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The past decade – 2010 to 2019 – has seen the rise of some true greats in the Premier League, from imports like Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah to home-grown superstars such as Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.
Every season sees new stars burst onto the scene, but naturally, it’s much easier to make it to the top than it is to stay there. On more than one occasion in the last 10 years, we’ve seen the emergence of a potentially great player during a season, only for them to fall off the map entirely in the following one.
Here are 10 of the past decade’s ultimate Premier League one-season wonders.
#1 Michu
Spanish forward Michu joined Swansea City from La Liga side Rayo Vallecano in the summer of 2012 for a fee of just £2m, and promptly scored the 2012-13 Premier League season’s first goal on the opening day against QPR. The same game saw him score a second goal and register an assist for Scott Sinclair, and from there, the Spaniard didn’t look back.
He kept on scoring goals at a ridiculous rate and ended up with 22 in all competitions – 18 in the Premier League, making him the competition’s 5th highest goalscorer – as Swansea finished in an impressive ninth place and won the EFL Cup. Unsurprisingly, Michu scored in both the semi-finals and the final of that competition.
The striker was named the Swans’ Player of the Year, and the summer of 2013 saw him linked with a move to Liverpool or Tottenham for a fee of £35m. Instead, Michu stayed at Swansea – and partially due to an ankle injury, his form fell off a cliff.
2013-14 saw him score just twice in 17 Premier League games, and the summer of 2014 saw him move to Napoli on loan. That move turned out to be a disaster as he played just six games with the Italians, and after returning to Swansea, he was promptly released from his contract. The Welsh side probably wished they’d cashed in on him when they had the chance.
Also check out: Premier League Premier League Table Champions League table
#2 Charlie Adam
Scottish midfielder Charlie Adam was an integral part of the Blackpool side that gained unexpected promotion to the Premier League in the 2009-10 season, but nobody really expected him to make much of an impact in England’s top flight. Surprisingly, that idea couldn’t have been much further from the case.
The Scotsman was fantastic for the Seasiders during the 2010-11 season despite their eventual relegation, and he managed to score 12 goals and register eight assists in his 35 appearances, essentially attempting to keep Ian Holloway’s side in the Premier League single-handedly. He didn’t manage that, but his performances earned him a nomination for the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award.
Just weeks after suffering relegation, Adam moved to Liverpool for a fee of £6.75m, but unfortunately, the midfielder simply couldn’t recreate his Blackpool form on the bigger stage. A handful of highs were outweighed by lows – a red card against Tottenham, and a penalty miss in the EFL Cup final shootout against Cardiff – and it came as no surprise when he moved to Stoke City in the summer of 2012.
Even at Stoke though, the Scotsman struggled for form, with seven goals being his best return and a reputation as a dirty player gained along the way. In seven Premier League seasons, he never really came close to recapturing the magic of his debut term.
#3 Saido Berahino
Tottenham fans often bemoan the players they missed out on signing due to the inaction of chairman Daniel Levy, but in the case of striker Saido Berahino – who almost moved to White Hart Lane in the summer of 2015 – they probably had a lucky escape.
The Burundi-born striker burst onto the scene at West Bromwich Albion in the 2013-14 season, scoring five Premier League goals as a fresh-faced 20-year old, but it was in the 2014-15 season that he became a star. Berahino banged in 20 goals in all competitions, including 14 in the Premier League, and was named the Baggies’ Player’s Player of the Year.
Tottenham attempted to sign him that summer for a fee of £15m, only for West Brom to demand £25m, a fee that Spurs baulked at. The striker quickly went on a Twitter rant against the club and its chairman Jeremy Peace but returned to action the following season – only to lose his form entirely.
Berahino found himself dropped from the first-team squad for long periods, and only managed four goals all season. He moved on to Stoke in January 2016 but continued to struggle there, scoring no Premier League goals and gaining criticism for his attitude and work-rate. This one-season wonder now plies his trade for Belgian side Zulte Waregem.
