the list, having played a whopping 27% of the season, is West Ham’s Italian marksman.
It has been a challenging transition for the 6 foot 5 forward after arriving in the summer following a successful spell with Italian club Sassuolo.
Even so, a goal return of just three in 16 appearances will hardly win over the Irons faithful.
8. Raheem Sterling
The move back to London hasn’t gone well for Sterling.
From his goals and assists drying up to being played as a wingback under Graham Potter, it hasn’t clicked yet.
The arrival of Mauricio Pochettino should hopefully get the 28-year-old back on track and terrifying Premier League defenders once again.
7. Philippe Coutinho
One of Steven Gerrard’s marque signings at the start of the season following his promising loan spell at the club – to say it’s turned sour would be an understatement.
The skillful Brazilian hasn’t looked anywhere near as good this season, scoring a single goal and registering no assists in 20 games for the Villains.
6. Mikkel Damsgaard
It has been another unbelievable season for Brentford this year, and despite just missing out on European football, you’d be hard-pressed to find an unhappy Bees fan.
It may seem odd then that one of the players make this list, and one of their new expensive signings at that, but Mikkel Damsgaard has been the one disappointing thing about the club’s season – other than the obvious.
Despite making 26 league appearances, the Danish winger has amassed massive zero-goal involvements.
To be that ineffective is quite a skill in itself.
5. Kalidou Koulibaly
Another Chelsea player on the list, the ex-Naples man arrived in the Premier League with a lofty reputation after years of excellent performances in Serie A.
Although that might’ve been the problem, this move looks like it has come too late in the defender’s career, as he looks out of his depth in the league and hasn’t shown any signs of improvement yet.
4. Anthony Gordon
This is a special case, a player that has been able to seriously disappoint two sets of fans in one season.
After starting the year at the incredibly dysfunctional Everton, the local lad forced a move away from his boyhood club to join the now uber-wealthy Newcastle United.
He has yet to justify the mind-boggling fee of around £40m, producing just four goal involvements across 32 games this season.
3. Mykhailo Mudryk
This shouldn’t really be a surprise for anyone.
At an estimated transfer fee of around £88.5m and the level of hype that followed the player, it’s hard to deny that the Ukrainian winger has been a disappointment.
In a season in which Chelsea desperately needed to find goals, to play 15 Premier League games and only provide two assists is undoubtedly underwhelming.
Next season might well see the rapid winger find his feet and show the league just how good he can be, but at this point, the only thing he has been is disappointing.
2. Marc Cucurella
The penultimate player on this list is also the fourth and final Chelsea player to make the list.
Whereas some of the Blues’ other players have just been underwhelming this year, Cucurella has been downright harmful to the team.
It feels as if there have been more disastrous performances that have cost the club than there have been uneventful ones.
Was this really the player Guardiola was interested in signing last summer, or was he playing chess with the west London club?
1.Richarlison
Who else could it be?
The former Everton man joined Tottenham for around £60m in the summer, which for the Lilywhites is a big outlay on a player.
You would expect at least 10 to 15 goals in the league for that kind of money. Well, Richarlison has managed just one.
One single goal.
What’s worse, or funnier, depending on your persuasion, is that the single goal he scored was a last-minute equaliser against Liverpool, only for the Reds to go and score the winner at the other end immediately.
