5 players who English clubs might regret selling abroad last summer | Premier League 2019-20

#4 Marko Arnautovic

West Ham could use the goalscoring skills of Marko Arnautovic now

West Ham are currently one of the Premier League’s struggling sides; the Hammers sit in 18th place in the league table and an upturn in form hasn’t even come since under-fire boss Manuel Pellegrini was sacked and replaced by David Moyes in late December. One of the biggest issues the Hammers have had is the lack of goals; they’ve scored just 30 thus far, with only a handful of teams managing less.

Part of the reason for that is undoubtedly the loss of their last season’s top goalscorer, Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic, who left under somewhat of a dark cloud in the summer. Arnautovic had previously requested a transfer away from the London Stadium – with ultra-rich Chinese side Shanghai SIPG hovering with a big money offer – but ended up staying until the summer, when a £22.4 million bid was accepted by the Hammers.

However, while Arnautovic’s attitude could’ve been brought into question at times, it’s hard to argue with his record in front of goal; the Austrian striker got off to a quick start for his new club, scoring nine goals and registering three assists in just seven starts for Shanghai, including a four-goal haul in their final game of the 2019 season.

None of West Ham’s strikers, in contrast, have come even close to Arnautovic’s effectiveness; club record £45 million signing Sebastien Haller has scored six times, but it’s taken him 26 games to do so and he’s hardly set the world on fire. Arnautovic might’ve been a pain to deal with at times – but the Hammers could definitely do with his goals now and may well regret their sale of the Austrian.

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#5 Ola Aina

Could Ola Aina have eased Chelsea's problems at left-back?

A major part of Frank Lampard’s Chelsea revolution has seen him embed academy products like Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Reece James into the Blues’ starting XI, but one graduate of their academy who was unfortunate to miss out on a chance at Stamford Bridge is Nigerian international Ola Aina.

Aina was sold to Serie A side Torino last summer for a fee of £9 million following a successful loan stint there during the 2018-19 season, and the versatile defender – who can play on either side of the pitch as both a full-back or a wing-back – has been performing well in Italy since his move, appearing in 19 of Torino’s 23 games thus far.

Chelsea meanwhile have done well in Premier League action and currently sit in fourth place in the table, but one major area that Blues fans would probably suggest that Lampard needs reinforcements in is at left-back, as both Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri have failed to impress during the current campaign.

The likelihood is that Chelsea will have to sign a new left-back in the summer – and will probably have to splash out big money for whoever they target, with Leicester’s Ben Chilwell having been mentioned. But had they not sold Aina in July 2019, the Blues may well have been able to plug the gap with an academy graduate – and an established international - every bit as talented as those that have broken through this season. It’s a move that Chelsea surely regret now.

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