An insane cut-price XI of relegated players available for cheap this summer | OneFootball

Relegation spells heartbreak for the teams involved, not just for losing their top-flight status but also for the exodus of players that can follow.

But disaster for some equals opportunity for others who stay clear of the drop zone.

We’ve picked out a lineup of relegated players across Europe that clubs could be looking to snap up at bargain rates this summer.

GK: Aaron Escandell

Real Oviedo finished a distant bottom of La Liga and conceded 60 goals. In all honesty, it was a fairly miserable season after their long-awaited return.

But it might’ve been a whole lot more miserable were it not for their player of their season, Escandell, who notched a whopping 146 saves in La Liga. That’s comfortably the most of any player in Europe’s five major leagues.

You’d expect any ‘keeper for a relegation scrapper to be kept busy, and that was certainly the case with Escandell. Anyone looking for a reliable shot-stopper next season could do considerably worse than the 30-year-old Spaniard.

RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Wan-Bissaka might be hard to prise away from West Ham due to being under contract for another five years, but someone might take a punt.

This isn’t how his career was meant to go after he became a £50million player when moving from Crystal Palace to Manchester United in 2019.

Still only 28, the Premier League is all he has ever known. Will anyone lift him back up?

CB: Konstantinos Mavropanos

Mavropanos has redeemed himself at West Ham this season, winning their supporters’ player of the year vote.

But could he turn his back on those fans by making a move? It remains to be seen.

The Greek defender has two years left on his contract.

CB: Maxime Esteve

Esteve barely missed a minute when helping Burnley win promotion from the Championship last season.

But they might not be able to count on him for their next attempt at returning to the Premier League if he leaves this summer.

A host of clubs have already been linked with the 23-year-old.

LB: Hugo Bueno

Wolves faced the task of replacing Rayan Ait-Nouri last summer at left-back, opting to put their faith in Bueno from within.

It might now be the second summer in a row they lose their left-back. Bueno has a few suitors after starting 26 league games this season.

DM: Mateus Fernandes

Two relegations in two years. Ouch.

Whether Fernandes will be available on the cheap is up for question, though. There’s been talk of an asking price between £70million and £80million.

West Ham themselves paid more than £40million for Fernandes after his drop to the Championship with Southampton.

But the midfielder has earned more than enough admirers to be in with a chance of an immediate top-tier return.

CM: Azzedine Ounahi

Ounahi was a rising star at the last World Cup, but he’ll be going into this year’s with Morocco as a recently relegated player.

The midfielder was in his debut season with Girona, but the fact only two of his teammates could better his tally of five La Liga goals probably didn’t help.

CM: Mateus Mane

We would’ve included Andre at the base of this midfield, but the (former?) Brazil international has just committed his long-term future at Molineux with a new contract running to 2030. Didn’t see that one coming.

Elsewhere for Wolves, three goals and two assists for 18-year-old Mane could make him one of the country’s most in-demand young talents this summer.

AM: Crysencio Summerville

Summerville stuck with Leeds for another season when they were relegated in 2023. His 19-goal campaign in the Championship earned him his move to West Ham.

Two years later, the winger has suffered relegation again. Adding insult to injury, Leeds got back in the big time and stayed up.

We could’ve gone with his teammate Jarrod Bowen here, too. He’ll definitely be seen as an opportunity by some, but as captain of the club, his future is harder to predict.

ST: Vedat Muriqi

Twenty-three goals for a side that ended up relegated. Outrageous. Was up in Golden Shoe contention.

The Kosovo international couldn’t have conceivably done more for Mallorca, but it still wasn’t enough. What a sickener.

He’s become only the fourth player in La Liga history to score 20+ goals and end up relegated, and only the first since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with Atletico Madrid in 1999-00.

ST: Kieron Bowie

There’s a star man…

…Who wasn’t selected for Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for the World Cup. Ahem.

Bowie might have thought he’d done enough to be in with a shout after scoring three goals in his last five appearances for Serie B-bound Verona, including in a 1-1 away to champions Inter at the San Siro.

He only signed in January, and surely knew what he was getting himself in for, but he’s also been linked with a £5million move back to Scotland with Celtic.