Garnacho joins ‘world-class’ Man Utd star in PL quintet set to be dropped for injury returnees

The international break is of no consequence to England and therefore of even less interest to us – and we suspect the majority of you – than usual.

But while Premier League managers will be keeping a beady eye on their players’ involvement with a view to injuries and ‘red zones’, the awfully frustrating hiatus does also mean we look set to see a glut of star players returning in short order when club competition resumes.

Good for them, their managers, their clubs and for us watching, but not good for those players who have reaped the reward of their absence through increased game time.

And we’ve come up with five players we believe are set to be dropped when the Premier League returns for their superior, more decisive or just plain better at football teammates.

Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea)

The jury was still out on Garnacho ahead of the 3-0 win over Wolves and still is because it was a 3-0 win over Wolves: two-point, managerless Wolves who were about as there for the taking as one of the unfortunate women starring opposite Liam Neeson in poorly directed action thrillers.

But the £40m summer signing did produce two excellent and very different assists in that game, dinking a delightful cross in for Malo Gusto with his right foot and then embarrassing Santiago Bueno with some very impressive dribbling at speed before squaring the ball for Pedro Neto with his left.

Enzo Maresca has nothing but good things to say about Garnacho’s work-rate in training and in games, which is entirely at odds with the views of former boss Ruben Amorim, and the Argentina international has been clear of Jamie Gittens in the Premier League pecking order even while returning to peak match sharpness having missed out on a proper pre-season at Manchester United.

But Cole Palmer will soon return from injury, obviously plays in Chelsea’s best team as Chelsea’s most influential attacking player, and we have Garnacho as the player to make way.

Enzo Fernandez has been excellent in the No.10 role in Palmer’s absence and Chelsea look far better with Moises Caicedo and either Reece James or Romeo Lavia in the pivot behind him. Which means Palmer may revert to the right, where he has arguably been at his most devastating for Chelsea anyway.

It would then be a straight toss-up between Pedro Neto and Garnacho on the left, and Neto wins that battle as thing stand, even if it’s not his best position.