Gyokeres doomed in 2026 with Liverpool, Man Utd stars also set to be snubbed and/or offloaded | OneFootball

With Viktor Gyokeres continuing to struggle for Arsenal, he is among a sextet of Big Six starters doomed for a prolonged snub and/or exit in 2026…

Casemiro (Manchester United)

The fact that Manchester United have been a better team when Casemiro has been on the pitch this season says a great deal about how well the resurgent midfielder has performed.

At best, Casemiro was expected to be a bit-part player for Man Utd this season as he was coming off a poor 2024/25 campaign and was heavily linked with a transfer in the summer. But he has clearly put the work in to prove Jamie Carragher and others wrong, becoming indispensable for the Premier League giants again.

This means that the Brazilian international will be lauded upon leaving Man Utd rather than being ushered out of the back door like an embarrassing uncle this summer. There is also a very real prospect of Casemiro signing a contract extension beyond 2026, provided he accepts a pay cut rather than extending his current deal on the same terms.

If this were plausible, Man Utd should definitely keep Casemiro for another year, but the 33-year-old is still doomed to at least slip in the pecking order at Old Trafford next year because everyone knows that his long-term replacement, likely Carlos Baleba, is going to be their next marquee signing and become one of Ruben Amorim’s main men.

This will be harsh on Casemiro, but he will know that this is just how football works and he can still play a key role in this transition.

Maresca is also not helped by Chelsea’s infuriatingly inconsistent form this campaign, with talk of a serious challenge for the Premier League title quashed almost as quickly as it began.

Chelsea are certainly on track to win the title in the next couple of years, but they are not there yet; upgrades are needed in key positions to bridge the gap to Arsenal and Manchester City.

One area to improve is at centre-back, with the Blues hoarding too many defenders in the average to good category and not enough in the top tier.

A new centre-back or two will be a priority for Chelsea next year, with weak link Trevoh Chalobah, who has rightly been labelled “absolutely awful” for certain performances, surely on borrowed time as a starter for his boyhood club.

Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal)

While Chelsea needs to address problem positions next year, Arsenal will feel that they are ahead of their north London rivals in this regard. They seemed to fix their striker issue in the summer by signing Gyokeres for £64m from Sporting Lisbon.

Gyokeres was Europe’s top scorer in 2024 and remains in the top ten this year despite failing to deliver in most of his appearances for the Gunners this term. The 27-year-old, who has seven goals in 20 appearances this season, was preferred to Manchester United newbie Benjamin Sesko in the summer, but neither player has lived up to expectations in recent months.

Gyokeres netted the winning goal vs Everton via a penalty on Saturday, but he was still “not good enough” as he and the club struggle to bring the best out of one another in this unnatural relationship.

The striker’s actual goal tally is respectable, but most of his goals have come when Arsenal have been dominant against lowly opposition and he has failed to get in the game against stronger foes.

Gyokeres was signed to provide the final piece of the jigsaw in Arsenal’s attack, but they are no more effective with him up front than they were last season, with Kai Havertz complementing Mikel Arteta’s side more.

Once he’s fully fit, Havertz should and probably will return to Arsenal’s starting XI, while Gyokeres may be reduced to being an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer-esque super-sub in certain game situations.

Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool)

Konate’s breakout season in 2024/25 made it seem that the Frenchman has the necessary credentials to eventually fill the void left by Virgil van Dijk in the heart of Liverpool’s defence. But a more accurate indication of Konate’s ceiling has been provided by his significant decline this season.

Konate has had a few good performances this season, but it has more often been the case that he has been a calamitous component in a failing Liverpool defence and has made glaring mistakes far too often.

This has severely weakened his negotiating position ahead of his contract expiry in 2026, with a once-expected move to Real Madrid now off the table.

This increases his chances of remaining at Liverpool beyond this summer, but he will be relegated off the podium at Anfield as Marc Guehi and possibly another new centre-back join Arne Slot’s side.

Luke Shaw (Manchester United)

Man Utd are far from the finished article under Amorim, but they are certainly on an upward trajectory after a positive summer transfer window.

Still, they have far more to do in the next two transfer windows to move to the next level, with Luke Shaw, like Casemiro, at serious risk of being left behind.

On paper, Shaw is one of the few natural fits for Amorim’s system as he can operate as a left wing-back and left centre-back, but his actual performances have suggested otherwise, as it looks like the Englishman’s best days are behind him.

Shaw has been at fault far too many times this season and needs to be in his final months as a consistent starter for Man Utd, with fit-again Lisandro Martinez surely set to replace him in Amorim’s first XI in the coming weeks.

Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)

Tottenham’s sudden descent indicates that there has been little improvement under Thomas Frank since he replaced Ange Postecoglou, with a solid defence held back by their ineffective attack.

With Antoine Semenyo, Rodrygo and Savinho mooted as targets, Spurs appear to be focusing on bolstering their attack next season, but they should also be looking for a new goalkeeper.

Frank has consistently leapt to the defence of Vicario, but this is becoming harder for the Spurs head coach to do as the goalkeeper should look closer to home to find the main problem at the back for his side.