Ranking each Premier League club by their most likeable player.
20) Newcastle United (Cheikh Tiote) – His smile is infectious, but just how likeable can an aggressive, tough tackling midfielder be?
19) West Bromwich Albion (Chris Brunt) – Has been an everpresent during West Brom’s recent Premier League spell, warming the heart with some fine long range strikes.
18) Aston Villa (Brad Guzan) – It’s always good to see a player released, then re-signed and become a success, as Guzan has at Villa Park.
17) Burnley (Danny Ings) – Burnley striker Ings has come good after initial homesickness following his move away from the south coast.
16) Crystal Palace (Mile Jedinak) – A fantastic leader and presence in midfield, but again suffers from that tough tackling conundrum.
15) Tottenham Hotspur (Sandro) – Seems like good fun, but also like he’d be very scary when angry.
14) Sunderland (Connor Wickham) – The way that he found his form towards the end of last season was fantastic to watch.
13) Hull City (Shane Long) – What’s not to like about a striker who works himself into the ground in the way that Long does?
12) Liverpool (Daniel Sturridge) – Seems like a great guy, but loses points for the irritating goal celebration.
11) Chelsea (Willian) – In a team of few likeable faces, Willian’s big smile and funny hair is a breath of fresh air.
10) Queens Park Rangers (Bobby Zamora) – Often has a smile on his face and has overcome a fairly limited level of talent.
9) Southampton (Gaston Ramirez) – Just the fact that he’s still at Southampton might be enough, but always seems to have a smile on his Uruguayan face.
8) Manchester United (Juan Mata) – Seems like a lovely chap, but has taken on an air of exasperation since moving to Old Trafford.
7) West Ham United (Mark Noble) – You’ve got to have a huge amount of respect for a one-club man like Noble.
6) Leicester City (David Nugent) – Always seems delighted to be playing football – and who can forget THAT goal against Andorra?
5) Stoke City (Peter Crough) – Just watching him try and play football brings a grin to anyone’s face.
4) Newcastle United (Steven Taylor) – Another one-club man, but one who seems to play the game as though he is on the verge of collapse.
3) Everton (Romelu Lukaku) – A huge amount of respect has to be given to Lukaku’s career decision to leave Chelsea and join Everton.
2) Swansea City (Leon Britton) – Has defined Swansea’s meteoric rise with his stylish and metronomic midfield play.
1) Manchester City (Vincent Kompany) – You’d have to have a heart of stone not to like Kompany, on or off the pitch.