A collection of players who may need to consider leaving their current Premier League employers for the good of their personal career progression.
Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspur
It seems strange to say considering that Spurs are on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League again, but take him out of the side and they look distinctly average – as witnessed in their defeat to Inter Milan recently.
Spurs are slowly establishing their credentials amongst Europe’s elite, but it’s taking longer than they’d anticipated, and in the time it’s taking them to truly overtake Arsenal, Bale has become one of the world’s hottest properties.
Now being mentioned on a par with Lionel Messi and Ronaldo as the best players in the world, it’s a certainty that there are perhaps only 3-4 clubs in the world who could afford his fee and then his wages.
It goes without saying that he deserves a higher platform on a more consistent basis, but it’s to the player’s credit that he is so grounded. He’s a quiet and unassuming character, and now with a young family behind him he probably realises the value in feeling settled and appreciated.
However, a footballer’s career is short, and he won’t want to come away from it when he retires with just a handful of trophies and medals when he could have a barrel full.
Leighton Baines, Everton
It’s a huge shame that he is playing some of his best football at a time when the player in front of him for the national team is considered England’s best ever left back.
Ashley Cole may be 32 now, but Baines is only four years behind him and if he ever wants to be considered as more than a capable deputy, he’ll need to move on if he ever wants to add to his 15 caps.
However, he’s at the club he supported as a boy so the temptation to leave home won’t be so great, and he’s a notorious pessimist about his own ability. When Wigan were promoted to the Premier League in 2005 he famously said of himself; “(I thought) where am I going to go now? I should have been celebrating but I spent a large part of that summer worrying about what it would be like spending the next year on the bench and in the reserves.”
There’s a growing sense that Everton have reached a glass ceiling under David Moyes, but taking thee factors into account, he still won’t be likely to seek a move anytime soon, much to his detriment.
Fernando Torres, Chelsea
When a club pays £50 million for your services, you’d better make sure that you’re up to delivering the goods.
Many expected Torres’ move to Chelsea in 2011 to be the making of him, and taking the step up to being hailed as one of the best strikers the game has ever seen.
He had it all, the pace, vision, strength, movement and finishing ability, but he looks like a shell of the player that lit up Merseyside for four years.
Sadly, it’s become quite clear that he’s not going to recapture that form in West London. He’s now played 118 games for Chelsea in all competitions and has managed to find the net just 28 times. He is currently enjoying his most successful season in goalscoring terms for Chelsea, bagging seven in 29 matches.
It’s been suggested for a while that a return to Spain could see him retain a shred of the credibility that his career had been built on up until his move, and with Radamel Falcao reportedly heading to the Blues in the summer then a return home may not be out of the question.
Christian Benteke, Aston Villa
The Big Belgian was a surprise signing for Aston Villa last summer, and he has been a bright spark in a dismal and uninspiring season for the Midlands giants.
Nobody had expected him to score 19 goals by this stage of the season, and furthermore, nobody had expected him to play so well in the process.
Virtually unbeatable in the air, his strength once in possesion of the ball has been key to him linking up well with Villa’s forward line, and without him, there’s no doubt that they’d be in much bigger trouble than they already are.
Benteke has pledged his future to the club should they stay in the Premier League, despite his agent’s his best efforts to claim otherwise, but it’s clear that he won’t be there for long anyways.
Having broken into and then establishing himself in a talented Belgian national side, a host of top clubs have expressed an interest in taking him off Villa’s hands.
Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City and Inter Milan are all rumoured to be having a closer look, but chances are they won’t be able to afford him. Since coming to England for £7 million, he’s tripled his value and at the beginning of a three-year deal, Villa can charge what they like.
Santi Cazorla, Arsenal
It’s sometimes easy to forget that Cazorla is 28 and not the baby faced future superstar that was once attributed to him.
No, Cazorla is a star now and could quite easily walk in to any team in the Premier League, so you would have to question what he’s doing at Arsenal.
That’s not a slight on the club, they are a fine team, but they are also quite obviously not the side they once were, and furthermore, they’re incredibly close to not even being a Champions League club anymore.
The Spaniard has been a major force at The Emirates this season and has been one of the contributing factors to them clinging on to their European aspirations for next term, but at 28 he’ll be aware that time is not on his side if he wants to claim some silverware in England.
He’s also got a place in the supremely talented Spanish national team to hold on to. The former Villarreal man has won 52 caps for his country but he can’t afford to rest on his laurels, as a dip in form, for the player or the club, could result in him losing his place as there will always be another player on his heels ready to take his spot.
