Highlights

• Aaron Ramsdale's season took a dramatic turn with David Raya's arrival, reducing his playing time and performance.
• Reece James struggled as Chelsea's captain, facing injuries and low minutes, resulting in a substandard performance rating.
• Matheus Nunes faced challenges in dislodging Manchester City's midfielders, seen as one of the worst signings of the season.

The 2023/24 Premier League campaign is over after nine months' worth of unrelenting excitement, moments of sheer madness and a title race that was decided on the final day. Manchester City came out on top, despite Arsenal winning their final game against Everton 2-1, to make history as they became the first club in the English top flight to win four titles on the trot.

Phil Foden, Rodri, Erling Haaland and the like all shone for Pep Guardiola during, yet another, league triumph - but Matheus Nunes, as a prime example, struggled to get things going in the east of Manchester after his summer switch from Wolverhampton Wanderers. And while there are a host of players that enjoyed standout campaigns for their respective clubs, that is not always the case, as showcased by the aforementioned Portuguese.

Whether they are a new recruit from the summer of 2023 or whether 2023/24 was just not their season, with the help from WhoScored, here is the statistically-worst 11 made up of players from the Premier League's traditiona big six. A quick caveat: all players either a) played north of 500 minutes for their side or b) made over five league starts.

GK: Aaron Ramsdale

WhoScored rating: 6.26

Aaron Ramsdale played all 38 games for Arsenal in the 2022/23 Premier League season – but David Raya’s arrival in August 2023 flipped the stopper’s fortunes on their head. From being the undisputed number one to battling it out with the Spaniard for Mikel Arteta’s attention, he could be heading out the exit door as part of the club’s 15-man summer shake-up.

Raya, this season’s Golden Glove winner, has enjoyed most of the action between the sticks, with Ramsdale – given a WhoScored rating of 6.26 compared to Raya's 6.54 – reduced to six outings, which equates to a meagre 540 minutes. In that time frame, the former Bournemouth servant conceded five while keeping just two clean sheets.

RB: Reece James

WhoScored rating: 6.49

The 2023/24 campaign was a challenging one for Reece James, to say the least, especially after being handed the club’s captaincy in the summer. As injury-struck as can be, the 24-year-old participated in just 12% of available minutes across the 38-game season, notching two assists in that time – hence the substandard WhoScored rating of 6.49.

A Cobham graduate, James’ poorest performance came against Brighton & Hove Albion in the penultimate matchweek, however, as he endured a torrid 19-minute cameo off the bench before receiving his marching orders. But, in some ways, it was the perfect encapsulation of his time at the club of late.

CB: Benoit Badiashile

WhoScored rating: 6.48

From one Chelsea star to another, Benoit Badiashile scored a WhoScored rating of 6.48 upon the season’s conclusion. Signed in January 2023 for £35 million, the Frenchman enjoyed 11 outings in the 2022/23 season, while during his first full season at the club, he managed just seven extra (18).

Kicking off the campaign with a groin injury, the 23-year-old’s fitness was a genuine issue with him playing his first game in the back end of November. Once fit, Badiashile played a paramount role in the Blues’ late upturn in performances and results, yet he finished the season with a WhoScored rating of just 6.48.

CB: Lisandro Martinez

WhoScored rating: 6.39

A World Cup winner with Argentina, Lisandro Martinez’s unavailability record could be a potential worry within the Old Trafford camp. The centre-back played his part in his side’s disastrous start to the campaign – comprised of three losses in five outings – but he then missed 15 games through injury.

After returning for three games, a knee injury ruled him out for the best part of the season before returning in their penultimate game against Newcastle United. Despite his scarce number of minutes in 2023/24, the 26-year-old remains as one of the best centre-backs in the top flight at the time of writing.

LB: Ben Chilwell

WhoScored rating: 6.47

The third Stamford Bridge ace in the back four, Ben Chilwell, mustered a WhoScored rating of 6.47 across his 757 minutes of Premier League action in 2023/24. Hindered by injury problems, the Blues ace – who has played all up the left-hand side since Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment – like James, endured a rough period.

