Elite schedule 'not sustainable' amid 55-game seasons

The Premier League may have just returned from a three-week break, but for many of its stars there was no rest at all. Cole Palmer missed the 2026 World Cup after struggling last season with chronic injury Of all the Premier League players called up by their countries, 25 played 360 minutes – the full length of four games – during the extended international break. These included 13 players who featured for their clubs at the World Cup, such as Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who also played 55 games for his club last season. Van Dijk is one of several players, including England's Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers and Harry Kane, who played more than 4,000 minutes in all competitions in 2025-26 and have started on a similar trajectory this season.

According to expert sports scientists and psychologists, this cannot be maintained. "It is not sustainable," Dr Dave Richardson, head of psychology, sports science and wellbeing at the University of Lincoln, told BBC Sport. "We will start to see more clamour when we are not happy with the quality of performances; the public pay to see high quality." The impact of the hectic schedule is already being seen in players picking their battles. Five players – Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Rice, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento – pulled out of