Javier Hernandez, Manchester United
Like Cazorla, it’s easy to forget that Chicharito isn’t a future star anymore, now 24 he can no longer be considered a ‘young player’ in football.
The bargain of the season when he signed back in 2010, he endured a difficult time last season notching just 12 goals in all competitions, but has started to give Sir Alex something to think about this year by showing that he is still a viable option at this level.
However, there is still a sense that the manager doesn’t fancy him over Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. That’s a touch combo to break, but he is surely worth more than the role of ‘super sub.’
Hernandez has done well in England, scoring 48 times in just over 100 appearances but perhaps a move to Spain, or possibly Italy, would serve him well on his journey to becoming the best Mexican striker in history.
Marouane Fellaini, Everton
Fellaini has been one of Everton’s key men in the relative success that Everton have enjoyed over the past five years.
And like Benteke at Villa, he’s one of the many excellent Belgian player that have flooded into the Premier League recently, highlighting a possible ‘golden generation’ like scenario in the lowland country.
But is relative success enough for such a player? Probably not. Everton are no closer to winning a cup or making an assault on the top four as they were when he arrived in 2008. It could be time for him to move on.
As a player with everything in his locker, he’s naturally come to the attention to some of Europe’s larger sides, and links with a summer move to Chelsea refuse to go away. He can be proud of the work he’s put in on Merseyside, though, as he’s been as good as anyone, if not better who have donned the blue jersey during their consecutive sixth placed finishes.
His sale will also potentially fund a redevelopment for the squad. Everton desperately need an out and out goalscorer, and the reported £25 million fee will go a long way to making sure they get one.
Luis Suarez, Liverpool
Despite question marks over his sportsmanship (and personality) there is no doubting that he is a genuine world-class talent.
Liverpool somehow managed to sign Suarez during a period of decline for the club and he has stuck with them despite missing out on a Champions League spot last year. But, can he afford to keep doing so?
At the time of writing, Liverpool sit seven points behind Chelsea in fourth, and five points from Arsenal in fifth. As one of the best players in the world he simply can’t wait for it to all click for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
However, with just under three years left to run on his current deal he’s in no position to demand a move, though, if he made his feelings clear there’s no doubt that a big club with a big bag of money and the promise of Champions League football could force Liverpool’s hand.
It’s all a matter of patience.
With 50 goals in 93 games during his time in England, his record speaks for itself and compared to the signing £35 million of Andy Carroll (who joined on the same day) he most definitely represents £22 million well spent.
Gaston Ramirez, Southampton
Quite possibly one of the most surprising signings of the summer when he joined Southampton from Bologna, Ramirez has taken somewhat of a backwards step when you consider the options that were available to him.
In joining the south coast strugglers on deadline day for £12 million, the Uruguayan international put an end to the interest that clubs like Spurs, Liverpool and Inter Milan has been showing in him.
His former club, Bologna, currently sit in mid table in Serie A, and logic would say that if he’d stayed put he wouldn’t be putting his future in danger by joining an equally unfashionable club in England and flirting with relegation.
However, to his credit, it proves that he’s not afraid to delve into the unknown for first team football in a culture that he isn’t used to.
A Technically gifted attacking midfielder, he’s added to his experience considerably by being with the Saints, even if there is a feeling that he won’t be there for long.
With no disrespect to Southampton, if they do survive this season there is a good chance that they will be fighting it out at the wrong end of the table again next year, and the longer he is in that situation then the greater risk of him being forgotten increases two fold.
Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle United
Cabaye has made a noticeably huge impact on the Tyneside club since joining from Lille in 2011.
The Magpies win record took a serious dip earlier this season when the influential Frenchman was missing through injury and there’s a strong case to make that says they can’t operate without him.
A midfield stringpuller, Cabaye is Newcastle’s quarterback, picking out passes that other cannot see, and boosting his credentials with a good eye for goal too.
He joined Newcastle off the back of a successful league and cup double winning season in Lille and thought, rightly so, that he was joining a club with aspirations of matching those achievements in a tougher league.
It hasn’t quite worked out for the Toon Army that way, and speculation linking him with a move away just refuses to go away. Arsenal is the bookies favourite destination, but in truth he’d find a home anywhere as he’s proved that he can handle himself at this level.
He’s also now established himself in the French national side and become one of Didier Deschamps’ most trusted men – a position he’ll want to hold onto as the country seems to be on the verge of another renaissance of midfield talent.