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Eight wantaway players counting the days until the next transfer window: Mbappe, Lingard, Karius...

Loris Karius, Kylian Mbappe, Jesse Lingard, wantaway players

While some players are brimming with excitement at their new clubs, others are going to have a lot of thumb twiddling to do until the January transfer window opens.

This summer will go down in the history books as one of the most exciting and unpredictable transfer windows of recent years.

But while many stars made their dream move, a number of players have been left counting down the days until their next chance to leave.

Failed bids, collapsed deals or simply no suitors - whatever the reason, these eight players were primed for a summer exit but ended up staying put.

Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard, Manchester United, Premier League

After falling down the pecking order at Manchester United, Jesse Lingard's career was in need of an immediate revival, and he found it during his loan move to West Ham.

Lingard's arrival in London had an immediate effect, both on the player and the Hammers, and he wasted no time in finding the net, scoring nine in 16 matches.

It was a move that seemed to benefit all parties. West Ham had a new creative catalyst in the heart of midfield and an extended run in the side saw Lingard rediscover his form.

All the signs seemed to point towards the Hammers making the move permanent.

However, United's £30million asking price was a stumbling block and despite the speculation running until deadline day, he stayed at Old Trafford.

West Ham instead turned their attention towards CSKA Moscow midfielder Nikola Vlasic, signing him on deadline day for £32million - ironically, more than the asking price for Lingard.

With the arrival of Jadon Sancho, the imminent return of Marcus Rashford and the untouchable status of Bruno Fernandes, it's clear to all - apart from maybe Lingard - that he's going to struggle for minutes.
Only just over 170,000 more minutes until the next transfer window, Jesse.

Ross Barkley

Ross Barkley, Chelsea, FA Cup, wantaway

Barkley's 2018 move to Chelsea hasn't exactly gone to plan.

Since arriving in London, the former Everton midfielder has made just 52 appearances for Chelsea across his three seasons at the club.

The emergence of Mason Mount and big-money signing of Kai Havertz has seen him fall even further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, and to make matters worse, Barkley is quickly running out of suitors.

In the 2020/21 season, he was loaned out to Aston Villa, and for brief periods, looked like he was getting back to his best.

After making his debut in the 7-2 drubbing of Liverpool, it looked like a match made in heaven, but an injury suffered during the Christmas period slowed down Barkley's progress, and he found himself on the bench towards the end of the campaign.

Reports this summer suggested that Barkley was headed to Burnley on loan, but talks stalled.

With opportunities at Chelsea certain to be limited, save for a Carabao Cup outing here and there, Barkley will be another one counting off the days until the January window opens.

Anthony Martial

After the dramatic return of Cristiano Ronaldo, Martial joins Lingard on the list of unwanted players at Old Trafford.

The Frenchman set the league alight on his debut, scoring in a 3-1 win against Liverpool, but has since failed to stamp his authority on the striker position.

With both Martial and Rashford preferring to occupy the left wing, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been forced to bring in a number of short-term attacking options.

Edinson Cavani was introduced as a striking mentor, but instead took Martial's place.

Mason Greenwood is now United's bright young thing up front, which has left Martial as the old toy that Solskjaer no longer wants to play with.

Links to Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain emerged but with the window now shut - and Martial out of favour - he faces four months twiddling his thumbs as United's third choice striker.

Andriy Yarmolenko

Andriy Yarmolenko, West Ham United, EFL Cup, wantaway
West Ham's forgotten man. And if reports are to be believed - their biggest earner too.

The Ukrainian forward joined the Hammers in 2018 for £18million and much was expected of him.

However, three seasons later, having made just 49 appearances, Yarmolenko can be rightly branded a monumental flop.

His poor performances and hefty wage packet mean finding a club willing to take him off West Ham's hands will not be easy. But with just a year remaining on his contract, he will be hoping for some offers in January.

Fenerbahce showed interest during the summer, but were unwilling to submit an official bid. Instead, it appears Yarmolenko will run down his contract and sign a pre-contract agreement with the Turkish side in January.

Loris Karius

Loris Karius, Liverpool, preseason, wantaway

Loris Karius is still arguably paying the price for his mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid.

A two-year loan spell at Besiktas, followed by a four-game stint at Union Berlin last season failed to restore his reputation and he is now well and truly in the shadows at Liverpool.

The club's fourth-choice goalkeeper, it comes as no surprise that Liverpool spent all of deadline day trying to offload Karius. It also doesn't come as a surprise that they failed.

With Liverpool desperately needing to add depth in other positions, a January move is in the best interests of both player and club. The only problem being, they need to find a suitor first.

Donny van de Beek

Donny van de Beek, Manchester United, wantaway, Premier League
Ahead of the 2020/21 season, Donny van de Beek arrived at Old Trafford as Manchester United's only real major signing.

Considering his form for Ajax, which included helping them to a Champions League semi-final, his £35million price tag appeared a steal.

Van de Beek was expected to slot directly into the first team at United. In the end he struggled to leave the bench.

The Dutchman only completed three full games for the Red Devils last season, leading many to think he would be on the move again in the summer.

Loan moves in Italy and Spain were mooted but the overarching message was that Van de Beek wanted to stay and prove his worth.

Three games into the new season, he hasn't played a minute.

Van de Beek may already be regretting his summer decision and when January rolls around, we expect to see him heading for the exit.

Kylian Mbappe

One of the sagas of the summer - PSG's former poster boy showed a clear intent to become the latest Galactico at Real Madrid.

Without directly putting a transfer request in, Mbappe did all he could to let everyone know that his head was in Spain. However, a £189million bid from Real was still not enough to tempt the Parisian side to give him up.

With just a year on his contract, Mbappe can now just run down his deal and sign with Madrid for free next year.

However, while he has to wait until the summer of 2022 to complete the move, the French forward will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement during the January window.

Jules Kounde

Jules Kounde, Sevilla, Chelsea, wantaway, La Liga

The Sevilla centre-back is regularly a target for Europe's top clubs, but came extremely close to joining Chelsea this summer.

Discussions between Chelsea and Kounde went well, and the Frenchman was all set to embark on a new chapter with the European champions.

But Sevilla put their foot down and demanded an extraordinary £65million fee for their star man, something Chelsea weren't willing to match on deadline day.

Eventually talks broke down and Kounde was forced to stay put in Spain. However, with Chelsea clearly interested, he'll be hoping they come back for him in the winter.

The Frenchman was sent off for a horrendous tackle on Arsenal's Bosnian left-back Sead Kolasinac less than 24 hours after deadline day.
Chelsea fans will welcome him with open arms in January.

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