It remains the case that exactly half the goals Lys Mousset has scored in his entire senior career came in a single season for Le Havre, when he plundered 14 for the French club in 2015/16 but could only watch as Metz were promoted ahead of them into Ligue Un on the basis of – funnily enough – goals scored.
Before then, Mousset had helped vaguely steer Bournemouth clear of trouble for three years. The 26-year-old somehow never completed the full 90 minutes of any of his 53 games for Sheffield United, who released him this summer after an ineffective half-season on loan contributing precious little to Salernitana’s ludicrous Serie A survival escapades.With six goals and five assists in 30 games, Nolito’s solitary Manchester City season was technically more productive than Jack Grealish’s.
After an initial burst of four goals in his opening 11 matches, Nolito faded considerably and even admitted that a Guardiola rant after Barcelona handed out a particularly chastening Champions League group stage lesson was wasted on him because of his poor grasp of English. Ilkay Gundogan, Guardiola’s first Etihad signing, remains a key cog in the machine. Nolito, his second, was soon disposed of and finds himself out of work after a couple of solid years with Celta Vigo.
That all played out in early April, meaning another poor sap is ready to be reeled in soon; each of Ben Arfa’s last four clubs – Rennes, Real Valladolid, Bordeaux and Lille – have only kept him on for a single brilliant, volatile season.Among the greatest mysteries in the world are the Voynich Manuscript, Stonehenge, the identity of Jack the Ripper and the truth behind precisely how much money Manchester City spent on Eliaquim Mangala.