Chelsea and Manchester United dominate this Premier League Bomb Squad XI, thanks to their scattergun approach to transfers.
GK: Odysseas Vlachodimos (Newcastle United)
PSR PAWN ODYSSEAS has played 45 minutes for Newcastle, coming on at half-time against AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup last October. That’s it. That’s the lot.
We all know why the Magpies signed the Greek international from Nottingham Forest for a reported £20million, and his complete lack of minutes suggests they weren’t too bothered about pretending otherwise. A year on, he’s set to leave with barely a goodbye.
If he gets anywhere near his Benfica form again, someone’s getting a perfectly decent goalkeeper for pennies.
RB: Issa Kabore (Manchester City)
Kabore joined Man City from KV Mechelen for about £3.5m in 2020 and has since been on a European tour of loan spells: Mechelen, Troyes, Marseille, Luton, Benfica and Werder Bremen.
Back in Manchester, he’s now available for under £10m, according to Ben Jacobs. There’s interest, and even with Kyle Walker gone, it’s pretty clear he won’t be sticking around the Etihad.
CB: Axel Disasi (Chelsea)
Chelsea’s transfer strategy remains: Buy everyone, figure it out laterwhich leaves certain players in uncertain situations further down the line.
The 27-year-old hasn’t quite been banished to train with the kids, but give it time. A loan stint at Aston Villa last season saw him play right-back and centre-back, but with no permanent move on the table and zero rumours floating around, it’s hard to see where he fits. A quiet return to France feels inevitable.
MORE: Premier League title contenders: Why this is Chelsea’s year
CB: Renato View (Chelsea)
Veiga did well at Juventus last season and is a wanted man, with Atletico Madrid circling, though their top target is Feyenoord’s David Hancko.
Chelsea are reportedly asking for £34m, and there seems to be a concerted push to cash in; his ability to play across the back line and in midfield makes him a handy squad option, but probably not in west London.
LB: Tyrell Malacia (Manchester United)
One of three United inclusions. Malacia has been left out of Ruben Amorim’s squad for the US tour.
Signed by Erik ten Hag in his first summer window, the Dutch full-back spent last season on loan at PSV, who had a €10m option to buy and politely declined. That’s not a glowing endorsement.
Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell is in a similar spot, and nobody seems to know where he’s going after watching Crystal Palace games from the bench last season.
CM: Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)
A disastrous six-month loan at West Ham was followed by an equally disappointing spell at Ipswich, where Phillips couldn’t hold down a place or help the Tractor Boys stay in a relegation battle. His value has completely evaporated.
City are understandably keen to move him on, but Premier League interest is scarce. Celtic or Rangers could be an option, Saudi Arabia might come calling, and even MLS or the Championship feels plausible at this point. Not even a Leeds reunion is happening at this stage.
CM: Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)
The Ukrainian started Arsenal’s friendly against Milan in Singapore on Wednesday, but come the real stuff, he’s not getting ahead of Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly, or even Jakub Kiwior.
Zinchenko was outstanding as an inverted full-back in 2022/23 but has plummeted down the pecking order. With a year left on his deal, Arsenal want to cash in now. He’s still versatile, still talented, just not wanted in north London anymore.
MORE F365 TRANSFER FEATURES
👉 Chelsea signing remains biggest Premier League underpay of the summer 2025 transfer window
👉 Rodrygo set to top terrible list of Real Madrid stars moving to the Premier League
👉 Will Liverpool signings Ekitike and Wirtz fall victim to the dreaded Bundesliga tax?
RW: Jadon Sancho (Manchester United)
We could have picked United team-mate Antony or Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson, but Sancho gets the nod.
The Red Devils thought they’d finally offloaded him when he joined Chelsea on loan with a £25m option to buy. Then the Blues paid a £5m penalty fee to send him back. Ouch.
Juventus are keen but unsurprisingly don’t want to match his £250,000-a-week wages. Who would?
AM: Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
If Pep Guardiola hadn’t already made it clear, leaving Grealish out of his Club World Cup squad confirmed the England international’s bomb squad status.
He’s still a brilliant player who deserves to play every week. Napoli were interested before signing Noa Lang, and a return to Villa would absolutely make sense. Any misgivings from fans would disappear with the first drop of the shoulder.
Either way, he needs a proper reset.
LW: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
Once one of United’s ‘untouchables’, now an unwanted presence under Amorim, who has reportedly told the Argentine winger to find a new club.
He wants to stay in the Premier League, which limits options to clubs like Chelsea (good luck with that) or Aston Villa (Unai Emery could do wonders). But a move abroad might be smarter. Garnacho still has huge potential; he just won’t realise it at Old Trafford.
ST: Odsonne Edouard (Crystal Palace)
Joao Felix was the easy pick, but this XI was too Big Six. Variety matters. We finally got there…
Edouard played four games (no starts) and a grand total of 29 minutes at Leicester last season. No goals, no assists, no future at Palace, even with a hectic Thursday to Sunday schedule coming up.
There’s talk of a return to Celtic, where he scored 87 goals in 179 games, but fans are split. Some would welcome him back, others remember him downing tools on the way out.
READ NEXT: Transfer rumour ranking: More Isak doubt, Sesko to United, Chelsea in for Arsenal, Liverpool target
