The Best Things in Life are Free: Top-five players released by EPL-relegated clubs 2023/24 – scout report

It’s that time of the year – transfer rumours are inescapable, fans and pundits alike give their thoughts on what their team needs to be stronger next season, and, of course, the retained & released lists are announced. When it comes to Premier League teams, you usually get fewer first-team players being released or not being offered a new contract than in League Two, for example. This is largely because clubs tend to sell certain players before their contract expires to avoid losing assets for free, but you still get some really interesting options on the free market from Premier League clubs.

Liverpool have released Thiago, Raphaël Varane is set to leave Manchester United, and Lloyd Kelly is departing Bournemouth – these are just three examples and, as you can imagine, there are plenty more in the Premier League alone. But we want to know who the relegated clubs let go, and who could they move on to next? This scout report will provide a tactical analysis of five players who have been released by the three clubs relegated to the Championship.

Gabriel Osho – Luton Town

25-year-old central defender Gabriel Osho has always been somewhat on the periphery at Luton. The Nigerian defender featured in 21 Premier League games this season and 27 of the 46 games in the 22/23 Championship regular season. He has shown promise since his move from Rochdale, though, but his time at Kenilworth Road could be coming to an end after 85 appearances for the Hatters.

While talks between the two parties are ongoing over a new deal, Osho’s contract is currently due to run out soon, with rumours already circulating about where he may play next. One team that has been mentioned is Tottenham Hotspur, while Aston Villa and Fulham are also reportedly keeping close tabs on the situation.

The above graphs represent Osho’s performance over the last two seasons in the form of percentile rankings. Now, a theme with these graphs is going to be common: their data from the 23/24 season will reflect a worse performance than the 22/23 data for the obvious reason that they got promoted in one of those seasons and relegated in the other.

There is a clear continuation in Osho’s impact, according to his percentile rankings. A high involvement in defensive duels has been a mainstay of his game, while he also posts a high percentile for dribbles too, indicating that he is confident and able to bring the ball out of defence.