JUST four weeks into the new Prem season, physio rooms are already overflowing with crocked stars.
Some players were injured at the newly-extended World Cup, while others are still nursing major issues from last season.
9
9
With so many players out, English top flight clubs shelled out a record £3.5bn on new recruits.
If these forgotten stars could team up and get fit, they would make a formidable unit.
SunSport takes a look at the best XI Premier League stars yet to play a single minute this season.
Well, almost all Prem goalkeepers are fit and firing at the moment.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
CHAMPIONS LEAVE
Champions League boss RESIGNS in live press conference minutes after match
CRACKER
Win stunning £600k 4-Bedroom Luxury Home & BMW X5 for just £1.79 with our discount
Ex-England stopper Jack Butland of Hull and Manchester United‘s Tom Heaton find themselves sidelined, with elbow and hamstring injuries respectively.
On account of having played more football in recent years, Butland gets the nod in our team.
The right of defence is made up of Arsenal duo Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
Timber’s Champions League final cameo remains his only appearance since March, although he is nearing a return.
Most read in Football
STAR SMASH
Prem star flips £60,000 Land Rover on way to training days after £10m transfer
KIS GOODBYE
Evangelos Marinakis sacks his 25TH manager in 16 years
BRY AND MIGHTY
Man Utd pair wearing different kit to team-mates in Champions League opener
CHAMPIONS LEAVE
Champions League boss RESIGNS in live press conference minutes after match
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
9
Saliba, meanwhile, is sidelined with a long-term back injury and has not played since the World Cup semi-finals.
Matthijs de Ligt is our other centre-back, having been out with a back issue of his own since November last year.
Chelsea new boy Marco Palestra fills in at left-back, having sustained a knock in training on the eve of the season.
Palestra’s Chelsea team-mate Jordan Henderson is in midfield, still sidelined by the freak broken wrist he suffered at the World Cup.
9
9
The England veteran partners Man Utd summer signing Carlos Baleba, who is yet to debut for his new side due to an ankle issue.
It’s a Spurs duo on the wings, with long-term absentees Xavi Simons and Dejan Kulusevski on the left and right respectively.
Simons sustained a devastating ACL injury during a match at Wolves in April.
Kulusevski, meanwhile, has been out for 488 days with a knee injury sustained before Tottenham’s victorious Europa League final.
9
9
Up front are French duo Eli Junior Kroupi and Hugo Ekitike, with the former having broken his foot in pre-season and the latter rupturing his Achilles last season.
There are unfortunately enough high-profile injuries to also populate a very competitive bench.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Defenders Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni, Sepp van den Berg and Dan Burn are yet to play this term, as well as midfielders Amadou Onana, James Garner, Joelinton and Manuel Ugarte.
Wingers Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh and Wilson Odobert are long-term absentees, as well as forwards Haji Wright and Emmanuel Emegha.
9
9