Fantasy FPL 2014/15 Transfer round up Part 2
We continue with our look at the major transfers this summer by focusing on another six players and how we feel their moves may benefit fantasy managers, whether they will be worth a look at and some of their key stats from previous seasons. Today we look at four players we are all already familiar with who will be looking to hit the ground running at pastures new and two players who are new to the EPL. At least one of them could prove to be the signing of the season and no we don’t mean Phil Bardsley.
Joleon Lescott
New West Brom manager Alan Irvine has moved swiftly to bolster his defence with the capture of Lescott from Man City. The pair worked together at Everton so Irvine will be hoping he can restore Lescott back to something like the player he was in those days as quite frankly since he left Goodison in 2009 for £22m it’s fair to say that his bank balance and his career have gone in opposite directions. In short he did what is now forever known as a ‘Fellaini’. At Everton he looked like a future England player for years to come. He initially starred as a marauding left back for the Toffees until Leighton Baines emerged to nudge him over to center half where he looked equally as assured, strong and commanding. Flash forward to last season and he could barely buy himself a start, and even when he did, the words assured, strong and commanding were about as far away as possible from describing him. If Irvine can somehow coax him back to his Everton form Lescott could prove to be a canny purchase. He was known as a goal scoring defender of some aplomb at one stage having scored 14 goals in 113 appearances for Everton which is quite healthy for a defender. If he is priced reasonably then he could be a useful 4th or 5th defender for your squads this season.
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Hull is another club which has begun its transfer activity early and on the surface they have traded well by buying Robert Snodgrass and Tom Ince. The Tigers boss Steve Bruce felt the need to increase the depth of his squad as they embark on not only another season in the Premier League but also compete in the Europa League due to their FA Cup Final loss to Arsenal. Aside from Snodgrass and Ince, who we will look at below, Bruce also captured the permanent signing of Jake Livermore, who spent last season at Hull, on loan from Tottenham.
Robert Snodgrass
The Scottish midfielder has joined Hull from relegated Norwich on a three year contract, with the fee believed to be in the region of £6mln. Having scored seven goals last season and six the season before with the Canaries, Snoddy will be looking to push on with his career in the top flight – he can play on either side of midfield or in a more advanced attacking position and poses a genuine goal-scoring threat wherever he plays. However, his ability on set pieces is expected to be as much of a danger, with strikers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic hoping to benefit from the Scotsman’s delivery. Snodgrass had been linked with a move away from Carrow Road for much of the season as the fight against relegation and an altercation with home fans led to much speculation that the boyhood Celtic fan would get his dream move. Well, that may not have happened but at least he’s heading in the right direction, geographically at least and I would expect Snodgrass to enjoy a successful time at Hull – pricing will dictate how much of a fantasy prospect he is.
Tom Ince
Finally Tom Ince has found a club – hopefully this should now stop the ridiculous and comical marketing project that Dad Paul has been conducting for his son. Having decided to leave Blackpool, Ince has been linked with moves to Inter, Monaco, Ajax, QPR, Liverpool and Stoke amongst others and spent the second half of last season on loan at Crystal Palace, where he scored on his debut. That turned out to be his only goal for the Eagles before he moved to Hull earlier this month. A winger who has represented England at U17, U19 & U21 level, Ince Jnr scored 31 goals in 100 appearances for Blackpool and was receiving rave reviews until he started being offered around more openly than a brown envelope at a FIFA convention.
Like Snodgrass above, Ince should now be looking to cement his place in the Hull starting eleven and as a result, get people talking about him for the right reasons again. A rapid and skilful winger, he has time on his side aged just 22 and Steve Bruce will be looking to utilise his pace and skill to not only make chances for the strikers but to continue his impressive scoring record.
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Alexis Sanchez
Described by many as the best and most exciting transfer of the window thus far, it is difficult to argue with that mindset. Sanchez should not only be exciting Gooners, but FPL managers the world over. The Chilean forward can play as an out and out striker, in midfield or as a no.10, which will give Wenger numerous options both in the Premier League and the Champions League – versatility that will likely prove invaluable over the course of the season. Often overshadowed at Barca by the likes of Messi, Neymar et al, Sanchez’s stats cannot be ignored – only outscored by Messi, Ronaldo and Costa in Spain last season, Sanchez also provided ten assists during the league campaign, more than Ronaldo. His speed is another of his great assets and arguably, that is a more effective trait in the Premier League than La Liga, where defences can often be found lying deep – it was noticeable how quickly Arsenal’s season disintegrated when Walcott got injured, hence the pace was taken away from the team. As a fantasy manager, we will be very keen to see what FPL price Sanchez at, but would suggest that he should definitely be one on your watchlist.
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Phil Bardsley
One transfer that shouldn’t go under the radar is Bardsley’s move from Sunderland to Stoke. The attacking right back played in only 26 matches for the Black Cats last season, but still contributed a couple of goals. Chuck him into a Stoke defence that has been, historically at least, one of the tightest in the division, it is possible that the ex-Manchester United full back could find a place in your squad. Bardsley was largely frozen out at the start of last season under former Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio, but returned to the first team under current manager Gus Poyet and was at the heart of the club’s escape from relegation. Often the start of many an attack with his runs down the right wing – the Scottish defender is not shy of taking a shot either. With the Potters having a decent set of fixtures to begin with, Bardsley is well worth keeping an eye on pre-season, to ensure he gets a starting berth in the first team.
