Man Utd pair and £48.5m Chelsea winger among five stuck after transfer window closes
The closure of the transfer window has left some big names stranded, including a couple from Man Utd and a half-hearted Red Devils target…
So much money was spent during a silly, silly summer, but not everyone got the moves they wanted.
Here are five now stuck where they are until at January at the earliest…
Jamie Gittens (Chelsea) Gittens was not a fully-paid-up member of Chelsea’s bomb squad, but with all but one of those out-of-favour stars down the road, the ex-Borussia Dortmund winger is left at Stamford Bridge kicking his heels.
Which is a pity since Gittens received some tantalising offers, including one from Roma on deadline day.
Chelsea refused the Italians’ approach, perhaps for their own ends, but we’re quite sure Roma’s refusal to sell them Manu Kone played a part too.
The Blues may look at Gittens as their only remaining natural left winger but how useful can he really be to Xabi Alonso?
The new boss doesn’t tend to use out-and-out wingers, and we don’t see Gittens as a wing-back. Alonso wants options to be tactically flexible, but even when he switches to 4-2-3-1, Morgan Rogers would be the first pick on the left.
Gittens, a £48.5million purchase last summer, has been an unused sub in Chelsea’s first two Premier League games and he was given only 10 minutes in the Carabao Cup against Luton when Alonso did indeed switch formation.
The 22-year-old’s outlook is not likely to improve much between now and January.
Joshua Zirkzee (Manchester United) Can you really be stuck in a place where you seem perfectly snug?
Zirkzee was widely expected to leave Manchester United this summer since he is very obviously surplus to requirements while Michael Carrick has little use for a 9 and a half. Whatever the f*** one of those is.
United sought to find a buyer, or at least a borrower with prospects. A return to Serie A looked likely, with either Juventus or Fiorentina, but with neither United or Zirkzee seemingly motivated to get things done, each found alternatives elsewhere in the Premier League.
Everton were panicked into a late expression of interest, but none of the three parties really seemed to have their heart in it.
So Zirkzee is left at Old Trafford, on the bench, where he seems oddly comfortable, despite little to no prospect of meaningful minutes, even while United lack sufficient centre-forward options.
MORE: Premier League transfer window losers: Everton, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Man Utd
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Manchester City) Out of nowhere, the Manchester City defender became one of the more intriguing stories on deadline day…
Ait-Nouri was the subject of sheepish enquiry from Manchester United who, apparently, weren’t taking the need to sign a left-back as seriously as they should have been.
But United were egged on by Ait-Nouri’s representatives, who offered their client to his club’s derby rivals in the final week of the window.
And City would have sanctioned a reverse-Tevez if United would commit to buying the Algerian after an initial loan.
They would not. Which leaves Ait-Nouri stuck at City, where he is third-choice left-back, yet to play under Enzo Maresca, and now the subject of suspicion from City fans knowing he would have willingly crossed the Manchester divide.
Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace) Sarr might not be completely stranded. The Palace winger also features on the list of five players who could yet secure a move, despite the Premier League deadline having passed.
But Turkey might not be as appealing as it once was now Liverpool have not so much turned Sarr’s head as made it spin.
In any case, Galatasaray seemed even less willing than Liverpool to meet Palace’s demands and, subsequently, they moved for Rafael Leao instead.
So, really, Sarr is stuck for now. Some sulking is understandable given the opportunities he feels he was denied, but a more productive approach would be to get his head down straight away to find his best form again and keep Liverpool interested enough to come back and try again in January.
MORE: Premier League transfer window winners: Brentford, Maresca, De Zerbi, Chelsea
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) United fans might bristle at the notion of Rashford being ‘stuck’ at his boyhood club. But there is no doubt that, at the start of the summer, almost the last place the England star would have wanted to be come September 2 was Old Trafford.
In Rashford’s mind, his United chapter was over. Of course, he would have loved to have stayed in Barcelona, but the Catalans were ruthless, not only in refusing to pay to keep him, but to pay double to sign his rival for an England place.
So then it became about finding another club. And we really thought Arsenal might offer an escape route.
Alas, no. Even when going at a very reasonable price in the current market, Rashford could not attract a buyer. Thanks in large part to the massive salary he’s trousering at United.
The Red Devils too would far rather have shifted Rashford’s wage of their books – hence why he was available at the price he was.
Instead, both are left having to make the best of a situation neither wanted. Perhaps they really can let bygones be bygones, and they are off to a decent start, but we have our doubts this uneasy peace can really last.
