We know full well that fans of the Small 12 clubs won’t thank us for a) this feature pimping their best players out to the Big Eight or b) their club being referred to as one of the Small 12. But hey-ho.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Anyway, we hope they can take some solace in one, or more in Bournemouth’s case, of their players performing at a level worthy of being tipped for bigger and (not necessarily) better things this season.
To be clear, if you’re not sure whether your club is part of the Big Eight or not, your club is not part of the Big Eight.
Carlos Baleba (Brighton)
They’ve only gone and done it again. Moises Caicedo took on The Impossible Job of replacing Yves Bissouma and made Brighton better and while it may be slightly premature to say Baleba is an improvement on Caicedo – who, to be fair, has been excellent for Chelsea this season – to be so good at recruitment that you’re not in any way missing a £115m midfielder a year on from his departure is pure wizardry.
Baleba’s second-half display against Manchester City was the one after which everyone shook their heads in disbelief at Brighton sourcing another No.6 that bossed the midfield against the champions to the extent that we all now firmly expect some team or other to pay nine figures for him within the next couple of seasons.
Matheus Cunha (Wolves)
We’ve often watched Wolves this season and noted that Cunha appears to be the only player doing anything. That’s less of a slight on Gary O’Neil than it sounds because it’s pretty evident that the Wolves boss has recognised the importance of Cunha to his team following Pedro Neto’s exit in the summer, and has made the Brazilian the creative heartbeat of his team in a slightly deeper role behind Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Wolves are a relatively easy team to excel in as there do seem to be a fair few players simply existing, but Cunha’s numbers stand up against anyone in the Premier League. Only Bukayo Saka (13) and Cole Palmer (10) have created more than his nine Big Chances.
He’s also frequently seen cajoling or reprimanding his teammates as not just the best player but the de facto captain.
Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)
He’s not at Joshua Zirkzee levels; if Antoine Semenyo doesn’t quite make a Premier League XI of footballers that don’t look like footballers along with Kevin De Bruyne and Mikkel Damsgaard, you certainly don’t expect to see a man of his physique dancing past players on the wing.
That’s presumably one of the reasons why Semenyo, in what it seems is a general quest for teams to employ giants in every position, is such an attractive proposition for the Big Boys. He’s also very two-footed, which remains a shocking rarity at the top level, and is wonderfully direct.
Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)
Formerly the hipster’s choice for the best forward at Brentford over Ivan Toney, if you were to ask The Actuallys now they will tell you it’s actually Yoane Wissa who’s more important to Thomas Frank’s team. But while a £40m Liverpool bid for Wissa simply doesn’t track, we could see Mbeumo Running Down The Wing at Anfield.
Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
Talking of physical specimens (in an entirely unsexual way, we hasten to add) Robinson’s really something (seriously, nothing going on here). And while links with bigger clubs a season or two ago felt more in desperation at them finding a half-decent left-back anywhere, it’s now far easier to imagine Robinson slipping in at Liverpool or Manchester United.
As a creative force who relishes one-on-one duels while attacking and when defending, Robinson is now about as good as it gets in the Premier League and we’re not sure any of the Big Six left-backs other than Josko Gvardiol could keep him out of their teams.
READ: Five Premier League stars who need to buck up amid threat of January axe
Murillo (Nottingham Forest)
A strong case can be made for Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic being the best centre-back partnership in the Premier League this season. Only Liverpool (6) have conceded fewer than the 10 goals Nottingham Forest have shipped, and Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have had far less defending to do given their side has had the third-most possession (57%) in the top flight and only two teams have had less of the ball than Forest (42%).
And while we’re huge Milenkovic fans and believe he’s been more crucial to Forest’s frugality this season, Real Madrid aren’t about to come calling for someone with his very good but more homely skillset over a 22-year-old Brazilian who’s what the kids might call A Baller.
Mohammed Kudus (West Ham)
Signing Kudus was a significant coup for West Ham and having looked too good for them from the moment he arrived, hope that the Hammers would kick on to the extent where he no longer looks out of place have faded thanks to the appointment of Julen Lopetegui.
He’s the Ajax winger Manchester United should have signed when they spunked £80m on that other guy.
Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth)
The most likely actual first signing of all 12 of Ruben Amorim ‘first signings’ at Manchester United, and Liverpool are said to already be in talks with Kerkez’s representatives over a move in January.
We’re not convinced Kerkez would rank all that highly among Premier League full-backs in general but kudos to him for making a decision 18 or so years ago to first kick a ball with his left foot rather than his right; it looks set to be worth £50k per week.
Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton, on loan at Leicester)
We would have suggested to Buonanotte that he might consider changing his agent when he moved to Leicester on loan from Brighton. Surely there were better options than a Premier League team set to have very little of the ball with limited quality in forward areas in a relegation battle, but what do we know?
Because he’s gone to Leicester, crucially, Buonanotte is playing, and has proved that not only can he perform in the Premier League but can also make the difference for a team where opportunities to be the game-changer – as he has been – aren’t so easy to come by. Well done, agent of Buonanotte.
Liam Delap (Ipswich)
We were surprised that Lee Carsley opted not to make Delap one of his U21 graduates in his successful quest to increase the England talent pool for Thomas Tuchel. Only six players have scored more than his six Premier League goals this season and the more we see of him, the closer we get to convincing ourselves that it’s neither Ollie Watkins nor Dominic Solanke that will be Harry Kane’s heir but Liam Delap.
