Transfer Roundup Volume 1
In which we question why Matheus Pereira is not available yet...and then he appears as if out of nowhere.
Transfer news has been mostly rumor this summer. I mean, the season did just end three weeks ago and it doesn’t start again for another /checks notes/ three weeks so there’s plenty of time. If you’re unwilling to subject yourself to back page news, you may have missed that the EPL window closes on Monday, Oct. 5 which is one day before the UEFA competition squad deadline. That makes sense.
The season, however, starts on September 12 and it remains to be seen if all 20 clubs will be participating or if the Manchester clubs - and their opponents, presumably not each other - will have a blank gameweek to start the season because of the 30-day break expectation from the end of their European campaigns. This is a lot of preamble for a column that is just supposed to talk about new transfers in. Let’s get to that:
Arsenal - Willian (FWD)
There isn’t much needed here. He’s good. Apparently not ‘sign him to a new three year deal’ good but certainly capable to allowing Arsenal to ship Alexander Lacazette out and rival Pepe for minutes alongside “midfielder” Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. IF you’re living under a rock, in utopia, or both you may not be aware OFPL has classed Auba a midfielder ffs. Willian is still a forward, I assume. At time of writing he still isn’t back in the game for either Chelsea or Arsenal. In draft he’s a top 40 player with upside. I ranked him at No. 45 while the transfer wasn’t confirmed; he’ll tick up a bit now and then more when Arsenal figure out what sales they can make.
Brighton - Adam Lallana (MID)
I may have gone crazy hyping Lallana earlier this summer.
I didn’t know “someone” was going to be Brighton. The club that brought you the fantasy impotence of Pascal Gross AND Leandro Trossard, while in the same side no less. But Lallana may solve some of these issues. Reportedly he’s been promised a role which offers fantasy upside; if he is the organizer in a side with legitimate attacking potential (don’t forget this team wasted Neal Muapay last term) his price is going to be minimal to his upside. It’s not exactly ideal, but it’s also not Sophie’s Choice. I have him as an eighth round pick and he’ll likely be available a round after that in most leagues. To get access to the full ranks pick a paid monthly or annual subscription (really, just pick annual it’s like $3/month).
Joel Veltman (DEF)
This strikes me as a move which clears the decks to sell Lewis Dunk before the seasons starts. If the 28-year-old Veltman is capable of replacing Dunk as the alpha, he’ll have good value. If Dunk stays Veltman will compete for minutes and be less of a value in the minutes he does get.
Lars Dendoncker (Club Brugge); Jensen Weir (Wigan)
These are kids for the future. Nothing here this year.
Burnley - Will Norris (GK)
Burnley have ample GK. This smells like Nick Pope departing which is great for his value and Tom Heaton’s. Norris is an afterthought until Heaton’s next injury. Speaking of Pope, I keep hearing rumors of a move to Crystal Palace from the tipsy fella in my mirror. Seems credible. [NOTE: I know Tom Heaton is at Aston Villa and have no knowledge that Pope is leaving. Norris has no value is the only point here.]
Chelsea - Timo Werner (FWD)
Already wrote a whole article here. He’s good. Antonio Banderas in his prime good.
Hakim Ziyech (MID)
The best thing which happened to Ziyech is his midfielder rating. The 27 year old is here, now, when we wanted him a couple years ago and it’s a short window remaining for him to have massive upside potential. Chelsea isn’t an ideal landing place given the competition but he’s recorded just insane counting stats in Holland including six goals and 12 assists in only 1619’ last season. If he’s given the reins to the attack by Lampard, Ziyech is capable of being a top 20 player.
Crystal Palace - Nathan Ferguson (DEF)
Ferguson is young (19) and former manager Slaven Bilic is angry (so angry) but this still isn’t a clean pick for this season; streaming value once he finds his EPL feet but that may still be a full season away.
Everton - Niels Nkounkou (DEF)
See above: 19 year old defender with loads of talent, no clear path to immediate minutes, playing for a mid-table club with upside that likely can’t afford to give him substantial minutes for at least a season.
Leeds United - Helder Costa
He was there last season, and has played his best football in the Championship which makes me question ‘why now, why not never’ but if four goals and four assists in nearly 3000’ of Championship football blows up your dress, have I got a Portugese midfielder for you. He’ll make the Top 200 only because he’s a near lock for minutes at a thin position but there’s almost no upside.
Illan Meslier (GK)
Even for me talking about third choice, 20 year old GK is fringe nerdcore.
Jack Harrison (MID)
Jack was handsomely covered in the Leeds promotion preview where I said this:
England U21 Harrison is the best looking prospect for fantasy managers. Young, playing plenty of minutes in a position which will be quite shallow this season (midfield), he has a lot of the attributes we like in our prospects. The winger made 46 appearances for a total of 3810'. His 87 key passes led the team and was 7th in Championship.