#4 Papiss Cisse
More of a half-season wonder than a one-season wonder, Papiss Cisse was signed by Newcastle United midway through the 2011-12 campaign after plundering 22 goals in 32 matches for Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2010-11. The Senegalese striker was brought in to support countryman Demba Ba, but ended up overshadowing him entirely.
Cisse scored the winning goal on his debut for the Magpies – a thumping volley against Aston Villa – and simply didn’t slow down, scoring 13 goals in the 14 Premier League games he appeared in, including a ridiculous half-volley with the outside of his right foot against Chelsea, a strike that won him the Goal of the Season award.
Newcastle surprisingly ended the season in 5th place, with Cisse’s form being partially responsible, but if they thought they’d unearthed a world-beater, the Magpies were unfortunately mistaken. Cisse did continue to score goals for Newcastle, but not at the same rate he’d started off with, and his second season saw him score just 8, while he managed just 2 in 2013-14.
By the time he departed St. James’ Park in 2016, the Senegalese striker had scored just 24 goals in the 4 campaigns that followed his stunning debut, never quite reaching the heights of that incredible half-season.
#5 Andros Townsend
It seems almost unfair to label Andros Townsend a one-season wonder, as he’s still a solid Premier League player capable of the odd flash of brilliance; his volley for Crystal Palace against Manchester City in 2018-19 for instance earned him a nomination for the famous FIFA Puskas Award.
However, the winger’s form in 2013/14 was so good – and so beyond anything he’s produced since – that he deserves a spot on this list. A Tottenham Hotspur player at the time, Townsend produced some phenomenal performances – albeit not with a great amount of goals or assists – and found himself as a key man for both Andre Villas-Boas, and for Tim Sherwood once the Portuguese boss was fired.
Townsend’s form for Spurs rocketed him into the England squad in late 2013 and he repaid boss Roy Hodgson’s faith with more incredible performances, most notably in key World Cup 2014 qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland. He was so good in those games that many expected him to play a key part in England’s tournament the following summer.
A knee injury in April 2014 curtailed those hopes though, and when he returned he just couldn’t recapture the magic, despite the odd flash of brilliance. Townsend eventually fell out of favour at Tottenham and lost his England place too, and late 2013 now seems like a long time ago for the Palace winger.
#6 Adnan Januzaj
Manchester United fans didn’t have a lot to enjoy in the 2013/14 season; legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson had stepped down in the summer of 2013 and was replaced by former Everton manager David Moyes, but the Scotsman took over an ageing squad and quickly found himself out of his depth. The Red Devils finished in a disappointing seventh place in the Premier League, but there was at least one positive: the emergence of Adnan Januzaj.
The flashy winger had moved to Old Trafford from Anderlecht in 2011, and he burst onto the scene in 2013 with some electric performances, most notably a two-goal showing in a come-from-behind win over Sunderland in October 2013. That performance was enough to net him a new contract with the Red Devils, and a couple of months later he was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
Januzaj ended the 2013-14 season with four goals in just 15 Premier League starts, and was even the subject of an international tug-of-war between Belgium, Albania and England – despite being ineligible to play for the latter – before choosing Belgium in early 2014. However, despite being handed the No.11 shirt by United, he quickly fell out of favour at the club.
His subsequent seasons at Old Trafford saw him make less and less appearances as he was accused of having a bad attitude and earned a reputation for diving. After failed loan moves at Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland, he moved to Real Sociedad in 2017 having never really lived up to the potential he showed in his debut campaign.
#7 Adam Le Fondre
It’s always tricky for players to match the form they show in the EFL Championship when they make it to the Premier League, particularly when it comes to goalscoring exploits, but on the odd occasion, someone manages it.
Back in 2012-13, that someone was Reading’s striker Adam Le Fondre, who was able to score 12 goals in a tremendous debut Premier League season – the same amount he’d managed in the Championship in the previous season. It was even more unbelievable given that the striker had been plying his trade in League Two with Rotherham just two seasons prior.
