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Some players, with long spells on the sidelines, are easily forgotten. Players who were once considered an important part of the team can easily be brushed aside by a new manager and forgotten by fans.
All the players on this list are examples of that as they have either been frozen out by their respective bosses and given little game time, which could be due to attitude or fitness problems, or have been injured for a very long time.
Here we look at five players you would have forgotten still play for a Premier League team:
#5 Samir Nasri
With him having spent the last season on loan at Sevilla, everyone had accepted that Samir Nasri would never play in the Premier League again for Manchester City.
However, Nasri has now featured for City on their pre-season tour, to the anger of the other players who have labelled him as ‘arrogant’, the Telegraph reported. To the surprise of Manchester City and Premier League fans, it seems like the Frenchman could again play in the Premier League.
Roma are rumoured to be interested in the player after a deal for Riyad Mahrez fell through, but it is unknown whether City and Guardiola would like to keep the Frenchman or not.
Nasri has been at the club for six years now since moving from Arsenal, and is now 30 years old.
After a very successful three seasons at Arsenal, the Frenchman was expected to light the Premier League up in Manchester. Despite some strong patches of form, he could never string together much consistency in 124 league appearances for City.
#4 Stephen Ireland
Quite surprisingly, Stephen Ireland has made 55 league appearances for Stoke City and has now played in the Premier League for 12 years without dropping a division, playing for Manchester City, Aston Villa, Newcastle and then Stoke.
However, a lot of people were under the assumption he had moved down the divisions or abroad.
Ireland missed the whole of last season due to injury after breaking his leg in training last May. He has even been given a new six month contract to continue his rehabilitation, but it is fairly likely that once he is fit again, he will not be playing in the Premier League.
He has not made a single start in the Premier League since the 2014/15 season, making it hard for any Premier League club to consider signing the player at all.
In May 2009, City rewarded Ireland for his great performances that season with their player of the year award, as well as a five-year contract.
However, Roberto Mancini arrived and he was frozen out by new signings, eventually signalling the end of Ireland’s City career and a downward spiral from then on.
#3 Kyle Bartley
Kyle Bartley, since his move from Arsenal to Swansea in 2012, has made just 16 Premier League appearances. Similarly, to his Arsenal career, his time in the Premier League has been limited and he’s spent time on loan elsewhere.
Last season, Bartley put in some excellent performances and thrived at the heart of Leeds United’s defence with the Englishman even having captained the Championship side on numerous occasions, which speaks a lot for a player on loan.
Many people would have forgotten that Bartley was a Premier League player although he was captaining Leeds last season, but he is likely to play a part in Swansea’s 2017/18 season.
#2 Lazar Markovi?
Lazar Markovi? proved to be a hit in a short loan spell last season at Hull City. Many would have thought that due to his torrid time at Anfield, that Liverpool had sold the Serbian, but they have only ever sent him on loan.
This means that Markovi? is still a Liverpool player and therefore still a Premier League player. Liverpool are desperate to sell the 23-year-old as his three-year spell at the club and that is clear as he has spent most of his time at Liverpool away from Merseyside.
Watford are supposedly heavily interested in the Serbian, which makes sense; Hull's manager at the time Markovi? was on loan there was Marco Silva, who is now the manager of Watford
This would still mean that Markovi? will be a Premier League player if he is to make that move, to the surprise of most Premier League fans, who would have thought he would have left Liverpool by now.
#1 Stuart Taylor
Despite having made just 34 Premier League appearances in 18 years, Stuart Taylor is still part of a Premier League team.
The goalkeeper was recently part of an inventive, funny video created by Southampton to mock recent transfer reveals as the Saints revealed his new one year deal. This means he will once again be part of Southampton’s squad for the forthcoming season, at 36 years of age.
The Englishman has played at Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Reading and Southampton in the Premier League.
Although he spent some time at Second Divison and Championship clubs, Taylor is still in the Premier League to this day.
If it wasn’t for the announcement of his one year contract being so spectacular, it’s unlikely anyone would have known he was still in the Premier League. It’s actually pretty certain that everyone is unsure of how good the Englishman is, due to how little he has ever featured in the Premier League, but he is still going to be around for at least one more year.
