FPL Transfer Window New Player Analysis part 2
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]With the transfer window slamming shut earlier this week we took an initial look at a few choice signing’s in part 1 and we continue do so here with a further run down on how we feel each new signing will fare from both a real life and also from an FPL perspective. Crystal Palace, Hull and Southampton have all brought in some interesting prospects, Spurs have replaced Sandro, champions elect Swansea have bought a centre-back while Burnley opted for the ‘White-Pele’. Lets take a whistle stop tour of some of the more interesting transfers that occurred in the window.
Abel Hernandez – Hull
Position – Forward
FPL Price – £7.0m
The Uruguayan striker was signed for a cub record fee and most probably to replace the departed Shane Long. He has a very decent record at Palermo and scored 14 goals in 28 appearances last season to help his side win promotion to Serie A. He has also scored 7 goals in 14 matches for his national side and made two appearances at the 2014 World Cup. Although he did not feature in the top Italian League, his goals to games ratio of one every two games is very decent. He will most certainly partner Jelavic upfront and those two could forge a solid partnership but with his price being 7mill in FPL, perhaps some time to assess would be needed.
[divider_1px]
Hatem Ben Arfa – Hull
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £5.8m
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]All Hatem Ben Arfa wants is to be loved, and he never received that from Alan Pardew as he was frozen out of the Toon side and told to train with the reserves. He has never lived up to his potential in fantasy terms and only produced less than a handful of goals and assist in his last two seasons with Newcastle. He will definitely add value to this Hull side as he attacks down the flanks but for now one cannot be sure if he will be a regular starter for the Tigers. With a little bit of man management from Steve Bruce and some regular performances then Ben Arfa at 5.8mill could produce the goods, but for now it is too big a risk for me.
[divider_1px]
Gaston Ramirez – Hull
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £5.5m
Yet another last minute loan addition to Hull City, the man from Southampton who only joined a couple of season ago had never been able to secure his spot in the side due to injuries and form. He does have fantastic skill but what he needs to add now at Hull is consistency. Predominately a midfielder but Steve Bruce will need to find what his best position is as he can also play in the number 10 roll just behind the strikers. Due to all of this, he has not really lit up the FPL, this will have to be a big season for him if he wants to secure his future in the English League.
[divider_1px]
Benjamin Stanbouli – Spurs
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £5.0m
A bit of an unknown quantity here, but at first glance it would seem that Stambouli has been brought in to replace the departed Sandro. He was known for his versatility at Montpellier where he played as a defensive midfielder, centre back and full back. It would seem he is in the Morgan Schneiderlin mould, versatile and very technical, and I know that Schneiderlin scored two goals over the weekend but do not get excited as Stambouli differs to him in the fact that he is more comfortable operating in front of the back four. It would seem that he is a decent signing for Spurs and one in which they required, but for us fantasy managers I would not get too excited with this one.
[divider_1px]
George Boyd – Burnley
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £4.4m
‘The White Pele’ as he was beautifully christened during his days at Stevenage, is a winger/ attacking midfielder who has not had a fast-tracked route to the Premier League it has to be said. Released by Charlton as a youth, he went non-league (at that time) with Stevenage ‘Borough’ (as it was then) and slowly worked his way up the football league, making his name at Peterborough United (with a notable goal average of 1 every 4 games). He had loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Hull (where he notched four goals in thirteen games) which eventually persuaded Hull City to sign him permanently in May 2013 (although fantastically not before Forest manager Alex McLeish thought he had got his man, only for the club-owning Al-Hasawi family to claim that Boyd had failed the ‘eye test’ part of his medical and the deal was off. Not long after, McLeish was off). Boyd’s two goals in 30 games as a permanent Hull player does not admittedly compare favourably with his previous goalscoring exploits, it can be argued that with the rotation of the Premier League, he never found a level of consistency. He’ll be hoping to find that at Turf Moor this season having transferred for £3M on deadline day. Although he is a Man of Kent (not rhyming slang), Boyd is now a full Scotland International thanks to a Glaswegian grandfather. It will be very interesting to see where Boyd will play in this Burnley side whose manager Sean Dyche is a firm believer in the 4-4-2 formation. It would be assumed that the winger spaces will be fought out between Michael Kightly, Matt Taylor and Boyd himself. If a place were to be cemented in the Clarets’ team for the skilful, dribbling, long-locked Boyd, then at £4.4M he could be the “fifth-midfielder” bargain of the season.
