As club football returned across the continent this past weekend it’s time to return to the subject of British players abroad. The opening up of the transfer market has even led to the sometimes insular island losing players to clubs abroad, from established stars to young hopefuls, seeking to broaden their experience, and older pros coming towards the twilight years of their playing careers.
By Ian King
So, following on from our recent piece about the impact British players are currently having in Serie A, here’s a look at five more players from around Europe and their progress in their respective leagues based on their FotMob ratings, which are marked out of ten.
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich; 8.32 FotMob Rating)
Much as he has been criticised for his reduced mobility in recent months, Harry Kane remains the highest-ranked British player, according to our average player ratings. Small wonder, really. After having scored 44 goals in 45 games for Bayern Munich last season, he’s started this season with 20 in 17, including 14 in 11 in the Bundesliga.
And that is what he’s paid to do. Whether he’s the best option in the number nine shirt for England is not quite the same question as whether he can still score goals, and he’s playing in a winning team. Bayern have only dropped four points so far this season, and have scored 36 goals in their first 11 league matches.
Only their Champions League form has been patchier, with them having lost two of their first four games. But with four still left to play, there’s still plenty of time to set that straight. Whatever the debate about Kane might be in England, in Germany he remains among the most dangerous of strikers.
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid; 7.57 FotMob Rating)
It can be difficult at times to keep hold of the fact that Jude Bellingham is still only 21 years old, considering that he’s already won LaLiga and the Champions League, and has been a runner-up twice in the European Championships already.
It is possible to construct an argument that this season hasn’t quite been going according to plan, though. Their 4-0 home reversal against league leaders Barcelona at the end of October was a severe shock to the system. But following the weekend’s results, they have narrowed the gap to Barcelona at the top of the table, now sitting four points below them, with a game in hand.
More troublingly, for a club which expects to win the tournament every season, performances in the Champions League have been patchy, with strong home wins against Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund, but tame defeats to Lille and Milan. But for all the team’s travails on the pitch, Bellingham remains the 8th-highest ranked player overall in LaLiga. His star hasn’t diminished in the slightest.
Jordan Henderson (Ajax; 7.33 FotMob rating)
Jordan Henderson and Ajax came together at the end of what had been a difficult time for both parties. Henderson’s choice of club after leaving Liverpool resulted in a considerable amount of criticism and was followed by a relatively brief and unhappy spell in Saudi Arabia, while Ajax also faced criticism in the wake of the Marc Overmars scandal and had endured a difficult season in the Eredivisie, eventually finishing fifth.
Things haven’t been perfect this time around, but they do seem to be improving. Henderson has been averaging a healthy 7.33 FotMob rating as captain of the club this season, and was recently praised by the Dutch football journalist Lentin Goodijk, who recently told VI ZSM that ‘Henderson is The Big Boss bij Ajax’.
For their part, Ajax are in third place in the table at the time of writing, seven points shy of leaders PSV Eindhoven. But in another sign that Ajax are getting back to something like their normal selves, they did beat PSV at The Johan Cruyff Arena at the start of November. There remain rumours that Henderson could be returning to England and back to where it all started more than a decade and a half ago at Sunderland, but Ajax are believed to be extremely keen to keep him.
Marc Bola (Samsunspor; 7.31 FotMob rating )
He’s probably the least known name on this list, but Marc Bola has been instrumental in one of the surprise packages across all European leagues so far this season. This time last year, Samsunspor were in the relegation places in the Turkish SüperLig following promotion at the end of the season before. Bola, a product of the Arsenal academy who spent four years with Middlesbrough, signed for them in the September, and the team eventually pulled clear of the bottom to twelfth place by the end of last season.
This season has seen that improvement continue. At the time of writing they’re in third place in the table, and had they not lost their recent match 3-2 to leaders Galatasaray they could be in second ahead of José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe. For a club who were only promoted back to this division two seasons ago that’s a spectacular start to the season and Bola, who plays at left-back, has made a full contribution towards this. His form may well attract the interest of bigger clubs, if not in the January transfer window then in the summer, should this form continue.
Eric Dier (Bayern Munich; 6.59 FotMob rating)
Going abroad towards the end of your playing career doesn’t always end in some sort of late reflowering. Eric Dier’s move to Bayern Munich in the January transfer window resulted in 15 appearances throughout the second half of the season, although he ended the season trophyless.
This season hasn’t been so much fun. Dier signed a one-year permanent deal during the summer but he’s only played four times so far this season in the league under new manager Vincent Kompany, and he has one of the lowest rankings on our list in terms of performances, at 6.59. There have been rumours of interest in him from Juventus, who need a replacement for the injured Gleison Bremer, or he could even find himself back in the Premier League.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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