Want to read more of that darling insight?
Liverpool - Konstantinos Tsimikas (DEF)
The 24 year old Greek international left back was signed as a the understudy to Andy Robertson. That is not great for fantasy purposes in most conventional settings, but in FPL draft it does merit some analysis. Tsimikas will not have any draft day value - and he shouldn’t - but in Jurgen Klopp’s system he will have value if Robertson were to suffer an injury. This is not ‘one for the future’; this is a signing meant to create a stand-in for Robertson on days he needs a breather, with a clear eye to having a back-up get, and performing capably in, regular minutes should the need arise. A high-upside streaming defender absent the unthinkable.
Manchester City - Nathan Ake (DEF)
Yo! This is a Great Move™ for both City and Ake. The centreback is composed, intelligent with and without the ball, and has the potential to shore up a spot that has been in rotation - or staffed by Fernandinho playing wildly out of position - for too long. The problem may be that he’s not the alpha in the pairing with Almyric Laporte. In draft fantasy, it is most typical for one of the CB pairing to claim the majority of the stats that drive points: clearances, interceptions, tackles won. If Ake’s arrival sees the partnership playing level, that makes them both DEF3 with clean sheet upside. If Ake claims the alpha role and the regular minutes, he’s a potential top 10 defender at season’s end.
Pablo Moreno and Ferran Torres (Very Young Footballers)
Moreno (18) and Torres (20) are probably going to be the new Mbappe and Messi, but they’re not there yet and you don’t need to draft either this summer. I just really wanted to set some reasonable expectations for a couple of kids about to feel the crushing weight of literally dozens of lifelong City fans expecting the duo to rescue this club from the mediocrity of regular cup wins, 90-point EPL seasons and quarter-final UCL debacles. Lord knows the manager can’t.
Newcastle - Mark Gillespie (GK)
Sheffield United - Wes Foderingham (GK)
I swear to god I didn’t make this name up. He’s a real person, with real feelings and I’ll thank you not to think of all the silly things a ‘foderingham’ almost certainly definately probably could be. This is a noteworthy signing because Dean Henderson is a Manchester United player again. Henderson finished third in GK points with 97 saves and 13 clean sheets. There could be value here, a foderingham’s worth of value. I’ll let you figure out what that’s worth in draft terms.
Southampton - Kyle Walker-Peters (DEF) Mohammed Salisu (DEF)
These guys are taken together because they are both young, quality talent and defenders. The Ghanian Salisu plays in the center of the defense and faces some competition there but his time at Rayo Valladolid showed he’s capable of performing in the top tier given regular time. He made 30 starts last term, scoring a goal with an assist. On a per 90’ basis he recorded 2.6 aerials won, 5.1 clearances, 1.2 interceptions and 1.4 tackles won. That’s a solid floor as he joins a team which finished a respectable 11th in expected goals allowed - one spot behind Spurs and one ahead of Arsenal - in 2019-20.
Speaking of Spurs, Kyle Walker-Peters made the transfer official. He’s not as young (23) and he hasn’t made a breakthrough the way Salisu has. KWP’s 2019-20 saw him record a career high 704’ Premier League minutes, which is not what we signed up for when hyping his upside the last two summers. We’ve been holding out for a hero, and he’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast, and he’s gotta be up for the fight. There’s little evidence Walker-Peter’s can’t be that guy, but at some point the morning light cracks the horizon and he’s just another all-upside guy we dreamed on that didn’t pay off. Right now, he’s a DEF5 with good upside.
Tottenham - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (MID)
The newest Spurs midfielder has been hyped by draft FPL pundits for a couple years as we waited for Saints to make the best use of Denmark international. Last year he averaged 7.6 points per match, which is impressive given his complete lack of goals (0, seriously, ZERO) and just three assists. IF - and it’s a big IF - Jose Mourinho makes him integral to the starting XI that 7.6 PPM becomes a floor with the attacking upside of Tottenham offering a clear route to a handful of double-digit scores. All this from a player you’ll be able to snag after round eight in most 10- and 12-team drafts.
West Brom - Matheus Pereira (MID)
HE’S FINALLY ARRIVED! Look - covered the exceptional talent in the West Brom article which I really think you should all read. Here’s how.
West Ham - Tomáš Souček (MID)
SERIOUSLY I’m covering all of these guys in full Techicolor™ with Dolby™ surround sound while enjoying a box of Triscuts™ with hummus™ (I’m not sure hummus is actually trademarked so to preserve the bit…) out of My Adidas™ ©RunDMC. This here is a lot of words I wrote about Tomáš Souček before, during and after Project Restart and what his impressive goal-scoring record means for his FPL draft value. Hint: I currently have him ranked 59 in the Top 200.
Check back for Transfer Roundup Volume 2 later in August.