[divider_1px]
Federico Fernandez – Swansea City
Position – Defender
FPL Price – £5.0m
Amidst British transfer records being broken and red tape wrangles, one Argentine managed to sneak in to the Premier League virtually unnoticed, step forward one Federico Fernandez. The man who began his career in his native Argentina with Estudiantes, left ‘The Rat-Stabbers’ (it’s real, look it up) for Naples to test himself in Serie A. Rather disappointingly, he could only manage 44 appearances in two and a half years at Napoli and took in a short loan spell at Madrid-based Getafe in La Liga where he played 14 matches and notched 1 goal. The 25 year-old centre back has one or two decent career highs to date, he is a Copa Sudamerica winner, has scored two goals (unfortunately in a 3-2 defeat) in the Allianz Arena versus Bayern Munich in the Champions League and has played four games in a World Cup finals. Although he eventually lost his place with La Albiceleste for the latter rounds, he did play all three group matches and the Round of 16 victory over Switzerland keeping clean sheets in two of these games. He has signed for Swansea at a time when they are joint top of the Premier League and as a consequence, has found a central defensive partnership of Jordi Amat and Ashley Williams difficult to split. So far he has one appearance for the club and that was the 1-0 victory over Rotherham United in the League Cup. It could be expected that he would take the place of Jordi Amat sooner or later to form a partnership with club captain Williams but at present, fantasy managers should continue to check the line-ups and wait to see when Fernandez will see some Premier League action having been an unused substitute in the recent 3-0 home victory over West Bromwich Albion.
[divider_1px]
Toby Alderweireld – Southampton
Position – Defender
FPL Price – £5.0m
The Belgian was signed on deadline day on loan from European Cup Runners-Up Atletico Madrid (he played seven minutes of normal time and the full extra time period in the final in place of Filipe Luis (where’s he gone?). It will be no surprise to see him however as his appearances were limited at the Vicente Calderon by the utterly excellent back four of Juanfran, Miranda, Godin and Luis. Playing only roughly a third of Atleti’s matches and scoring just once in a Copa Del Rey match in his one and only season in the Spanish capital, the 7M Euro signing from Ajax can play either centre back or right back. It will be interesting to see where his new manager Koeman utilises him. Nathaniel Clyne would seem to be first choice right back so it looks like he may partner Jose Fonte in the centre but a word of caution, Southampton have also signed Romanian Florin Gardos this transfer window. The £5.0M valued, 35-cap Diablo Rouge, has a career average 1 goal in every 12 games and is a product of the famous Ajax academy so merits consideration if he plays consistently in a Saints side about to embark on a run of fixtures which are very favourable until the end of November.
[divider_1px]
Sadio Mane – Southampton
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £7.0m
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]As the deadline loomed Southampton swooped to capture Red Bull Salzburg winger, Sadio Mane. According to Ronald Koeman the Senegalese international can play either on the wing or down the middle, however with Koeman known to have been in the market for a winger he will surely feature out wide for the Saints. Mane featured primarily on the left side for Salzburg despite being right footed although it remains to be seen whether Koeman will play him on the left, forcing him to cut inside on his right or whether he will play him as a traditional winger on the right hand side. From an FPL point of view he is certainly an exciting prospect having scored 31 goals in 63 games for the Austrian outfit and should he secure himself a spot in the first XI he is certainly one to watch at just £7.0m.
[clear][divider_1px]
Wilfried Zaha – Crystal Palace
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £5.4m
Wilfried Zaha is still only 21, yet he has just started his 3rd stint at Crystal Palace. The youngster was signed from Crystal Palace by Alex Ferguson back in January 2013 for a reported fee of £10m and was immediately loaned back to Palace. He wrote his name into Palace folklore as he scored twice against bitter rivals Brighton in the 2nd leg of the play-off semi-final. His time at United has to date proved disappointing and he has only made two appearances, although he will argue that he hasn’t been given a chance. He spent the 2nd half of last season on loan at Cardiff which wasn’t successful as he made just 10 appearances and failed to score. Now back at Crystal Palace and despite being only 21 you feel it’s now or never for the youngster. He has made an instant impact at Selhurst Park since his return as he climbed off the bench to score the equaliser last weekend against Newcastle. If he can earn a permanent spot under Warnock he will be worth some consideration as his pace will cause trouble for defences, but for now we’d suggest you wait and see if he can cement a spot.
