This is the last of a three part series highlighting the biggest story lines to look forward to in the upcoming English Premier League season. Part I focused on the biggest themes from the top men on the sidelines after supervising over a very interesting trade market off season. (Click highlighted text to read article)
In Part II, some of the most compelling and intriguing stories of African players excluding Ghanaian players were underlined with Chelsea’s new buy Nicholas Jackson leading the pack. (Click highlighted text to read article)
In this piece, the spotlight will be thrown on Ghanaian players in the Premier League and the top narratives to look out for even in the face of some exits.
Daniel Amartey and Mohammed Salisu have left Leicester City and Southampton for Besiktas and AS Monaco respectively. The Premier League futures of Kamaldeen Sulemana and Andre Ayew are up in the air with Ayew’s status at the time of writing being that of a free agent and Sulemana still on the books of English Championship side.
There is also major doubt Mohammed Kudus gets the green light from Ajax to join Brighton and Hove Albion with Ajax’s transfer ultimatum to Ajax expiring at the time of writing.
However, there are interesting bites on Ghanaian players whose early 2023-2024 season impact on the Black Stars 2023 AFCON’s qualification and campaign can’t be understated. Here are the three biggest Ghanaian players’ storylines to look forward to in the PL:
Can Jordan Ayew lead Crystal Palace minus Zaha?
At certain points in the immediate past season, Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira struggled to accommodate Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze in the starting unit at the same time.
Vieira got sacked and replaced by Roy Hodgson who steered the club from relegation yet again largely thanks to the sparkling form of Eze who operated well from a creative midfield position who showed energy and discipline to help out defensively.
Heading into the new season, Palace will have to attempt staying up in the league minus its main source of creativity after Zaha’s move to Galatasaray this offseason. Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard combined for seven goals last season with Ayew adding four goals to this mix.
Despite playing 27 games, Zaha scored seven goals in the league as he battled injuries through the campaign. Clearly, this isn’t enough fire power to sustain what is sure to be another brutal run of league games.
As the elder statesman of Palace’s attacking unit and a clear favourite of Roy Hodgson, the onus falls on Jordan Ayew to step up and at least get into the double digit column in either goals or assists to make up for Zaha’s loss.
While Jordan has carved a niche as a defensive striker who plays according to the instructions of the coach and makes up for his lack of goals with a ton of selfless play, he needs to do more to get Crystal Palace out of the early relegation hot waters.
Is Thomas Partey’s Arsenal swansong going to be great?
At several points in the final stretch of last season and for the most part of this off-season, Thomas Partey was on the outside looking in at Arsenal’s upcoming run in the 2023-2024 campaign. (Click highlighted text to read article)
However, frustration over a possible transfer and a first half beat down at the hands of Manchester United due to playing with Declan Rice as the sole pivot, signaled Partey’s return to the Gunners pack and he hasn’t looked back.
The ex-Atletico Madrid man excelled in the Community Shield alongside Rice in a win for Arsenal over its biggest nemesis, Manchester City even after picking up a harsh yellow card early in the game.
Partey, Jorginho and Mohammed Elneny are the only players in the Arsenal group who are in the bracket of 30-year-olds and fall outside the heavy 20 some things movement at the Emirates.
This means Partey’s time with Arsenal is fast coming to an end even if he excels and plays out the last two seasons (including this one) brilliantly.
However, the biggest question on Partey is tied to how sees out these seasons and maintains his form just long enough lead Arsenal’s title charge.
Last season, Arsenal’s form plummeted when William Saliba got injured and Partey’s form dropped. A legitimate argument could be made that Arsenal’s “Saliba problem” was compounded by Partey’s fall off from his high performance points through the past campaign up until March.
It is clear, the Black Stars midfielder’s time is coming to an end at the Emirates but this season, the penultimate for Partey, is a big one to look out for.
How does Antoine Semenyo fit into Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth?
After securing a mid-season move to Bournemouth, Semenyo largely struggled to make his presence felt in the PL after playing just 11 times while starting only two games and scoring just once. That was Bournemouth under Gary O’Neil but change has come and Bournemouth is now being managed by Spanish trainer Iraola who joined from Rayo Vallecano.
Seeing O’Neil sacked was a big shock after he guided the Cherries to safety with four games left to play but Bournemouth’s ownership wanted a modern style of play and opted for Iraola’s press heavy and possession heavy adventurous style. As an energetic guy who is versatile to play along the frontline, Semenyo will get ample opportunities to stake his claim in the team’s starting unit.
Iraola’s deploys a very intense style that draws a lot from players and makes it difficult to envisage Bournemouth players not going down with injuries. Rayo last season had the second most intense actions per game in La Liga and regular players missing out to injury opens up spaces in the team’s attack Semenyo can pick up and make his own. Former Bristol player Semenyo needs a better campaign this season else, he is sure to be moved on quickly.