Stoke City: Jermaine Pennant
Jermaine Pennant was once the country’s most expensive under-16 player, when Arsenal signed him from Notts County in 1999. Now 30, his well-documented disciplinary problems have led to him having something of a journeyman career around England and abroad, playing for Watford, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Portsmouth and Real Zaragoza. Now at Stoke, he looks like being moved on again, after failing to show the work ethic required at this level and establish himself in the Potters’ first team.
He spent much of the season on loan at Wolves, and failed to make much of an impression there either, as they were relegated from the Championship to League One. Pennant is certainly not a player who has much of a future now, and seems a sensible candidate for the new Stoke manager to be rid of quickly.