How did this happen? The 4 most surprising Premier League players this season

With each new Premier League season comes new expectations. Some teams are expected to push on for a title charge, others to solidify and maintain, maybe even improve upon, their position within the league. For others, it is enough to simply survive, with promoted teams, especially now, being more than content with that as a goal.

It’s the managers that come up with the ideas, but ultimately, it is down to the players to put those plans into practice. Form is a funny thing for players, as it can often fluctuate regardless of that player’s individual ability.

One thing that each campaign brings without fail is surprises. Be it a team shooting higher than what had been expected of them, or the exact opposite. The same is true of players. Sometimes, players held in high regard can have an uncharacteristically poor campaign for whatever reason. Vice versa, there are sometimes players who have had a season or two of relative mediocrity before blossoming into a truly brilliant player to watch. With that being considered, which players have been the biggest surprises in the Premier League this season?

4. Raul Jimenez, Fulham

Raul Jimenez was, for a time with Wolverhampton Wanderers, one of the Premier League’s most dependable strikers under the management of Nuno Espirito Santo, who is now in charge of fellow English top-flight side Nottingham Forest. As is well documented, a head injury that turned out to be a fractured skull derailed Jimenez’s career, at least in the short term.

The Mexican international moved south to London in 2023 to join Fulham on a two-year contract. He did not do a great deal in his debut campaign, with much of the spotlight being absorbed by Rodrigo Muniz when the Brazilian went through an exceptional purple patch. Since then though, Jimenez has displayed just why he is still a valued member of a Premier League team.

With Muniz’s output having slowed in comparison to what it was, Jimenez has been the striker that Fulham boss Marco Silva has depended on to open the 2024/25 campaign. The Mexican has notched four goals and two assists in 11 games, his form closer to resembling the peak he experienced at the Molineux.

3. Ryan Gravenberch, Liverpool

Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch is a player that has always had hype around him. He emerged as a sensation with Ajax, as so many players have done in the past. His form with the Amsterdam club saw Bayern Munich come calling in 2022. Gravenberch, though, would only spend a season in Bavaria, moving to Liverpool on the final day of the 2023 summer transfer window.

Gravenberch made 39 appearances in what was Jurgen Klopp’s last season in charge at Anfield, winning the EFL Cup in his debut season and starting in the final against Chelsea, which the Reds won 1-0 after extra time.

Under new manager Arne Slot, Gravenberch has thus far been deployed in a deeper position to the one he held under Klopp and appears to be a player reborn. His performances so far in the current campaign have received praise from many onlookers and there are no signs that his improved displays will cease at any stage in the near future.

2. Ola Aina, Nottingham Forest

Originally, Ola Aina joined Nottingham Forest last summer, following his release from Torino where he had spent five years. During his first season, while playing some games at right-back, he predominantly spent the term on the left, either as a left-back or left midfielder, making 22 appearances despite injury sidelining him for three months in the middle of the campaign.

This season, however, Forest’s first full term under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo, has seen Aina deployed solely as a right-back as the Nottingham side have enjoyed a blistering start to the Premier League season, seeing themselves sitting fifth after 11 games played. Aina has played a large role in that, having put in consistently solid performances on the right flank.

Aina was generally regarded as a relatively solid player, but it would be hard to assume that many foresaw what has been a brilliant run of form for the Nigerian international thus far.

1. Jhon Duran, Aston Villa

Having started his career with Envigado in his native Colombia, Jhon Duran was signed by Chicago Fire in 2022, moving to Major League Soccer where he would spend just over a year before being signed by Aston Villa, the Premier League side managed by former Arsenal manager Unai Emery.

Duran made his debut for Villa that February, despite being just 20 years old, and has steadily progressed during his time in the Midlands. Often, the Colombian is used as an option from the bench, deputizing for England international and Emery’s starting striker Ollie Watkins.

Especially this season, however, Duran has exploded into one of the game’s more talked about prospects. He has scored eight goals in 17 games, including a stunner against Everton in the Premier League and a truly magnificent strike against Bayern Munich in the Champions League that gave Villa one of their most memorable wins in decades.