Following the start of the new season Friday, take a closer look at some of the players to watch this season.
Nicolas Jackson | Chelsea
Jackson has an electric pace which he put to good use during a breakthrough campaign for Villarreal last season, scoring 12 league goals in 16 starts and 10 substitute appearances.
Six of his goals last season stemmed from situations where he ran in beyond the last defender, so opponents must try to limit the space he has to sprint into. From transitions and counters, Jackson can be deadly.
Jackson uses his pace to surge in behind defenders, but his dribbling speed is also impressive.
No one scored more goals from their own dribbles than Jackson, and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. was the only player to deliver more direct goal involvements from carries in LaLiga.
Dominik Szaboszlai | Liverpool
In the Bundesliga, Szoboszlai was one of only 14 players to have created at least 100 chances for teammates from the start of 2021/22, but of those players he had the fifth highest per 90 average (2.5).
Last season saw Szoboszlai find a more regular position in Leipzig’s side, with 77 per cent of his playing time coming as a right-sided winger.
During the 2022/23 season, Szoboszlai ranked fourth overall in the German topflight for total involvements in shot-ending sequences in open play (163). Interestingly, he had a more equal split between having the shot (49) and being the creator for a shot (48), than any other player in the top 10.
Szoboszlai led the 2022/23 Bundesliga charts for having multiple involvements (being involved in both the build-up to and either the shot itself or the chance creation of a shot) in an open-play shot.
Rasmus HØjlund | Manchester United
He made his professional debut for his hometown club FC Copenhagen aged 17, and at 18 he joined Sturm Graz in the Austrian topflight. Seven months later he signed for Atalanta.
Hojlund only started 20 matches last season, beginning the campaign as a back-up to Duvan Zapata and only establishing himself in the first XI after the winter break as his teammate struggled with injury.
He scored a goal in the Coppa Italia and it can be said that Hojlund found the net once every 189 minutes he spent on the pitch.
Hojlund is blisteringly fast, recorded by Atalanta’s coaching staff running 100 metres in under 11 seconds. In his coast-to-coast run against Lazio in February, he set off from the edge of his own box and blazed past every opponent – including those with a 40-yard head start – to go through one-on-one against the ‘keeper.
Moussa Diaby | Aston Villa
Diaby began his career at his hometown club Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Leverkusen in 2019.
He scored 14 goals in all competitions last season for the German side and has represented France on 10 occasions.
The winger has signed on the back of two hugely productive seasons for German side Bayer Leverkusen. He scored 22 goals and supplied 20 assists across 65 league appearances in that period.
Diaby (£6.5m) has the potential to challenge Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) as Aston Villa’s go-to attacking player in 2023/24 Fantasy Premier League
Sandro Tonali | Newcastle United
He is a ball-winner, like former Gennaro Gattuso, but does his best work high up the pitch, creating turnovers in the press and scoring opportunities from them.
His 10 assists between Serie A and the UEFA Champions League are a testament to his work ethic and decisiveness in transition
Tonali’s first season at Milan was a flop as he moved from Brescia. In the two years since, he established himself as a pillar of the side, scoring crucial goals in Milan’s run to the 2021/22 Serie A title.
The most obvious spot for Tonali at Newcastle would be on the left of Howe’s 4-3-3, since he tended to play on that side for Milan, His flexibility is an asset, and he may find an entirely new role in his new surroundings.
