Six players who deserve a Premier League stay if their teams get relegated

This year’s Premier League relegation fight looks set to go down to the wire. 

Southampton’s fate is already sealed following their 2-0 defeat at home to Fulham last weekend, while Leicester City look increasingly likely to join them after they put in a meek display at home to Liverpool in Monday’s 3-0 defeat. Any one of Leeds United, Everton or Nottingham Forest are set to join them.

Relegation, of course, can have a detrimental financial impact on clubs who are often forced to reduce their wage bill by offloading their star assets. Such scenarios often present remaining Premier League clubs with the opportunity to sign premium starts for a discounted fee. 

In recent years alone, players like Andrew Robertson (29), Harry Maguire (30), Moussa Sissoko (33) and Georginio Wijnaldum (32) have all been recruited from relegated sides and then thrived. 

With this in mind, Flashscore has highlighted five standout players who’ll almost certainly be on the movie this summer should their respective sides suffer the dreaded drop. 

Harvey Barnes (25) - Leicester City

The Foxes have gone from being Champions League chasers to a side spiralling towards the Championship in a short space of time. 

Despite their struggles throughout this campaign, Barnes has remained one of their brightest sparks, particularly from a goalscoring standpoint. With 12, he’s scored nearly a quarter of all his side's league goals this season. 

There are only ten players across the division who can better that return - all of whom are playing for sides situated in the top half of the Premier League table. 

What helps make that tally so impressive is the fact Barnes is a winger and not a striker. 

Yet, his pace and power combined with an ability to twist and turn through defenders make him a master at driving down the left flank before cutting in onto his favoured right foot to unleash dangerous efforts toward goal.

At just 25, he’d be a welcome addition to most Premier League attacks this summer. 

James Maddison (26) - Leicester City 

Barnes’ teammate Maddison looks destined to depart King Power Stadium this season, even if Dean Smith’s side somehow manage to avoid the drop. 

The England international has been on the radar for many of the Premier League’s top sides for the best part of two years and interest has only intensified after what’s been another strong individual campaign from the attacker. 

After netting ten goals while assisting another nine, he’s now just one contribution shy from registering a combined 20+ goals and assists for a second consecutive Premier League campaign. 

There are not many truly elite number 10 profiles on the market right now, these being players who can drop into dangerous central areas inside the opposition's half, evade pressure and then thread piercing passes into forwards ahead.  

A move to one of the Premier League’s top sides looks inevitable, but a Leicester relegation could massively subsidise the fee to land him. 

Dwight McNeil (23) - Everton 

Although he’s been drifting under the radar, it’s fair to say McNeil has been one of the Premier League’s most in-form players in recent months. 

Before Sean Dyche arrived at Goodison Park in February, the winger had completed 90 minutes in just two Premier League games under former boss Frank Lampard and looked a shell of the player who thrived at Burnely.

However, reuniting with his former boss has done wonders for his confidence, and in turn, Everton have been reaping the rewards. He’s started and completed a full 90 minutes in 15 of 16 Dyche’s games in charge of the Toffees and contributed a very respectable five goals and two assists during that period. 

Additionally, despite having played fewer league minutes than most of his attacking teammates, his standout recent performances mean he now ranks inside Everton’s top three players for key passes (44), expected assists (5.5), shot-creating actions (98) and progressive carries (72). 

Although still just 23, he’s already made 167 Premier League appearances and still has plenty of time to develop further. It’s easy to see why clubs could be interested in the winger should the Toffees need to offload stars in the summer. 

James Ward-Prowse (28) - Southampton

A product of their academy, Ward-Prowse has shown unwavering loyalty to Southampton despite clearly possessing an ability to operate at a higher level. 

However, this summer is certain to be the one in which he does finally move onto bigger things after the Saints’ relegation from the Premier League was confirmed.

There’s a long list of potential suitors circling around him, and it’s easy to see why. His obvious and most standout trait is, of course, his threat from dead-ball situations.

Only Kieran Trippier (32) can better his 56 set-piece passes leading to shots this season, while he’s scored four direct free-kicks so far across all competitions - he needs just one more to match the all-time Premier League record for such goals set by David Beckham at 18. 

What’s often overlooked, though, is his strong ability in open play too. His standout technical skill translates into boasting a standout passing range and he’s so often been a key cog in building attacks for his Southampton side. He’s also dependable without the ball and has won more tackles than any other Southampton player this season (34) 

His capacity to be strong going in both directions is a big reason why various Southampton managers have been comfortable playing him in a midfield two over the years and it’ll be exciting to see how much more he can offer in a more competent side next season. 

Jack Harrison (26) - Leeds United

Although expected, it was a blow for Leeds to lose Raphinha (26) to Barcelona last summer. However, it’s fair to say Harrison has stepped up in his place and if the Whites avoid the drop, he should take a large portion of the credit. 

Only two players - Illan Meslier (23) and Robin Koch (26) - have played more Premier League minutes for Leeds this season. That in part highlights his consistency throughout the campaign, as does his standout underlying attacking numbers for the Yorkshire outfit. 

Beyond his four league goals, Harrison ranks first for assists (seven) plus shot-creating actions (111), open play crosses (166) and successful tackles in the final third (20). 

What adds to his appeal is his ability to play across multiple positions on the pitch. Although often preferred on the left of Leeds’ attack, he’s also featured as a central midfielder, right-sided attacker and even in the number 10 position. 

He will be one to watch closely this summer - especially if Sam Allardyce fails in his mission to keep Leeds up. 

Morgan Gibbs-White (23) - Nottingham Forest

There were plenty of eyebrows raised last summer when Forest parted with a club-record £40million to sign Gibbs-White from Wolves. He’d made just two league appearances in the previous campaign and, in the eyes of many, represented a real unknown quantity. 

Forest clearly did their diligence on the prospect, though, and deserve plenty of credit with the attacker showing himself to be one of the standout young stars in the division. 

Despite being thrust into a struggling side, he’s registered an impressive five goals and seven assists this season, the pick of which was arguably the exquisite flick to Danilo (22) who fired Forest’s fourth in the 4-3 win against Southampton two weeks ago. 

That contributed to his huge total of 114 shot-creating actions this season. To capture just how impressive that is, second in this metric for Forest is Brennan Johnson (21) on 55. 

Despite penning a long-term deal at the club only last summer, it’s hard to see how Forest keep hold of him if they drop into the Championship, and their loss would definitely be another Premier League club’s gain.