Jake Clarke-Salter

Clarke-Salter defends with a technical calm that stood out even as a teenager. He is comfortable stepping into midfield with the ball and organising a back line verbally, rather than relying purely on recovery speed to bail himself out. That maturity earned him praise from senior figures early in his career, and it later earned him his own club's Players' Player award, a vote decided by teammates rather than distant fans. He sets a tone in a dressing room that goes beyond his own numbers.

The tension that follows him everywhere is fitness. A serious elbow injury and a string of other setbacks disrupted what once looked like a fast track towards the top of the English game. Every extended run of matches now is really a test of whether his body can finally match the calm, composed defending his mind has always been capable of.