The Forgotten Men: Premier League Signings Still Waiting for Their Bow

There's something distinctly odd about the sight of players signed for substantial fees two years ago who've yet to pull on their Premier League shirts in anger. Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Nottingham Forest all harbour such curiosities in their ranks – a reminder that not every transfer works out, no matter the intentions.

Omari Kellyman (Chelsea)

The winger's journey from Villa to Stamford Bridge in summer 2024 for £19m remains one of football's more transparent exercises in PSR accounting. Villa had plucked him from obscurity for £600,000 just two years prior, handing him 148 first-team minutes before flipping him for a hefty profit. Chelsea's protestations about having "monitored and tracked" him intensely beforehand ring rather hollow.

"I signed for Chelsea, and I want to play for Chelsea – that is the end goal," Kellyman offered in recent remarks, alluding to the injury troubles that left him questioning his career trajectory. There's a certain irony in how that summer saw Villa simultaneously purchase Ian Maatsen for £37.5m – a manoeuvre that allowed both clubs to spread their financial outlay across multiple years whilst banking pure profit on academy graduates in one fell swoop. A loophole sufficiently spacious for Stamford Bridge itself to squeeze through, one might say.

Now on loan at Cardiff, Kellyman's path back to fitness is progressing. That Chelsea debut, though, still feels like a distant prospect.

Mike Penders (Chelsea)

The Belgian goalkeeper represents another entry in Chelsea's seemingly endless revolving door at the position. Inherited from Strasbourg – the French finishing school that's processed the likes of Andrey Santos, Djordje Petrovic, and Caleb Wiley – Penders was afforded an extra year's development at Genk before warming the bench during the Club World Cup and subsequently spending a campaign chasing European qualification in Ligue Un on loan.

Come summer, his return from Strasbourg will likely herald one of several outcomes: immediate elevation to first-choice status, swift exile to the reserves, or literally anything in between. Given Chelsea's perpetual goalkeeping indecision, all remain equally plausible.

Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa)

Unai Emery granted the former Juventus winger a bench seat for precisely one match – described charitably as among the most dispiriting fixtures in recent Premier League memory. A fortnight later, he was being dispatched on his third loan away from Villa Park, with a fourth following in under two years.

Illing-Junior has been recalled early from successive spells only to be immediately farmed out again. Bologna, Middlesbrough, West Brom, and Pisa have all hosted him in quick succession, yet none provided sufficient opportunity to stake a genuine claim.

"In both pre-seasons I've had with him I've learned a big chunk," the winger reflected on his limited Emery exposure. The reality, however, is that a handful of months at each stop hasn't afforded him the platform to prove his Villa credentials.

Lewis Dobbin (Aston Villa)

Villa's appetite for Everton's surplus stock led them to splash eight figures on a youngster barely featuring on Goodison's periphery. The investment – coupled with Tim Iroegbunam's move in the opposite direction – raised eyebrows even before Dobbin's subsequent trajectory became apparent.

Unlike Iroegbunam, who at least made Everton appearances, Dobbin's entire Villa tenure has unfolded away from the club. The Championship has been his address, with his current Preston spell representing his most productive loan to date.

Sverre Nypan (Manchester City)

Manchester City's pursuit of the Norwegian midfielder last summer proved sufficiently determined to see off rival interest, with Bodo/Glimt's prominence in European football seemingly catching Pep Guardiola's attention. The teenager was never earmarked for immediate first-team impact, but a Middlesbrough loan was intended to provide genuine English football education.

That arrangement lasted until February, with Nypan managing just three starts from 30 Championship appearances amid managerial upheaval on Teesside. City's subsequent statement – announcing his return and his allocation of the No.41 shirt – carried an optimistic gloss that current circumstances scarcely justify.

David Carmo (Nottingham Forest)

Forest have signed 75 players since their Premier League promotion four years ago, meaning casualties are inevitable. Some departed without ever appearing, yet Carmo's prospects may brighten upon his return from a loan spell at Real Oviedo – though relegation alongside the Spanish outfit would hardly constitute an ideal preparation.

The centre-half's arrival from Olympiacos saw him immediately loaned back, establishing a pattern that's continued ever since. His summer reckoning with management could prove enlightening, particularly given the likelihood of significant personnel changes at the City Ground.