[divider_1px]
James McArthur – Crystal Palace
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £5.5m
Having only being appointed Crystal Palace manager on August 27th Neil Warnock wasn’t left with much time to put his stamp on the squad. He did however splash out on McArthur, bringing him from Wigan for a reported club record fee of £7.0m. The Scottish international has netted 10 times in 124 league appearances for Wigan and is likely to battle it out with Joe Ledley for a spot beside Mile Jedinak in the middle of a four man midfield. From an FPL point of view he’s unlikely to offer very little, with both Zaha & Jason Puncheon offering much better value.
[divider_1px]
Ricky Alvarez – Sunderland
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £6.0m
Alvarez became Gus Poyet’s 9th summer signing, joining the Black Cats on a season long loan from Inter Milan. The Argentine joined Inter from Velez Sarsfield in 2011 and in 73 subsequent league games for the Italian giants he has picked up 11 goals and 16 assists. He is a skilful left-footed midfielder and is clearly as capable at setting up goals as he is at scoring them and can play in the centre of midfield or just behind the forwards. Like many a South American before him, he is known to be quite unpredictable although some might simply call him inconsistent, so expect him to go missing during games. Poyet has used a 4-1-4-1 formation in the opening three games of the season and should he continue with this formation Alvarez is likely to be battling with the likes of Rodwell & Larsson for one of the spots behind the lone forward. Alvarez is no mug as was evidenced by his inclusion in the Argentinian World Cup and should he secure a regular place under Poyet he could be an exciting FPL prospect.
[divider_1px]
Morgan Amalfitano – West Ham
Position – Midfield
FPL Price – £5.0m
Amalfitano became Big Sam’s ninth signing of the summer and will hope to force a way into the Hammers first team immediately. The French midfielder has decent Premier League pedigree, having spent last season on loan at West Brom where he scored four goals and also contributed four assists, playing from the right wing. His preferred position is, however, playing just behind the striker, though with the manager’s love of long balls and crosses (despite sometimes playing without a striker), Amalfitano may well end up hugging the touchline. He will have to fight with Matt Jarvis for that role, so maybe it’s a case of watch and see if he can nail down a starting spot. If so, and if Andy Carroll ever plays again, he could be the man to put the crosses on the big striker’s head.
Do we think this is good team??
Think you are a tad reliant on front 3 for points and will lose points at the back in coming fixtures. 4 of back 5 don’t have kind fixtures. Foster might be injured. If you want to keep front 3 I would replace Ramsey with maybe Henderson and get Shawcross, Clyne or Moreno for Moore/Duff.
Just my 2 cents
No defense really sucks
and you cant afford it!!! 😉
I can afford that team if 2 of either ivanovic,dyer,clyne,naismith go up! Still got a whole week week to go so won’t bet against it. I am just not convinced on the def of the big teams , yh some get the odd goal but so do defenders from small teams. To have that front 7 I personally think its worth it. Oh I also checked, the def do rotate well.
Afternoon all, don’t know if anybody else caught it earlier but there was a great little chat on Talksport earlier between Clive Allen and Tim Vickery (their South American correspondent) regarding Falcao. They were discussing his fitness and in particular his knee. The gist of it was that Tim feels he came back too soon from his ACL surgery in order to try and be fit for the WC and that as a result he’s not given it the chance to heal properly and naturally and that he feels he isn’t physically anywhere near where he was or should be.
Not my words at all just thought I’d share it out of interest for those looking at getting him in immediately.
init,
Heard that as well. Definitely confirmed to me that it’s best to wait and see on him.
I actually shouted at the kids to shut up in the car when it came on so I could hear it! Vickery knows his stuff so I was intrigued with what he had to say, interesting point that he was only used from the bench as well. I assume Utd are confident it’s healed sufficiently but perhaps it will take him a bit longer to get up to speed again properly. I’m sensing a lot of ‘bit parts’ from him in his first month or so. 60 here, 30 there. Anyone buying him, Costa and Aguero should get a free bottle of whiskey with it!
