The Premier League attracts footballers from all across the globe, with 123 different nationalities featuring since the league’s inception.
With so many nationalities having different languages and pronunciations, it has inevitably led us to be utterly bewildered on how to say certain players’ names over the years. Ex-Arsenal players Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Sokratis Papastathopoulos come to mind.
But not to worry, because Sky Sports have released an hour-long video, where every player and manager from each team in the Premier League pronounces their own name. Here Telegraph Sport picks out the most eye-catching corrections.
Sean Dyche (Sh-awn Die-ch)
Ironically, it was Everton’s manager Sean Dyche whose name fans were most shocked to discover they had been mispronouncing. Perhaps one of the shortest names on the list, Dyche revealed his name is pronounced ‘die-ch’, instead of ‘die-sh’. Everton’s new £9 million signing Tim Iroegbunam had one of the most difficult names on the list, which he revealed is pronounced ‘Iro-boo-nam’. As Dyche was in the video, he will have no excuse to get his players’ name wrong at training.
Many commentators may also be out of a job after Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes revealed his name is pronounced ‘fer-nange’ instead of ‘fer-nan-dez’. United fans may have been shocked to discover that all their insults directed towards the playmaker may not have affected him last season, as they were mispronouncing his name. Commentator Martin Tyler has also revealed in the past that he mispronounces Fernandes’ name on purpose, as he feels he would be mocked if he said it the Portuguese way. He may have a point.
Alongside Fernandes, there is another high-profile name in Manchester which has been mispronounced. No, it is not Liam Gallagher. Erling Haaland shockingly revealed that in his native Norwegian language, his name is pronounced ‘hah-lan’, as the ‘d’ is silent. This has noticeably caused uproar, with fans accusing Haaland of pronouncing his own name incorrectly. Norwegian teammate Martin Odegaard and fellow Scandinavian Rasmus Hojlund also both spelled out their names without pronouncing the ‘d’.
One of the more eye-opening expressions was Chelsea’s new signing Marc Guiu, with the Spaniard revealing his name is pronounced ‘Gee-oo’. With Chelsea’s constant rotation of players, it would be understandable if the club’s fans have given up learning all of their names let alone how to pronounce them. Famously, Stamford Bridge anointed Cesar Azpilicueta ‘Dave’ just for simplicity. Another articulation Chelsea fans will have to learn is former Fulham centre back Tosin Adarabioyo. The defender’s name was one of the more difficult on the list, pronounced ‘Toe-sin Ad-ara-byoy-oh’.
New Arsenal signing, Riccardo Calafiori revealed his name is pronounced ‘Rick-ar-dough Cala-floor-ee’. Arsenal fans have already orchestrated a chant for the £42 million defender, and now they will be able to sing it correctly. Liverpool’s new boss Arne Slot pronounced his name ‘Ar-na Shlot’, although Jurgen Klopp helped most Liverpool fans understand that in his farewell speech.
Tomas Soucek (Tom-ash So-check)
After years of marshaling West Ham’s defence, the club’s fanbase has championed the Czech international. However, it seems their beloved ‘Tomas’ is actually a ‘Tomash’ and it is not ‘Siu-check’ but acually ‘So-check’. An easy switch for East Enders who usually start their Saturday afternoons before kick off with some pie and To-mash. Similarly, West Ham’s other Czech international Vladimir Coufal also raised eyebrows. It is actually ‘So-foul’ instead of ‘Siu-foul’.
Source Agencies
