There are some genuine quality players in this country that, as it stands, will be plying their trade in England’s second-tier next season.
Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford all failed to secure Premier League status for the 20/21 campaign, and that has led to arguably the best “relegated XI” we have seen for several years.
Some international footballers didn’t even make the line-up, which began the question – how many of these players often dubbed “relegation fodder” would you take at Newcastle?
In a potentially apocalyptic scenario where our proposed takeover isn’t granted Premier League approval, we may have to do our business snooping around the Championship, as clubs could be forced to offload their star assets to help reimburse their finances following the COVID-19 pandemic.
While a lot of top names have been left out, here is the line-up we have came up with…
Relegated XI:
- GK: Ben Foster (Watford)
- DEF: Max Aarons (Norwich), Nathan Ake (Bournemouth), Ben Godfrey (Norwich), Jamal Lewis (Norwich)
- CM: Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford), Will Hughes (Watford)
- AM: Ismaila Sarr (Watford), Todd Cantwell (Norwich), Gerard Deulofeu (Watford)
- ST: Callum Wilson (Bournemouth).
SUBS: Emi Buendia (Norwich), Josh King (Bournemouth), Troy Deeney (Watford), Aaron Ramsdale (Bournemouth), Phillip Billing (Bournemouth), David Brooks (Bournemouth).
It would be interesting to see how this side would fare in the Premier League. There is little chance that it would go down and it is more than likely a top 10 side.
Man City are already rumoured to be hunting down Nathan Ake’s signature, who is unlikely to be playing Championship football next season, but there are several players in that side who are realistic signings yet player who would undoubtedly improve our squad.
A common football myth is that you shouldn’t sign players who have just been relegated. Just look at the careers Wijnaldum, Sissoko, Maguire and Robertson have gone on to have since leaving Newcastle and Hull respectively.
There are often hidden gems in the second-tier who just happen to have been unfortunate so far in their career, and I would probably take a punt on every single player in that line-up if given the chance.
Dutch internationals and former Toon stars Tim Krul and Daryl Janmaat didn’t make the line-up, with even a B-team of relegated players likely to look strong. After all, the likes of Emi Buendia, Josh King, Troy Deeney, Aaron Ramsdale, Phillip Billing and David Brooks are other talented players who have shown they’ve got what it takes to cut it at this level – despite playing in poor sides.
Given we’ll be shopping on a budget this summer, we could do worse than turning to some recently relegated stars?
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