Cheers for that Innit,although no goals last week a full 90 for Aguero and some international minutes do you not think hes there or there abouts?? Im using my wc this week and cos of the apparent confusion at Utd I don’t care for Falcao anyway, im ridding myself of Rooney and Mata as it is!
Hi peaky, yeah hopefully Aguero is and the reports all suggest he’s been dealt with very well in terms of being on a special training programme in order to strengthen the requisite muscles surrounding it to ensure it doesn’t happen again. But hey it’s Aguero so who knows! Oh and I think I’m buying him on my WC and that usually means there’s a stretcher on the ready after about 20 minutes! Just be warned. I am to Aguero what Ramsey goals are to celebrities
lol do you have to??? What do u make of Costa,even though theres apparently nothing serious going on its v worrying he keeps having twinges/feels tight etc do u think Remy could be due some decent minutes as the season goes on as they try to protect Costa??
Peaky I may not be able to afford Aguero looking at my team briefly last night as I’m getting a couple of expensive defenders so you may be ok but I’ll let you know!
Yeah there’s defo something not quite right with Costa and that injury. I actually think he’s another like Falcao who’s not given it sufficient rest, heck he tried to play in the CL final a week after doing it and then went into the WC on one leg more or less. So yes I imagine he’s another who needs managing very carefully over the next month before he tears it properly again. The WC is to blame for all of this. Players are so desperate to play in it and who can blame them I guess.
Evening chaps.
innit, interested to see you are possibly getting 2 expensive defenders. I was chatting about the same thing earlier with NZ and Flingy. I have a very similar plan also! I think it coukd pay dividends mate, but we may be in the minority!
Evening B-Bash. Yes I read that chat with interest. I’m of a similar view to yourself as evidenced in the Wildcard article – I’m looking at Ivan and Baines or Coleman (Baines probably, given the FK and pens) and then just leaving it be all season assuming both are fit and available etc. It means a weaker mid or fwd line of course in terms of ‘star names’ but that’s possibly an opportunity and not a weakness. I like the idea of playing around with those 2 mids or the 3rd forward every week depending on who is at home and has a favourable fixture.
There’s always a template team, it’s always been so but my best seasons have been when I haven’t followed that. I think the season before last I had a spell (mainly due to not wanting to take hits) of having both Fellaini and Pienaar in a midfield 4. Had I posted that on here (actually would have been on FFC at the time) I’d have been laughed out of the place but it worked perfectly.
I think my point is that the odd differential is great. You just need to nail that differential though which is the hard part! Being clinical about it though with the method above (a specific pick each week) may be the best way to control it I feel. Have to get it right though!
There does seem to be template teams, especially around the forward 7. This is why I have looked at it as an option, as not many RMT’s have an expensive defence. I will definitely have some of the ‘template’ players as the high ownership hurts when they do well, but having Ivan and Baines could pay off IF I we could choose the right ‘fill in’ mid priced mid and attackers!
Init,
Yeah I do have a lot of time to listen to Vickery. Generally always gives a very honest opinion on his subject matter.
I wonder if there is an early cancellation agreement in his loan deal for such eventualities as injuries.
GP I would imagine there almost certainly is. Utd won’t have committed to paying his ridiculous wages if he ends up being out for 6 months. I don’t think there’s a massive reoccurrence rate on ACL injuries though to be fair. He just needs to regain match sharpness now which is difficult to manage unless he plays matches but Utd need him firing straight away really. Chicken and egg.
Init,
We’re going to be guessing right up until next Sunday’s match as to whether he is in or not.
In reality though, Man Utd, with what they already have, should not have to be relying on him right away.
For those on here that buy him I hope he is and I hope he scores 2 goals for them but personally I’m going to wait and see with him. He will be my Aguero replacement when Kun breaks down again
Neymar scored the only goal of the game seven minutes from time as Dunga’s second spell as Brazil boss began with a win over 10-man Colombia in Miami.
New Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao featured for 13 minutes !
another great article guys, thanks for all the work
By the way I thought I should just mention that of all the possible pictures that could have been selected for this article, our esteemed Ed selected one of Geo Boyd carting advertising boards
I found it funny anyway.
GP I must admit it made me chuckle when I saw it last night hence selecting it but it had an explanation alongside the pic which made it funnier! Having realised said explanation isn’t accompanying it on here I appreciate it may look odd to everyone else!
Init,
:thumbup:
I just like it regardless of its explanation. I remember that happening too.