There are serious concerns about the growing chasm between the Premier League and the Championship, as all three promoted clubs have sunk like a stone for the second season running.
Leeds United and Burnley have returned to the top flight and are both one game away from achieving 100 points. But will they face the same fate as Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton next season?
It is now more difficult than ever to stay in the Premier League, and promoted clubs will have their work cut out this summer. The gap prompted us to consider whether an XI comprised of the best players from promoted and relegated clubs could survive.
Here’s the full combined XI of this year’s promoted and relegated clubs. What do you think? Will this team stay in the Premier League?
GK: James Trafford
It’s a risky move to choose a goalkeeper whose only previous Premier League experience was a disaster over Aaron Ramsdale, who was starting for a title-chasing side just a few years ago. Please bear with us.
Vincent Kompany threw Trafford into the deep end during the Clarets’ underwhelming 2023-24 season. He had been outstanding at the youth level for England, but there was a sense that the season was coming too soon.
Still, it was invaluable experience, and his confidence appears to have not been shaken. He now appears to be ready for another shot, having saved Burnley countless points during their promotion campaign. Twenty-nine clean sheets and 15 goals conceded in 44 games tells you everything you need to know.
We’d be surprised if Ramsdale remains ahead of Trafford in Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions pecking order at next summer’s World Cup. Burnley will do well to keep their rising star, given Newcastle United’s reported interest.
RB: Kyle Walker-Peters
Southampton has had a miserable season, appearing to be miles off the pace at times and in danger of matching Derby County’s infamous record.
Walker-Peters is a proven and reliable right-back with nearly 150 Premier League appearances to his name. He’s solid, if unspectacular, going forward, but he’s also very good defensively.
Another season in the Championship would be a waste of his talents. You can easily imagine him doing a good job in a better-organized team. There will certainly be suitors.
CB: Maxime Esteve
“He’s too good for the top level of football. “It’s almost like it’s still too easy for him,” Jamie Carragher said about Virgil van Dijk earlier this season.
“It almost feels like there should be another level above that for Van Dijk because he plays the game with such ease.”
That’s how it feels to watch Esteve play second-tier football. In his case, there is a higher level, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in the Premier League.
The French defender has made Championship football look like child’s play after his loan from Montpellier was made permanent last summer.
CB: CJ Egan-Riley
It feels harsh to leave out Joe Rodon, who has been a supremely solid leader at the back for Daniel Farke’s Leeds as they approach 195 points in two seasons.
The Wales international has earned a proper chance in the Premier League after barely getting a look-in at Tottenham.
But we couldn’t break up the Burnley triumvirate. Another Manchester City academy graduate, 22-year-old Egan-Riley, was outstanding for Scott Parker’s Burnley as they approached 100 points after breaking numerous defensive records.
LB: Junior Firpo
“Yours Truly, the second-best left-back in the league,” Firpo signed off a thank you message to Leeds United fans on Twitter, despite being overlooked for the Championship Team of the Season.
Given his outstanding season, it’s surprising that the Dominican Republic international was left out. Four goals and ten assists as a left-back is quite a haul.
He’s an intriguing test case for the existential crisis between the top two tiers. Despite being a bit of a bomb scare in his previous two Premier League seasons at Elland Road, he’s since provided a reminder of why Barcelona saw fit to sign him.
There are questions about whether newly promoted sides can afford offensively-minded full-backs bombing forward (a key component of Farke’s successful tactical approach), similar to Leif Davis at Ipswich Town, who was superb in the Championship but suspect in the Premier League.
Firpo’s contract expires in the summer, and Leeds may consider replacing him with a more defensively minded option. But if he stays, a confident and fit Firpo may just prove a few of his critics wrong.
DM: Ethan Ampadu
During his time on loan at Chelsea, Ampadu was infamously relegated three times with three different clubs.
However, the Welshman had been dealt a series of bad hands – Sheffield United, Venezia, and Spezia – and has now found a home at Leeds, where he serves as club captain.
Ampadu, who has been arguably their best player over the last two seasons under Farke, appears to be a Premier League player in waiting. He’s earned a fair shot.
CM: Ao Tanaka
What a signing.
The Japan international has been a standout in Leeds’ midfield this season, having joined from German second-tier outfit Fortuna Dusseldorf for only £2.9 million.
A key reason why Farke’s team improved as a whole despite losing star players Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, and Archie Gray for a combined £100 million+ following last season’s play-off heartbreak.
CM: Tyler Dibling
It’s impossible not to mock Southampton’s apparent £100 million+ valuation of their teenage prodigy, but Dibling appears to be a genuine talent. To stand out on this Saints team, he needs to be something special.
“He is a beautiful footballer with exceptional talent. He possesses great power. “He has qualities that not all players have,” former Southampton manager Russell Martin said earlier this season.
“I enjoy working with him. I love watching him play. “I would pay a lot of money to see him play football.”
We cannot disagree.
FWR: Dan James
Still, Manchester United’s seventh-most expensive sale in history resulted in a profit. James didn’t exactly stand out at Old Trafford, but his time there looks a little better in comparison to big-money flops like Jadon Sancho and Anthony.
Subsequent years saw him drift a little, struggling as a centre-forward in Marcelo Bielsa’s injury-ravaged final season at Leeds before spending a season on the fringes on loan at Fulham. The quick winger has kicked since returning to his parent club after their relegation to the Championship.
James’ speed alone makes him a second-tier cheat code, but he has also improved his composure, decision-making, and finishing abilities.
Time will tell whether he belongs in the ‘too good for the Championship, not good enough for the Premier League’ category with Robert Earnshaw, Dwight Gayle, and Adam Armstrong, but he appears to have matured into a better player. You can see him being a valuable asset in the right situation.
ST: Liam Delap
You only have to look at the calibre of clubs reportedly pursuing the strapping centre-forward’s signature to know that his future is unlikely to be scrapping in the muck of a relegation battle, much less the Championship.
Ipswich signed Delap for £20 million, and they’ll make a healthy profit when his reported £30 million release clause is triggered in the coming weeks. Manchester United, Chelsea, and Newcastle are among the clubs linked.
FWL: Stephanie Mavididi
With seven promoted players and only three relegated in this XI thus far, here’s an attempt to shift the balance away from recency bias.
Given Leicester City’s disastrous attempt to stay in the Premier League, it’s easy to dismiss Mavididi. But just 12 months ago, he was regarded as a brilliant footballer, having scored 12 goals and provided six assists as Enzo Maresca’s Foxes marched relentlessly back to the top flight.
He hasn’t lit up the world under Ruud van Nistelrooy, but who has? Footballers don’t become bad overnight. Put Mavididi back on a team that will provide him with a platform, and he will demonstrate his abilities.
