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    Klopp-backed five subs rule will benefit all the Premier League big boys - apart from Man City

    Paul OkeyPaul Okey2 April 2022
    Roberto Firmino Jurgen Klopp Liverpool

    Roberto Firmino Jurgen Klopp Liverpool

    Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd and Spurs can take advantage of the two extra substitutes but Man City and Arsenal won't cash in. Planet Sport calculates the market value of the Premier League benches.

    The Premier League have voted to allow five substitutions per team from next season, up from the current three. 

    Jurgen Klopp was a major advocate of the change, claiming it will lessen injuries and help with player fitness across the whole of the division.

    Opponents, meanwhile, claim the rule change will lead to a stockpiling of players and even greater disparity between the wealthier clubs and those in the lower reaches of the table.
    To see if those against the changes have a point, Planet Sport looked at each club's most recent Premier League fixture.

    Using Transfermarkt's player valuations, we totted up the value of the club's benches and players brought on. More importantly, we also looked at the value of the players who didn't make it off the bench and the combined value of the two most expensive outfield players who could have been brought on if the five-substitute rule was currently in place.

    The Premier League top three again lead the way

    Not surprisingly, the current top three also lead the way when it comes to the market values of the benches.

    Liverpool are at the summit of our subs league table, with the inclusion of Mohamed Salah on their bench for the clash with Arsenal taking the combined cost to £256.5million.

    Despite Salah (£90m), Roberto Firmino (£34.2m) and Curtis Jones (£27m) being brought on, it still left £105.3million worth of talent on the bench. An extra two substitutions would have allowed Klopp to bring on Ibrahimo Konate (£27m) and Naby Keita (£27m) and still not find room for Joe Gomez (£19.8m) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£16.2m). Maybe Klopp will be advocating seven substitutions next season.

    Chelsea's bench had a combined worth of £237.2million, allowing them to bring a mind-blowing £157.5million off the bench in Romelu Lukaku (£76.5m), Mateo Kovacic (£40.5m) and Christian Pulisic (£40.5m) in their 1-0 win over Newcastle.

    With two more changes allowed, Thomas Tuchel could have introduced Saul Niguez (£25.2m) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£18m).

    The third of the clubs boasting more than £200million worth of talent on the bench were Manchester City. However, despite being held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace, Pep Guardiola chose not to employ any of his expensive replacements, which included Raheem Sterling (£76.5m), Gabriel Jesus (£45m) and Ilkay Gundogan (£31.5m).
    In fact, only once this year has Guardiola used all three substitutes in a game, the 4-0 thrashing of Norwich on February 12.
    Previously, it had been on December 19 against Newcastle, a game which also finished 4-0 to the Citizens.

    Gap from top three to fourth considerable

    The gap from the top three to the rest is also reflected in the relative value of their benches, with Tottenham's bench for their win over West Ham nearly £100million down on City's at £116million.
    Manchester United's bench was worth a combined £113.4million, while the sixth most valuable bench was actually Everton's, with the Premier League strugglers able to bring on Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£37.8m), Andre Gomez (£18m) and Andros Townsend (£6.3m) in the edgy win over Newcastle.
    That still left £47million of talent on the bench, including Dele Alli (£19.8m) and Vitaliy Mykolenko (£16.2m).

    Brendan Rodgers' Leicester bench would cost a combined £108.2million, according to Transfermarkt, with Arsenal only able to call on £80.1million of talent, with the bench fleshed out by youngsters Zak Swanson and Omari Giraud-Hutchinson.

