Man Utd, Spurs have no Premier League title winners with Brighton ahead of Arsenal

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Football365

·9 July 2023

Man Utd, Spurs have no Premier League title winners with Brighton ahead of Arsenal

Jeff Schlupp argues with David de Gea

Nine Premier League clubs have a title-winning player within their ranks after Man Utd confirmed the exit of both of their medal holders this summer.

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With Phil Jones long gone from Old Trafford, Man Utd confirmed that fellow 2012/13 champion David de Gea would be joining him in the Old Trafford departure lounge as a free agent.

The situation did not go down well with Rio Ferdinand but it leaves Erik ten Hag with a completely clean slate and – for the first time since the inaugural 1992/93 season – a Man Utd squad with no Premier League title-winning experience.

Most of those with championship gold are predictably playing for the two most recent title-winning teams, but many have sown their oats considerably wider in the time since.

1) Manchester City – 22 players The reigning Premier League champions have a few Premier League title winners in their ranks. Who knew?

2) Liverpool – 11 players While many members of the 2019/20 squad have departed, there remains a core of players Jurgen Klopp is clinging onto for dear life like a particularly meaningful comfort blanket.

3=) Barcelona – 4 players (Ilkay Gundogan, Marcos Alonso, Eric Garcia and Ferran Torres) The naked attempts to lure Pep Guardiola back by tempting him with a load of familiar faces upon his Nou Camp return are getting a little pathetic really.

3=) Leicester – 4 players (Jonny Evans, Marc Albrighton, Daniel Amartey and Jamie Vardy) Three players who went all the way from champions to Championship with the Foxes, as well as Evans who hopped on board later but qualifies virtue of his Man Utd past.

5) Brighton – 3 players (James Milner, Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana) Tony Bloom’s quest to rebuild and retrospectively validate England’s 2014 World Cup squad continues apace.

6=) AC Milan – 2 players (Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Divock Origi) Milan’s Premier League title-winning pair can compare stories about watching glory unfold from the bench – although it should be noted that Origi (698 minutes, four goals, three assists) played a slightly more prominent role in success than Loftus-Cheek (32 minutes, 25 passes).

6=) Arsenal – 2 players (Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko) It could have been a fair few more but the virginal naivety of the rest of Mikel Arteta’s side meant they completely bottled it.

6=) Atletico Madrid – 2 players (Cesar Azpilicueta and Stefan Savic) One player didn’t miss a minute of the last of his two title triumphs; the other started five games to earn his only medal.

6=) Bayern Munich – 2 players (Leroy Sane and Sadio Mane) The Bundesliga giants want to sign Harry Kane specifically so they can field an attacking triumvirate with remarkably similar surnames, albeit still with only two of them having won a Premier League title (or anything).

6=) Fenerbahce – 2 players (Edin Dzeko and Michy Batshuayi) After reaching a Champions League final, Dzeko has been tempted to join Batshuayi in that eclectic Turkish Super Lig Golden Boot race; Enner Valencia won last season, holding off Mbaye Diagne, Mauro Icardi and Fabio Borini.

6=) Flamengo – 2 players (Filipe Luis and David Luiz) Lovely stuff. Their transfer targets presumably include Rico Lewis and 50-club man Jefferson Louis, currently on loan with Slough Town at the age of 44.

6=) Real Madrid – 2 players (Thibaut Courtois and Brahim Diaz) While Real Madrid love a signing from the Premier League, just two of their current crop actually won the big one before making the move.

6=) Roma – 2 players (Chris Smalling and Nemanja Matic) Jose Mourinho inherited Smaldair but brought his favourite Serbian teddy bear with him to the Italian capital.

14=) Chelsea – 1 player (Raheem Sterling) The Blues have got rid of most of their Champions League winners from two years ago, never mind the Premier League champions of four years prior. And Ben Chilwell didn’t play a single game for Leicester in 2015/16 so shush.

14=) Crystal Palace – 1 player (Jeff Schlupp) Roy Hodgson’s last league championship medal is from the 2001 Danish Superliga, so even the 75-year-old will be impressed with Schlupp’s silverware.

14=) Everton – 1 player (Demarai Gray) A Premier League winner within four months of making his top-flight debut, Gray played 176 minutes for Leicester and was substituted at half-time in his only start, but they all count.

14=) Nottingham Forest – 1 player (Neco Williams) After timing his professional ascent so poorly as to be only be the second-best academy-produced right-back in a brilliant Liverpool team, Williams sought actual playing opportunities at the City Ground instead.

14=) West Ham – 1 player (Kurt Zouma) Across two title-winning seasons under different Chelsea managers, Zouma quite impressively only played 24 games. In two West Ham campaigns he has at least matched that tally, if not the subsequent title coronation.