They say never go back and we are willing to admit that in most cases that makes for sound advice.
But we would love to see Jack Grealish to return to Aston Villa and also think these five players could do a great service for their former clubs if they were to go back.
Dominic Solanke (back to Liverpool)
Liverpool spent around £200m on four new forwards in the three seasons before their midfield-focused campaign in 2023/2024 and yet somehow haven’t got an out-and-out striker. Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo have all proven to be decent signings and are fine footballers, but the Reds are now very left-wing heavy.
Diaz was signed as a left-winger, Gakpo – as he showed at Euro 2024 – is a left winger who was forced to play down the centre by Jurgen Klopp, and in what must be a hugely frustrating transition after their £80m outlay, Nunez now looks far more comfortable and effective on that flank than down the middle.
Bizarrely, they still want to make another big-money signing to play on the left when they should instead be paying half what Newcastle want for Anthony Gordon to re-sign Solanke, who was outstanding for Bournemouth last season, was unfortunate not to be selected for Euro 2024 and would offer something different even to Jota, who does thrive down the middle, but can’t hold the ball up anywhere near as effectively as the man they sold for £19m five years ago.
Marc Guehi (back to Chelsea)
If you haven’t yet seen Chelsea’s attempts to defend against Celtic in their 4-1 pre-season friendly defeat then a) look for some highlights, it’s very funny and b) you will be entirely convinced that despite spending a cool £200m on new centre-backs in the Todd Boehly era, in which they’ve also brought Levi Colwill into the fold and signed Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer, they still need another whose quality and ability to concentrate for more than 45 minutes of football is beyond doubt.
Guehi was England’s player of Euro 2024. One of our greatest concerns ahead of the tournament was almost absurdly assured at the heart of Gareth Southgate’s defence and what may well have been a headache for the new Three Lions boss now requires no thought whatsover – Guehi is in England’s first choice XI.
Linked with near enough all of the Premier League Big Boys – as well as Real Madrid – Chelsea should swallow what’s left of their pride and beat the rest of them to Guehi, who would add some much-needed composure and gravitas to their madcap backline.
Olivier Giroud (back to Arsenal)
Could easily be Chelsea again, but we’re actually thinking Arsenal. Sure, the fans would probably prefer they went for the guy who got 43 goals and 15 assists last season, and while there is definitely quite a large part of us that is simply desperate to see Giroud return to the Premier League by any means, there is some logic
Marseille are after Eddie Nketiah and he’s not going to be missed by Arsenal, because he very rarely played thanks to a combination of Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and – chiefly – Kai Havertz. What exactly is the plan for Havertz?
He was thriving in his more-than-a-No.9 role in the second half of last season, offering a goal threat but far more than that. Surely Mikel Arteta isn’t planning on moving him back into midfield, where he was almost entirely rubbish, if they do indeed sign Viktor Gyokeres. And what would happen to Arsenal as a whole with a Proper Centre-Forward? All of their best football under Arteta has been played without one.
Giroud got 15 goals and eight assists in Serie A last term, his best league return since the 2013/2014 season with Arsenal, will cost them barely anything at 37 with a year left to run on his AC Milan contract, offers them an alternative to the fluid namby-pamby stuff when required, but is unlikely to kick up a fuss like Gyokeres or others might when not playing the majority of the time.
We’re sure he can get out of that LAFC contract.
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Romelu Lukaku (back to Man Utd)
He can’t go back to Chelsea as he’s already there, sort of. Manchester United could do with him though. Would probably say he’s got “unfinished business” there too before slagging off the club, the manager and whomever else, but sporting director Dan Ashworth is apparently keen on signing an experienced striker to compete or dovetail with Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.
In truth we have no idea what the Manchester United forward line is going to look as things stand, let alone if we add Lukaku to the mix, and we can’t imagine the Belgium international is going to sit quietly on the bench and accept a watching brief. But then he does score a lot of goals, unlike Hojlund for large parts of last season and unlike Zirkzee in his career to date; it’s 36 goals in 126 senior games thus far for the Netherlands international.
We’re being flippant and expect one or both of Hojlund and Zirkzee to come good. But they are both inexperienced, certainly in the Premier League, and an on-song Lukaku remains a frightening prospect for opposition defences.
Aleix Garcia (back to Manchester City)
In any previous season in the last decade it would have been ludicrous to suggest any Girona player would move to Manchester City. In the time it’s taken City to win seven Premier League titles, Girona have spent just two seasons in the Spanish top flight. They broke their transfer record last summer by signing Artem Dovbyk from SK Dnipro-1 for €7.75m, while City bought three players for a combined £200m. Girona have been less City’s little brother since they were bought by the City Football Group in 2017, more the goldfish that sits on their trophy-laden mantle.
Somehow, having only been promoted to La Liga in 2022, they’re now set to compete in the Champions League having gone toe-to-toe with Real Madrid for much of last season. Aleix Garcia was key to their incredible season.
Garcia was poached from Villarreal B by City in 2015 but managed just nine forgettable appearances in the senior side. He spent a couple of seasons on loan at Girona while on City’s books and returned in a permanent move from Eibar in the summer of 2021.
He got three goals and six assists for Girona last term, captaining the side either from a role similar to that of Ilkay Gundogan, which Pep Guardiola tried – not entirely successfully – to fill last season with a mixture of Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, or in defensive midfield, where cover is still required for Rodri despite Guardiola’s claim that an academy graduate may have what it takes to be the Spain international’s understudy.