    Premier League benches by market value 

      Bench value Subs made Subs value Remaining bench value Highest value outfield subs

    Aston Villa

    		 £92.25m 3 £64.8m £27.45m £23.4m (Morgan Sansom £12.6m, Calum Chambers £10.8m)

    Arsenal

    		 £80.1m 3 £45m £35.1m £26.1m (Albert Sambi Lokongo £14.4m, Nuno Taveres £11.7m)

    Brentford

    		 £36.45m 3 £6.3m £30.15m £21.6m (Sergi Canos £12.6m, Frank Onyeka £9m)

    Brighton

    		 £58.41m 3 £29.7m £28.71m £23.4m (Enock Mwepu £18m, Steven Alzate (£5.4m)

    Burnley

    		 £12.42m 1 £2.7m £9.72m £4.5m (Jack Cork £2.7m, Ashley Barnes £1.8m)

    Chelsea

    		 £236.15m 3 £157.5m £79.65m £43.2m (Saul Niguez (£25.2m), Ruben Loftus-Cheek £18m)

    Crystal Palace

    		 £56.1m 2 £20.7m £35.4m £24.3m (Eberechi Eke £18m, Christian Benteke £6.3m)

    Everton

    		 £109.12m 3 £62.1m £47.02m £36m (Dele Alli £19.8m, Vitaliy Mykolenko £16.2m)

    Leeds

    		 £60.75m 3 £3.15m £57.6m £51.3m (Kalvin Phillips £45m, Liam Cooper £6.3m)

    Leicester

    		 £108.27m 3 £49.5m £58.77m £36m (Ricardo Perreira £22.5m, Jannik Vestergaard £13.5m)

    Liverpool

    		 £256.5m 3 £151.2m £105.3m £54m (Ibrahimo Konate £27m, Naby Keita £27m)

    Man City

    		 £206.01m 0 - £206.01m £121.5m (Raheem Sterling £76.5m, Gabriel Jesus £45m)

    Man United

    		 £113.4m 3 £38.7m £74.7m £45m (Aaron Wan-Bissaka £27m, Jesse Lingard £18m)

    Newcastle

    		 £64.8m 3 £35.1m £29.7m £21.6m (Sean Longstaff £11.7m, Jamaal Lascelles £9.9m)

    Norwich

    		 £39.8m 3 £23m £16.8m £10m (Dimitri Giannoulis £7m, Kieran Dowell £3m)

    Southampton

    		 £70.7m 3 £33.12m £37.6m £25.2m (Adam Armstrong £14.4m, Ibrahimo Diallo £10.8m)

    Tottenham

    		 £116m 3 £56.7m £59.3m £42.3m (Davinson Sanchez £27m, Harry Winks £15.3m)

    Watford

    		 £31.5m 3 £11.25m £20.25m £9.45m (Samuel Kalu £4.95m, William Troost-Ekong £4.5m)

    West Ham

    		 £72.27m 3 £43.65m £28.62m £17.1m (Issa Diop £10.8m, Alex Kral £6.3m)

    Wolves

    		 £69.9m 4* £52.65m £17.25m £15.75m (Max Kilman £14.4m, Fernando Marcal £1.35m)
    *Includes concussion sub          

    Struggling for points and quality from the bench

    The contrast between the haves and the have-nots is best illustrated by Burnley's bench for their 2-0 defeat to Brentford. Sean Dyche only called on one player to try and turn the tide against the Bees - Jay Rodriguez. However, his entire bench only had a worth of £12.42million.

    Norwich were able to call on £39.8million of talent and brought on the bulk of that in the shape of Billy Gilmour (£12m) and Matthias Normann (£11m). Beyond that pair, the resources were sparse, however, with an additional two substitutions only allowing them to utilise, at best, £10million in Dimitri Giannoulis (£7m) and Kieran Dowell (£3m).

    Similarly, Watford brought on Joshua King (£7.2m), Ken Sema (£2.7m) and Craig Cathcart (£1.35m) in their win over Southampton to deplete a bench with a combined worth of just £31.5million.
    Afforded the chance to bring on two more replacements, their most valuable additions would have been Samuel Kalu (£4.95m) and William Troost-Ekong (£4.5m), peanuts when compared to the £54million of talent Liverpool could have called on.

    READ MORE: Premier League confirms five substitutions will be allowed, starting in the 2022/23 season

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