Seven Premier League players facing make-or-break 2026-27 seasons, including £63.5m Arsenal star

The 2026-27 English top-flight campaign kicked off on August 21, with defending champions Arsenal brushing aside newly promoted Coventry City 3-0 at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta looks to lead the Gunners to a first successful Premier League title defence.

There is plenty of ambition elsewhere too, with every club carrying its own unfinished business into the new campaign, whether that means building on a breakthrough season or putting a disappointing one behind them, and the same applies to individuals.

Among them are players with something to prove, either because of a difficult spell at their current club, a hefty transfer fee that has not brought the expected return, or, in some cases, both.

With that in mind, Sports Mole looks at seven Premier League players under pressure heading into 2026-27, with all seven needing a strong campaign for very different reasons.

Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)

Dominic Solanke joined Tottenham in August 2024 for a club-record £65m, arriving a year after Harry Kane's departure and carrying the expectation of becoming Spurs' main man in attack.

That has not quite happened, despite Solanke contributing directly to 24 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions during his first season in north London, before fitness problems disrupted his second campaign.

The 28-year-old striker featured only 20 times for Spurs in 2025-26 due to recurring ankle and thigh problems, while his pre-season has offered little encouragement after another fitness concern surfaced during the club's tour of Australia.

With Omar Marmoush reportedly closing in on a move to north London, Solanke's place as the first-choice number nine looks less secure than it has at any point since his arrival, and another disrupted season would leave him with plenty to prove.

Alejandro Garnacho (Aston Villa)

Alejandro Garnacho's last 18 months have been a difficult period for a player who once looked destined to become a mainstay at Manchester United, with his fallout with then-manager Ruben Amorim eventually leading to a £40m move to Chelsea in August 2025.

The switch to Stamford Bridge was supposed to offer a fresh start, but Garnacho struggled to make the desired impact, starting only 22 of his 43 appearances and scoring just once in the Premier League among his eight goals across all competitions.

Xabi Alonso's arrival as head coach pushed the Argentine forward further down the pecking order, and he was eventually allowed to miss pre-season while a move away from west London was arranged.

That move took him to Aston Villa on loan, with a conditional obligation to buy worth roughly £42.5m, leaving Garnacho with a big season ahead as he tries to convince Unai Emery that he is worth keeping permanently.

Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea)

Mykhailo Mudryk joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 for a fee reported anywhere between £62m and £89m, arriving with a reputation as one of the most exciting young players in Europe.

The Ukrainian has scored only 10 goals in 73 appearances for the West London club, a return well short of what the Blues would have expected from such a sizeable investment.

Mudryk tested positive for a banned substance in December 2024 and faced a lengthy suspension that could have kept him out of football until December 2028.

Cleared in July 2026 after a settlement with the FA and WADA that matched the time he had already served, Mudryk can now return to Chelsea's squad, but he faces the difficult task of forcing his way into Alonso's plans after such a long absence.

Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal)

Viktor Gyokeres joined Arsenal from Sporting CP last summer for an initial £55m that could rise to £63.7m, arriving after scoring 97 goals in 102 games for the Portuguese champions.

The Swede was brought in to help solve Arsenal's long-running problems in front of goal, and his first season in north London produced a respectable 21 goals in 55 appearances.

There were still questions over his place in the team, though, with Gyokeres unable to fully establish himself as the first-choice number nine as Kai Havertz was preferred in the Community Shield win over Manchester City and the opening-day victory against Coventry.

Arsenal have even been reported to be considering Gyokeres as part of a potential swap deal for Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, leaving the striker with plenty to prove if he is to establish himself as a long-term solution at the Emirates.

Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Marcus Rashford is back at Manchester United after 18 months away from Old Trafford, following his fallout with Ruben Amorim in early 2025.

The Manchester-born attacker initially joined Aston Villa on loan before enjoying a successful spell at Barcelona, where he scored 14 goals and provided 15 assists in all competitions as the Catalan giants won La Liga.

Barcelona decided against triggering their reported £26m option to buy him permanently, instead investing in Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi.

Rashford has now returned to Old Trafford under Michael Carrick, who has handed him the number 14 shirt, and the forward could hardly have a bigger opportunity to put the last 18 months behind him and rebuild his Man United career.

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

Phil Foden's decline from his 2023-24 peak has been noticeable, having won the PFA, FWA and Premier League Player of the Season awards after scoring 27 goals in all competitions during that campaign.

The two seasons since have been far less productive, beginning with a quiet Euro 2024 and followed by a gradual fall down the pecking order at Manchester City that eventually saw him left out of Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad.

Enzo Maresca has replaced Pep Guardiola in the City dugout and has made getting Foden back to his best one of his priorities, with the manager praising the attacker's attitude and work rate during pre-season.

Foden was still substituted after an hour of the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, however, meaning there is plenty riding on the 26-year-old rediscovering the form that once made him one of the Premier League's best players.

Florian Wirtz (Liverpool)

Florian Wirtz's move to Liverpool for a then-British-record £116.5m in the summer of 2025 came with huge expectations after everything he had achieved at Bayer Leverkusen.

Wirtz produced 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 appearances for Leverkusen, including during their unbeaten Bundesliga title-winning campaign, but his first season in England brought only five goals and four assists in the Premier League for the Merseyside club.

There has also been plenty of change around the German midfielder, with Arne Slot leaving despite securing Champions League qualification and Andoni Iraola arriving from Bournemouth to take charge at Anfield.

A more encouraging pre-season, including several goals in friendlies, has offered some hope that a new manager and Mohamed Salah's departure could give Wirtz a bigger role and allow him to show why Liverpool were prepared to pay such a huge fee for him.