One per club: Premier League pleasant surprises in 24/25 includes £72m winger, Liverpool midfielder
Selecting a club’s player of the season is boring, so here it is with a spin. We have picked every Premier League’s biggest pleasant surprise in 2024/25.
Arsenal: Thomas Partey
It is easy to forget how important Partey has been since joining Arsenal in 2020. In his first few years, Mikel Arteta’s side were so much better when he played and looked lost without him. The Gunners have outgrown him on the pitch, no doubt about that, but during a healthy start to the season, the former Atletico Madrid midfielder has been very steady and might keep new signing Mikel Merino out of the starting XI for a while.
His importance has waned but he has been dropping a 7/10 on a weekly basis, which is perfect for a holding midfielder.
Aston Villa: Youri Tielemans
This time last year, Tielemans was complaining about his lack of playing time at Villa Park after joining Unai Emery’s side on a free from Leicester. The Belgian is now one of Emery’s most important players.
Often criticised for his lack of pace in the middle of the park, Tielemans has not shown any weaknesses this season and has seamlessly filled the boots vacated by Douglas Luiz.
Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers obviously deserve an honourable mention. Chelsea’s interest in Duran was confusing when it came to light but makes a lot of sense now, while Rogers is performing at a level nobody outside of Aston Villa knew was possible.
Bournemouth: Antoine Semenyo
Would it be harsh to say Semenyo was just another mid-table attacker last season? Probably not. He has proven in the first seven matches in 2024/25 that he is more than that.
We reckon the Premier League’s big boys are going to be keeping a close eye on him.
Brentford: Mikkel Damsgaard
Bryan Mbeumo scoring six in seven is probably more impressive than surprising. We all knew about his quality going into the season.
There is a football website on the internet and I checked it to find out Brentford’s highest-rated player this season – it had Damsgaard third and I trust its opinion.
Brighton: Carlos Baleba
Admittedly, Danny Welbeck’s five goal contributions in seven league games is quite surprising. It’s Danny Welbeck, though. He’s always been great.
Baleba has simply surprised us more. He cost Brighton over £20m, which nobody seems to realise. He is only 20 years old, which nobody seems to realise. Brighton might have done it again, FFS.
Chelsea: Jadon Sancho
Yes, a £72million footballer is good at football. Who’d have thought it?
Sancho’s time at Manchester United was beyond miserable and resulted in him being written off. There was always an inkling that it was a case of right player, wrong club as he failed to live up to expectations at Old Trafford, and now he is at a club where he feels loved, is playing regularly, and in a cohesive attacking system, the 24-year-old is thriving.
Man United do their best to kill players whether they mean to or not. Thankfully for Chelsea, Sancho has plenty of life in him.
Crystal Palace: Maxence Lacroix
Palace have been absolutely pants this season. They have zero wins and three draws from their opening seven matches, which is an astounding return considering how they finished the 2023/24 campaign under Oliver Glasner.
One shining light has been new signing Lacroix, who joined the club from Wolfsburg in the summer. In four Premier League starts, the Frenchman has made two clearances off the line and looks handy next to Marc Guehi, who will still miss his pal Joachim Andersen.
Everton: James Garner
Dwight McNeil has been brilliant, which does not come as a surprise, we’d say. Garner being a solid right-back is surprising though. He has played there for England Under-21s under Lee Carsley but doing so at a high level in the Premier League deserves recognition.
Fulham: Raul Jimenez
You can be forgiven for believing Jimenez was finished at the top level. He has a goal contribution in each of his four starts in 24/25, scoring against West Ham, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, while notching the greatest assist of all time at Manchester City.
Ipswich: Liam Delap
Four goals already? Very nice. Some definitely saw this coming, but not this guy, for my sins.
Hopefully Delap’s stellar start to the season can translate into some wins because it has not been a fun return to the top flight for Ipswich Town.
Leicester: Wilfred Ndidi
Ndidi used to be a transfer target for all of the big clubs when Leicester were threatening to break the ‘big six’ mould under Brendan Rodgers. His stock dramatically fell in the year the Foxes were relegated and staying with them in the Championship was the strongest indication that he was never going to take that step up.
The 27-year-old Nigerian has been superb since Leicester’s promotion, notching an impressive four assists and putting in solid performances against Tottenham and Everton, in particular. Before realising Ndidi is only 27, we thought there was no chance of a transfer away from the King Power. It actually could still happen. It won’t be Arsenal or Liverpool as old rumours suggested, but we can see a move happening in 2025. We just can’t believe he’s not 32.
Liverpool: Ryan Gravenberch
There has not been more of a meteoric rise of importance in the Premier League than Gravenberch at Liverpool. Arne Slot has made him a key player and the heartbeat of the Reds midfield. He did try to get Martin Zubimendi, which could have made things very different, but he didn’t and the former Ajax youngster has been terrific.
Gravenberch was one of the most promising young players in the world at Ajax and joined Bayern Munich with high hopes. He barely played and went to Liverpool for around £35m. Again, he barely played in his maiden season at Anfield, leading people to forget how good he is. We are all being reminded in 24/25.
Man City: Mateo Kovacic
It is easy to go under the radar when you are a player like Kovacic and when you play in the same midfield as Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne.
Like many players here, Kovacic is not exactly underrated, but how seamlessly he is filling in for Rodri should be spoken about more. What a player he is and what a career he has had.
Man Utd: Jonny Evans
A N/A was extremely tempting because Man Utd have been embarrassingly bad. Evans has started one game and was named man of the match as his side kept their first clean sheet in three games. That is enough for us.
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Newcastle: Dan Burn
Newcastle fans can be very harsh on their players and Burn is someone who has received plenty of criticism. The general consensus is that he is not good enough for where Newcastle want to be and as a left-back, that is certainly the case. As a centre-back, though? He is definitely good enough to fill in for the injured Sven Botman.
Burn’s start to the campaign has been pretty solid. Another surprising player is undoubtedly Harvey Barnes, who has three goals and an assist in 24/25.
Nottingham Forest: Chris Wood
Are we allowed to still be surprised by Wood scoring goals in the Premier League? Probably not. Still, we are.
He has four goals this, which all came in different games, and were all draws.
Southampton: Tyler Dibling
We have one N/A in here and it’s not Southampton or Man Utd. The reason for Dibling being our choice is because he has come out of nowhere and looked very good in a very bad team.
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Tottenham: Brennan Johnson
Nobody thought Johnson was a rubbish player by any means but his scoring form this season has definitely surprised us all. He has scored in six games in a row! Bloody brilliant, that.
West Ham: Tomas Soucek
Soucek was written off by West Ham fans before the start of the season but we are seeing some of his famous lockdown goalscoring form. He is still a limited player but has reacted well to the signings made by new head coach Julen Lopetegui.
Carlos Soler and Guido Rodriguez have come in a year after Edson Alvarez’s arrival but out of all four players, Soucek has comfortably been the best this season.
Wolves: N/A
Nobody has been good, let alone surprisingly good. You could maybe make an argument for Matheus Cunha but he has not performed at a higher level than anyone expected from him. Wolves need to get their s**t together.
