English players playing abroad was once considered a concept as foreign, well, something foreign, yet now in the year 2022, some of the county’s biggest and brightest now ply their trade away from the United Kingdom.
Many attribute Jadon Sancho’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2017 as the catalyst to what has now been a revelation of English players taking their talents to Europe, with the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham now regulars for AC Milan and AS Roma respectively.
And this summer has been no different, with well over a dozen players packing their bags and leaving England to sign for clubs in Europe, and for some, the decision has already proven to be a masterstroke based on their form in the new season.
With that being said, here are five English players who moved abroad this summer and who fans back home should be keeping tabs on for the new season, with some having the potential to one day become regulars for the Three Lions in the future.
Lee Buchanan – Werder Bremen
The Championship to the Bundesliga is a career patch very few players have made in their lives, yet if Jude Bellingham’s success is anything to go by, then Lee Buchanan could become a superstar after the defender joined Werder Bremen from Derby County after their relegation to League One.
The 21-year-old defender signed for the German side despite interest from the Premier League, yet Buchanan’s decision to join Bremen has so far been a pretty solid one, with the left-back scoring against Borussia Dortmund and featuring in the opening four games of the season before picking up an awfully-timed knee injury.
Dele Alli – Besiktas
Dele Alli’s fall from grace has been as sudden as it has been dramatic, and this summer saw the former England international leave the UK as a whole to sign for Besiktas, where early signs suggest that the ex-Everton and Tottenham star is making strides to return to his usual best.
The midfielder is already off the mark for the Turkish giants this season, and with Alli’s deal with Besiktas being a loan, Everton could soon have a fully-refreshed player back for the 23/24 campaign if the 37-cap England international can hit his stride in Istanbul in a big way.
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens – Borussia Dortmund
As mentioned, Borussia Dortmund signing Sancho was arguably the spark that ignited the entire trend of English players moving abroad, and one year after the winger’s blockbuster departure to Manchester United, the German giants seemingly already have a replacement in the making in Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Another former Manchester City academy product that has been scooped up by Dortmund, the 18-year-old attacker has already caught the eye of fans and pundits after scoring his first senior goal for the Bundesliga side earlier in the season, and given the club’s incredible commitment to youth, Bynoe-Gittens could be the next breakout English player on the continent.
Callum Hudson-Odoi – Bayer Leverkusen
From one player who took up the chance to leave England early to one who might be regretting that choice, Callum Hudson-Odoi finally left Chelsea this summer for a loan spell the youngster has been needing for years, with the attacker heading to Bayer Leverkusen for the season.
After rejecting the chance to sign for Bayern Munich before he had even made his full debut for Chelsea, Hudson-Odoi’s career has stalled in a big way, yet Leverkusen could given the 21-year-old the perfect platform to return to form and to actually develop his game, with minutes sparse for the attacker in west London over the last few years.
Folarin Balogun – Reims
Arsenal are no strangers to loaning out English talents out to European clubs, with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson both playing in Germany and the Netherlands’ to improve their development, and this season has seen Folarin Balogun make a similar journey to Reims, with some outrageous results.
The 21-year-old striker has already broken goalscoring records for the French side after bagging five goals in his first six games for Reims, and early signs already suggest that Balogun could be one of the breakout stars of the season in Ligue 1 if the Arsenal talent can continue this incredible streak for the remainder of the year.
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