Three exciting players to watch after Burnley and Sheffield United are promoted to the Premier League

With the Championship season finished and the play-offs in full swing, Burnley and Sheffield United confirmed their returns to the Premier League via automatic promotion. The Clarets won the league in Vincent Kompany’s first season, playing an exciting brand of attacking football to finish the campaign on 101 points, while the Blades, who were relegated in 2020-21, return to the top flight at the second time of asking.

At the time of writing, it’s still unclear who will be joining them in the Premier League but both Burnley and United have the ability to avoid an instant return to the Championship. Having built great sides throughout a busy campaign, they possess talented sides that will be key to proving the Premier League relegation odds wrong. Like most newly-promoted teams, it’s likely they’ll be favoured for the drop and given the top-flight scrap for survival this season, it only takes a few poor results to get dragged into the thick of things.

Kompany and Paul Heckingbottom will need to ensure their best stars stay at Turf Moor and Bramall Lane next term, but if they do they have a plethora of talent to call on. Read on, as we look at three key newly-promoted players we think could thrive in the Premier League.

Connor Roberts – Burnley

Throughout the last few years, we’ve seen the role of the full-back reinvented in England, and Welsh international Connor Roberts has become integral to Kompany’s Burnley system. Signed from Swansea by Sean Dyche in 2021, he’s one of the few members of the squad with Premier League experience and at 27 has become a senior figure in the team. Roberts contributes just as much in the final third as he does defensively, in double figures for goals and assists to add to the 19 Championship clean sheets he’s kept in a fierce Burnley back line. Expect him to be crucial next term.

Iliman Ndiaye – Sheffield United

It was only four years ago that Iliman Ndiaye was playing Sunday League football for YouTube side Rising Ballers before he signed for Sheffield United. Since then the Senegal international has played at Wembley, gone to the World Cup and will now be a regular in the Premier League. The midfielder, who has reinvented himself from a tough tackler to a free-roaming number 10, has seen his productivity increase this season and playing off the shoulder of Ollie McBurnie, the pair have formed a deadly partnership, with 27 goals and 12 assists between them. It will be interesting to see if that scintillating form can transfer to the top flight.

Nathan Tella – Burnley

While it’s uncertain if Nathan Tella will sign for Burnley permanently, you’d expect bringing the tricky winger to Turf Moor for next season will be one of Kompany’s priorities. Top scorer for the Clarets, the 23-year-old arrived on loan from Southampton but with his parent club bottom of the table at the time of writing, it looks as if they’ll be relegated, which could open the door for Burnley to secure Tella’s services. Quick, direct and a deadly finisher, it’s a surprise that the Saints didn’t recall Tella back in January, and are now ultimately paying the price, while Burnley plot their targets for the summer and it would be a surprise if he isn’t included in Kompany’s plans come August.