Le Fondre’s goals helped Reading to gain promotion, and once in the Premier League, he took to the division like a duck to water, scoring on his divisional debut in a match against Stoke with a 90th-minute penalty. The striker went on to score goals against the likes of Manchester United, Everton, Arsenal and Newcastle and was named Reading’s Player of the Season.
His goals weren’t enough to keep the Royals up, though, and surprisingly no Premier League team signed him in the summer of 2013. It became clear why a little later on, though, as despite scoring 15 Championship goals in 2013-14, Le Fondre’s form quickly fell off, and he only managed 15 goals in his next 3 seasons, proving to be a classic one-season wonder.
#8 Nikica Jelavic
Like Papiss Cisse, it’s probably fair to say that Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic should be considered more of a half-season wonder rather than a one-season wonder. Jelavic had already scored 14 goals in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers in 2011-12 when David Moyes paid £5m to bring him to Everton in that season’s January transfer window, and to say he continued his good form would be an understatement.
Jelavic scored his first goal for Everton in his first start for the team – a 1-0 win over Tottenham – and from there he kept on finding the net, becoming the first Toffees player to score in five successive away games since 1977-78, and then becoming the quickest Everton player to reach 10 goals for the club since 1912.
The Croatian was named the Premier League’s Player of the Month for April 2012, and ended the season with a total of 11 goals in just 16 games across all competitions. Unfortunately, despite playing more than double the games in the following season, he failed to reach that total again, and after nine goalless league games in 2013-14, was loaned to Hull City – where he only found the net 4 times.
A permanent move to the KOCM Stadium followed, but his struggles in front of goal continued and after a failed stint at West Ham, Jelavic moved to the China in 2016 – where he finally managed to beat his initial return of goals at Everton, albeit across 29 games instead of just 16.
#9 Diafra Sakho
Senegal’s Diafra Sakho signed with West Ham in the summer of 2014 from French side Metz for a fee of around £3.5m, and the forward immediately became a cult hero amongst Hammers fans by scoring a goal in a win over Liverpool on his home debut. Sakho went onto score four goals in his first four starts for the Hammers, breaking a record held for 26 years in the process.
Awarded Premier League Player of the Month in October 2014, Sakhko’s good form continued throughout the season – despite some controversy after playing for West Ham after withdrawing from the Senegal squad for the African Cup of Nations with an apparent injury – and he ended the 2014-15 season as the Hammers’ top scorer with 12 goals in all competitions.
Unfortunately, the Senegalese striker found things tough in his second term in London, scoring just five Premier League goals in 21 games and struggling with injuries at times. When boss Sam Allardyce left the club and was replaced by Slaven Bilic, things got even worse – Sakho fell out of favour and after scoring just twice in 2017-18, was sold to Rennes – where his struggles continued.
Since leaving West Ham, Sakho has played just 25 games and has scored just five goals – meaning the reported £4.5m fee the London side received for the Senegalese player turned out to be a great deal for them.
#10 Odion Ighalo
Another player who successfully made the step up from the EFL Championship into Premier League action – for one season at least – Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo lit things up at Watford during the 2015-16 season only to lose form entirely in the following campaign.
Signed from Italian side Udinese in the 2014-15 season, Ighalo scored 20 goals in 35 matches in the Championship as the Hornets were promoted, and then scored on his Premier League debut in August 2015 in a 2-2 draw against Everton.
By the end of October, after 11 matches had been played, the Nigerian was leading the race for the Premier League’s Golden Boot after finding the net seven times, and December saw him add a further five goals to his ledger, taking his tally to 13 and winning him a Premier League Player of the Month award.
Following that however, Ighalo only scored another two league goals that season – and then managed just one in 2016-17 despite making 18 appearances. January 2017 saw him sold to Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai, and he’s since found his shooting boots again – albeit at a much lower level than in his lone fantastic Premier League season.