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Emre Can
Emre Can became Liverpool’s 3rd summer signing as the Reds activated his £9.75m release clause with Bayer Leverkusen. Can joined the youth ranks of Bayern Munich as a 15 year old in 2009 and in a bid to aid his acceleration into first team football he was sold to Leverkusen in August 2013, although they did insert a ‘buy-back’ clause into his contract. The German would appear to be quite a versatile operator with his favourite position being in the centre of midfield, while he has also been deployed at the back at times both centrally as well as both full back positions. In 32 starts across all completions last season, Can scored four as well as notching four assists, while largely operating in a defensive midfield capacity. Former Liverpool legend Sami Hypia managed Can at Leverkusen last season and he described the youngster as a very dynamic and technical player who does the simple things perfectly. On the face of it, it would appear as though the German will compete with Jordan Henderson, Lucas and Joe Allen for a spot alongside Steven Gerrard so he is possibly one for the future. However, it is quite likely he will be priced at circa £5.0m in FPL and should he start the season impressively he might be one to consider, for now, he’s one to keep an eye on.
Part Deux is live.
Well done on part deux Cookie, Kop + Chicken.
Awesome! Cheers Init, Kop and biscuit :beer: well, whilst his career may have declined, I think it’s also fair to say that Lescott’s forehead has grown along with his bank balance.
James where have you been all this World Cup?
Hey B good to see you, it’s been a while yes, basically decided to take a short break so I could a) crack on with my exams which thankfully are now finished and b) be able to watch the World Cup without any alternate motives (i.e. for fantasy fotoball reasons) and it seemed most of the activity on here would be based on the McDonalds WC fantasy game…
…whether that’s true or not I don’t know, but one thing’s for sure, over that time I’ve missed the feel and people on this place. Hope FPL goes live today!
Nice to know you enjoyed half the summers.
Really looking forward to FPL now.
Cheers thumbup: Hope you’re having a good one too!
Yes I think it’ll be a really hard one to draft this time…
Nice ‘thumbup fail’ there, ah well, here you go :thumbup: haha
deGea, ivanovic, zabaleta, shaw, silva, ozil, sterling, sturridge, vPersie, aguero … fantasy wish list
Ozil?
I think you are better off having Ramsey or Sanchez, but Sanchez will be a FWD i think. But yes, the strikers you have mentioned should be the ideal strikeforce, unless you think Costa has massive goals in him and his initial fixtures are also good.
****(not) IMPORTANT****. ****(not) IMPORTANT*****
Ok chaps, i’ve finally made it into the scary world of the interweb social mediawotsit. Got myself a faceworld and twatter account.
I’m @chinsandbellies
Who do i need to be following? And let me know if you boys are on twitter and i’ll make you feel popular by following you too.
Well that doesn’t sound at all stalkerish. Fear not, i’m miles away. Or am i?……
:evillaugh:
Howdy Cowboy,
I have taking the plunge and followed you, jeez what am I letting myself in for – but I feel privileged being in the same company as….Jack Wilshire :finger:
@SteveCook9 is where you will find me JR
Chins
Follow follow . . .
GP! Where? Who? What?
Chins
I meant you followed me and now I am following you.
It’s a good idea to follow all 20 clubs in the PL I find. Brings the press conferences (and thus injury news) to you as the manager confirms it.
BUT fear not if you don’t . . . A guy on here called Cookie does an adequate recap of all the presses and injury news!
Cookie is counting down the days until Friday August 15th
Good tip mate. Will do.
And i have heard of this Cookie fellow you speak of. I do find his articles somewhat amusing, even if he does occaisionaly get distracted by his love of all things Moyes.
Kop? He knows my birthday?! Now that is just plain scary!
Kop
Probably writing the jokes for the first article as we speak!
Chins, he’ll probably send you a cake!!
GP, he’s got a BIG BOOK of jokes!
I think he’s going to be a bit lost without Moyes. Might still have Fellaini though I suppose!
Another great round up here boys thank you very much! I did not even know about the Lescott move, him and Bardsley could be very shneaky cheap options at the back. What do you guys think about Sanchez and his position, do you think he will fall under a midfielder or forwarder on fpl?
Morning Migs, I’m pretty sure Sanchez will be classed as a forward mate.
Hello Cookie! Ah pity then, if he was a midfielder then that would be fantastic. Will have to see where he fits in for Arsenal for preseason
This has probably been asked a few times already but I have not been around to see it due to a tough time spent on vacation. Tough life huh?
When does the whole FPL shabang begin again? Can’t wait to set up my squad and this time (hopefully), having United defenders should not be a big NO NO as under Santa Moyes!
Hi KungFu, it’s open to re-register now and I had an e-mail from them last week saying it would be live with prices ‘early next week’. ie this week.
Great news thx innit! I have also registered and am waiting for their email like a child under the Xmas tree! With the upcoming insane transfers we are about to be witness too this FPL season cannot disappoint! And with the added bonus that we do not have as of yet a guaranteed choice for cappo in Suarez’ absence. If people want advice, I hear Cleverley is the new improved version of YYT…you heard it here first!
Just to clarify they won’t e-mail you to say its open that I am aware of, that was a separate one from me just enquiring about the launch date.
Oh well… there go all my hopes and dreams!
I feel like I’ve told you Santas not real… Oh hang on….
Gordon Bennett Init, Kung Fu was so looking forward to December 25th for some new socks + hankies, with the initials KFP on the, now he will be depressed forever knowing santa ain’t real, what have you done ?
Sorry, initials KFC, ooops, thats initials you don’t need to hear chicken.
Hahaha good laugh! That Santa thing is real tough and I know it deep inside my little kid inner self…he was disguised as Moyes last year giving 3 points away to who ever wanted! And the initials KFC…oh well gotta live with ’em now that you put them in the open! haha