A hamstring injury ruled him out between early October and the end of December before a combination of knee problems and illness disrupted his term’s latter stages. With Manchester United reportedly keeping tabs on the England international’s situation, who knows what the future holds?

CM: Sofyan Amrabat

WhoScored rating: 6.24

A starring role for Morocco at the 2022 World Cup saw Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat pique the interest of Manchester United and Liverpool, though it was the former that eventually signed him on a temporary basis in the summer with the Red Devils on a shoestring budget. Struggling to adapt to the top flight’s intensity and physicality has been the 27-year-old’s primary challenge.

Described as ‘out of his depth’ in the Premier League, the Italian game is played a much slower rate, allowing the likes of Amrabat to glide around the pitch at a snail’s pace. Across his 21 cameos in the Premier League in 2023/24, Netherlands-born Amrabat registered a WhoScored rating of 6.24.

CM: Oliver Skipp

WhoScored rating: 6.20

Always struggling to find a run of games in north London, Tottenham Hotspur's Oliver Skipp has endured another hodgepodge season – this time under the stewardship of boss Ange Postecoglou. A holding midfielder by trade, the uncapped Englishman played just 694 Premier League minutes in 2023/24, resulting in a below-par WhoScored rating of 6.20.

Fundamentally, the Greek-Australian boss has other preferable options in the centre of the park, and it may be that Skipp, 23, has no part in his future plans. Instead, unfortunately for the club academy graduate, Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are the formidable duo at the forefront of Postecoglou’s mind.

CM: Matheus Nunes

WhoScored rating: 6.35

Widely considered one of the worst signings of the 2023/24 Premier League season, Matheus Nunes’ season hasn’t exactly gone to plan. Breaking into the starting line-up of the perennial Premier League champions is no easy feat, of course, but the Portuguese has struggled profusely – and his WhoScored rating of 6.35 attests to that.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Matheus Nunes featured in all three of Manchester City’s losses during the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.

Still just 25 years of age, the Brazil-born midfielder has plenty of time to dislodge one of Pep Guardiola’s midfielders – but he’ll be hoping that next season is more fruitful than the last given he enjoyed just 654 minutes’ worth of league action. When gifted the opportunity to play, he played in an array of positions – from defensive to left midfield – and notched just one assist.

CAM: Mason Mount

WhoScored rating: 6.32

Mason Mount’s signing is an awfully confusing one. A player who prefers to play in the behind-the-striker role – commonly known as the ‘Bruno Fernandes role’ at Old Trafford – his minutes were always going to be limited thanks to the Portuguese talisman. Combine that with his unavailability record and his first season was a disastrous one.

A debut season ridden with injuries; Portsmouth-born Mount will be hoping that next campaign is less tumultuous on that front. As one of the most expensive English transfers of all time, the midfielder’s WhoScored rating of 6.32 is all the more damning from Erik ten Hag and his entourage’s perspective.

ST: Eddie Nketiah

WhoScored rating: 6.53

In Eddie Nketiah’s case, he featured regularly until the last sextet of games of the season, when Arsenal went on a six-game winning streak. The departure-linked marksman racked up a further 27 top tier outings to add to his CV in 2023/24, but his return of five goals and two assists saw Kai Havertz become the club’s leading striker.

The Englishman scored twice in his first three outings as he looked to be Arsenal’s answer to Erling Haaland and his remaining three goals came in his hat-trick showing against Sheffield United; as such, in a total of 24 outings, he failed to get on the scoresheet. Once capped by England, the 24-year-old is on the fringe of Arteta’s plans, and he would be wise to move on this summer.

ST: Anthony Martial

WhoScored rating: 6.32

Once tipped to become the next Thierry Henry, what happened to the soon-to-depart Anthony Martial? Particularly this season, the Frenchman has been virtually non-existent, having played just 13 times (444 minutes) in the league – and his rating of 6.32, courtesy of WhoScored, perfectly reflects what has been a difficult swansong for the former Monaco man.

The solitary goal came in that time, but he looked a shadow of his former electric self, hence Manchester United’s decision to let him leave. That said, Martial will be one of the best Premier League free agents on offer this summer – and with his talent evidently not the issue – clubs should be letting their premature interest be known.

All statistics per WhoScored - correct as of 21/05/2024