The Premier League's Finest Frauds: A Worst Title Winners XI

Here's a sobering thought: all these lads have got a Premier League winner's medal in the cabinet. More than us. More than Steven Gerrard, come to that.

The only requirement for entry into this rather exclusive club is possession of actual silverware. That opens the door to roughly 320 players across Premier League history. These days, five appearances is typically your ticket to the party – though Kalvin Phillips proved that five appearances isn't strictly necessary if your manager's feeling particularly guilty.

GOALKEEPER: COSTEL PANTILIMON (MANCHESTER CITY)

Joe Hart's permanent shadow, this towering Romanian appeared seven times during Manchester City's 2013/14 triumph under Manuel Pellegrini. Pantilimon did the job asked of him, but never remotely suggested he possessed the credentials for genuine top-flight goalkeeping, despite earning 27 caps for Romania. Post-City, he managed 45 Premier League outings at Sunderland before slipping back into understudy duties at Nottingham Forest in the Championship, eventually fading from relevance entirely.

RIGHT-BACK: RITCHIE DE LAET (LEICESTER CITY)

The Belgian defender was present on the final day of Manchester United's 2008/09 campaign, but his medal came courtesy of Leicester's miraculous 2015/16 season – a campaign he barely featured in. De Laet started the first seven games under Claudio Ranieri before being shuttled out to Middlesbrough on loan. Danny Simpson took over, Leicester stormed to the title, and De Laet's participation became something of an afterthought.

CENTRE-HALF: ELIAQUIM MANGALA (MANCHESTER CITY)

A £42million recruit from Valencia who arrived at City only to become a symbol of misguided recruitment. Mangala was loaned back to his former club when Pep Guardiola rolled into Manchester, though the French defender was given a redemption opportunity when the 2017/18 season began. Nine appearances later, it became clear redemption wasn't forthcoming, and he was shipped to Everton for the second half of the campaign. Still, a medal was waiting when he returned to collect his belongings at the Etihad.

CENTRE-BACK: IGOR STEPANOVS (ARSENAL)

Signed from Skonto Riga as cover for Tony Adams, Stepanovs arrived as an unknown quantity in 2000. The 24-year-old Latvian boasted 37 international caps and his country's Footballer of the Year accolade, but the step up to Arsène Wenger's Arsenal proved too steep. After 17 appearances across four years, he departed with a medal earned through six outings during the 2001/02 title-winning season. His subsequent career – bouncing between Grasshoppers, FK Jūrmala, Esbjerg, FC Shinnik Yaroslavl, and JFK Olimps – painted a clearer picture of his true level.

LEFT-BACK: ALEX BUTTNER (MANCHESTER UNITED)

"Alexander is one of the best young left-backs in Europe," Sir Alex Ferguson declared upon signing Buttner in 2012. Even greatness occasionally misreads the room. Buttner made five appearances in Fergie's final campaign, even chipping in with two goals, but never convinced anyone he belonged in the first-team picture. Three years after departing for Dynamo Moscow in 2015, Buttner offered this gem of perspective: "Who can say that he has been a champion in England? I can. Even Steven Gerrard did not succeed."

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: DARRON GIBSON (MANCHESTER UNITED)

Give Gibson half a yard within 30 yards of goal and he could inflict damage. Beyond that party trick of striking the ball with considerable force, the Republic of Ireland international offered precious little else. Yet somehow he accumulated a dozen appearances during United's 2010/11 campaign and 31 in total before moving to Everton. Six seasons at Goodison saw him compile 51 Premier League outings before matters deteriorated sharply at Sunderland.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: KALVIN PHILLIPS (MANCHESTER CITY)

Pep Guardiola's mea culpa made flesh. The Manchester City boss has repeatedly expressed regret over his handling of Phillips following the £40million arrival from Leeds in 2022. Apparently, Guardiola needed roughly ten minutes to determine the England Player of the Year – an honour Phillips had claimed just a season earlier – wasn't for him. City's conscience stretched far enough to hand Phillips a medal following their 2023/24 triumph despite him playing just four matches. Phillips isn't remotely a bad footballer; he simply looked utterly out of place at the Etihad. His career remains in pieces.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: JACK RODWELL (MANCHESTER CITY)

The Kalvin Phillips of the Barclays era. Rodwell's medal haul came courtesy of 108 minutes spread across five appearances during City's 2013/14 season – a pittance that proved sufficient, unlike Micah Richards' 161 minutes, which didn't. Sunderland, meanwhile, would later describe their signing of Rodwell as "the worst mistake the club has ever made," according to striker Marco Gabbiadini.

ATTACKING MIDFIELD: SHINJI KAGAWA (MANCHESTER UNITED)

Kagawa's nightmare under David Moyes – arriving already a title winner courtesy of Fergie's final flourish – sparked the #freeShinji campaign. Even Jürgen Klopp, his former manager, raged at his predicament. The uncomfortable truth, however, was that Kagawa simply didn't cut it in the Premier League. Like countless Old Trafford inhabitants before him, his reputation seemed to flourish in inverse proportion to his playing time.

STRIKER: CHRISTOPHER WREH (ARSENAL)

Wenger knew Wreh from his Monaco days and splashed £300,000 to acquire the Liberian in 1997. Competing with Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, and Nicolas Anelka represented perhaps football's most daunting striker assignment, and the quality gap became glaringly apparent whenever Wreh appeared. Three goals in 28 games eventually became a double winner's medal, though his subsequent career provided a far more honest assessment of his ability than three years of coasting alongside Gunners royalty.

STRIKER: JEREMIE ALIADIERE (ARSENAL)

Aliadiere later expressed regret at his 2007 departure, hinting he might have inherited Thierry Henry's throne had he remained patient. One Premier League goal across six years before joining Middlesbrough – where he managed 11 in three seasons – suggests he wasn't exactly destined for Henry's legacy. Still, those 10 appearances during the 2003/04 campaign, producing nothing, have earned him the Invincible tag. We've genuinely tried to take that away from him.