Well below expectations: The 5 most disappointing Premier League players so far this season

With every new Premier League season comes new expectations. Be it from just the campaign prior or something that has built over the course of several seasons, something is expected of every team, be it title contention, building on an impressive mid-table finish or further securing their place in the league.

Similar expectations come with players, too. Unless particularly advanced in age, the general rule of thumb is that players will develop with each term that passes, which is a fair assumption to make. This, though, is of course not always the case. There is always a handful of players, varying in size, that struggle as a season begins and this year is no different to that rule.

With all of that being considered, then, it is worth asking the question; just which players thus far have been the biggest disappointments of the 2024/25 season in the Premier League?

5. Ben Brereton-Diaz, Sheffield United

Chile international Ben Brereton-Diaz has endured an interesting career since leaving Blackburn last year. Joining Villarreal in 2023, Brereton struggled to break into the first team with the Spanish side, ultimately joining Sheffield United on loan in January to see out the campaign in England.

Though the attacker enjoyed relative individual success, it was a turgid time for the Blades who dropped straight back down to the Championship after just one season in the Premier League. Of the 14 games he played with Sheffield, he won none of them, a horrible streak that he would have hoped to break upon joining Southampton on a permanent transfer just months ago.

Since then, however, Brereton has struggled to find a true run of form. He has appeared in seven league games and two cup matches for the Saints at the time of writing, failing to score in, or win, any of them. Not only that, but Southampton have won just once in the league this season so far, a 1-0 victory over Everton. The killer blow? Brereton spent the game on the bench, meaning he is still yet to break that remarkable winless streak.

4. Eberechi Eze, Crystal Palace

Jean-Philippe Mateta stole most of the Crystal Palace headlines towards the end of last season, the Frenchman having exploded under new manager Oliver Glasner and helping fire Palace to a top-half finish, winning the club’s Player of the Year award as he ended the season with 16 goals.

Much has been said of Mateta’s evident struggles to replicate that form thus far in the 2024-25 campaign, but the Eagles have been worrisome across the board with English playmaker Ebere Eze no different.

Eze, who has been at Selhurst Park since 2020 after joining the club from Queens Park Rangers, is yet to make inroads on what had been the most productive Premier League season of his career, with him and the rest of the team clearly struggling to replace the output of Michael Olise, who moved to Bayern Munich in the summer.

The England international has scored just one goal and created just one assist in his first nine games of the season, numbers that will need to drastically improve if he hopes to help carry Crystal Palace away from a relegation battle that, with each passing week, it looks like they may be further involved in, which is shocking when you consider the caliber of the players in their team, at least on paper.

3. Rodrigo Muniz, Fulham

Rodrigo Muniz was signed by Fulham in 2021, having spent over a year with Corinthians in his native Brazil as a young player emerging into senior football. It took time for Muniz to settle in England, even being loaned to Middlesbrough for the 2022-23 season so that he could adapt to the game quicker.

Coming back into the Fulham fold last season, he endured a slow start to the campaign, as did fellow Fulham strikers Raul Jimenez and Carlos Vinicius and didn’t score his first Premier League goal of the season until February but from there, hit a ridiculous run of form, scoring eight goals in as many matches as he helped fire Fulham to complete safety from any threat of relegation.

Warning signs were apparent towards the end of that campaign, however, with Muniz scoring just once between the end of March and the term’s end. Unfortunately for the Cottagers, the Brazilian’s purple patch appeared to be just that, with Muniz having scored just one goal in his opening 10 Premier League games this season.

2. Joshua Zirkzee, Manchester United

Joshua Zirkzee’s arrival in Manchester was a cause for excitement, at least for the red side of the city. Zirkzee made the move to Manchester United for just over $45 million, having helped Italian side Bologna achieve Champions League qualification in the previous season under the management of Thiago Motta, who now coaches Juventus.

Zirkzee has been described as a “9.5,” a player who isn’t quite a striker and isn’t quite a 10 but does an exceptional job at bridging the gap between the two positions. A tall, physical player, Zirkzee is deceptively technical and a brilliant passer, which allows him to drop deeper than his forward line to assist his team in build-up.

It remains to be seen whether new manager Ruben Amorim can get a tune out of Zirkzee, but now that Erik ten Hag has been sacked, it can be said safely that the Dutchman could not get the striker firing. After scoring on his debut, the Dutch attacker is yet to score another goal for the Red Devils at the time of writing, with each passing blank slate making it harder to justify his price tag.

1. Lucas Paqueta, West Ham

Expectations were high for West Ham United coming into the season. They had made the decision to move on from David Moyes, who had guided the Hammers to a run of European qualification and a Conference League victory, replacing him with Spaniard Julen Lopetegui and giving him the funds to shape a squad in his image, with Crysencio Summerville, Jean-Clair Todibo, Niclas Fullkrug, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Max Kilman being the main names to join as they spent well over $100 million.

Yet, 11 games in, nothing has seemed to click for West Ham. Their team seemingly struggles with whatever gameplan they are being taught by Lopetegui and Lucas Paqueta is one of many who are feeling the effects. The Brazilian had made a name for himself as a flashy, capable player, but has looked a shell of himself with his new manager.

It feels slightly unfair to narrow down West Ham’s poor start to just one player, given just how bad it has been when compared to what was expected of them. Paqueta, however, has just two goals and no assists to his name after 11 matches, hardly a stat line you would expect from West Ham’s club-record signing.