Charlie Malam: Enzo Fernandez

Their XI is far more balanced with Ayyoub Bouaddi next to Elliot Anderson instead. That’s what makes Fernandez overrated. At that fee, and at his age - 25 - Fernandez should unquestionably be one of the best players in the league. And he’s certainly one of the best box crashers.

But is he great defensively? No. Is he great on the ball under pressure? No. Is he particularly creative? Well he has his moments, but consistently? Again no. So where does he really fit? Perhaps he’s a 10 more than a box-to-box No.8, which is the role City bought him for. He simply is not a £125m footballer, but City’s problem is he’s also too expensive to sit on the bench.

Archie Griggs: Cole Palmer

Some might argue that Palmer is England's best technical forward on his day, but those days simply don't arrive often enough.

His reputation is boosted by the purple patch he went through in his first season after joining Chelsea, when nine of his 22 goals came from the penalty spot.

Palmer has also shown flashes of brilliance on the international stage, but his lack of commitment has clearly irked Thomas Tuchel and it remains to be seen if he can work his way back into the fold.

Unless he can recapture the form he showed in his early days at Stamford Bridge and maintain it for an extended period of time, I can see him being remembered as a player who never really fulfilled his true potential.

Jack McEachen: Enzo Fernandez

I’ve got no time for a midfielder who doesn’t defend, doesn’t run enough, and doesn’t score enough goals to justify those failures.

How he managed to con not one, but two clubs to spend over £100million for his services is honestly commendable.

At Chelsea, Moises Caicedo did all his defensive work.

At Manchester City, Elliot Anderson is being tasked with the same unruly job.

And both teams have suffered as a result.

How can one of the most expensive players in the Premier League actively make his team worse?

City have a handful of midfielders who can do a better job and Enzo Fernandez has even been shown up by a 36-year-old Jordan Henderson, who moved to Saudi Arabia three years ago and can still replace the Argentine without breaking a sweat.

Tom Victor: Phil Foden

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not a fan of the ‘overrated/underrated’ debate as a whole as players can’t really control how they’re seen by others. With that said, though, I’ve never quite understood the argument around just how high a reputation Phil Foden has, especially among some of my fellow members of the press.

Foden is not a bad player by any measure but the clamour for him to automatically start for England over the last couple of years has seemed misplaced.

He was an important part of a dominant Manchester City side but - with one notable exception in the 2023/24 season - if you read the glowing praise and then looked at his output you’d be at a loss to square the two.

He’s a talented and versatile pro who at his best could produce occasional moments of genius. But if we’re talking about how players are rated in the wider football world, there’s a gulf between perception and reality.

Amos Murphy: Bukayo Saka

If Phil Foden is overrated, what does that make Bukayo Saka? We’re talking in the Premier League, not international level, with Foden a six-time league champion, two-time PFA Young Player of the Season, and the 2023/24 PFA Players’ Player of the Year.

At 26, that’s more than most than a lot of players can hope for across an entire career. Granted, Saka does have a Premier League title of his own, but by no means was he the standout performer for Arsenal en route to lifting the league title last season.

In fact, across the 2025/26 season, Foden and Saka registered the same number of Premier League goal contributions (seven goals, five assists). At international level it’s a different story, but in the Premier League, Foden has a tangible and credible track record to fall back on, while Saka is still spoken about like he’s the new kid on the block.