New FPL Transfers Jay Rodriguez, Jon Walters and Harry Maguire

New FPL Transfers Jay Rodriguez, Jon Walters and Harry Maguire

Hello and welcome to New FPL Transfers Jay Rodriguez, Jon Walters and Harry Maguire. To date all our articles regarding new signings have been specific to individual teams. Unfortunately not all teams are going to make enough sexy signings to warrant an article of their own and thus we are forced to lump a number of teams in together. Forced is probably the wrong word but you get our drift. Today we bring you signings from West Brom, Burnley & Leciester, I can almost sense your excitement from here. Cookie won’t thank me for telling you this but he has high hopes for J Rod, I’m not quite as enthusiastic over Jon Walters and Harry Maguire. Let’s see what you guys think..

Jay Rodriguez
Club: West Brom
Position: Forward
FPL Price: £6.0m

If you’re finding it too tough or restrictive to go with three premium strikers then I urge you to look at J-Rod and stick him on your watchlist. The striker, who’s career thus far has been interrupted by injury moved to West Brom in the summer after finding himself falling down the pecking order at Southampton. On joining Albion, J-Rod spoke more than once about the need to feel wanted and that Tony Pulis has made him feel welcome and wanted. He also emphasised the need to be playing regularly, so the implication is that Pulis has told him to expect to be a starter and that he’ll be getting regular and consistent game time. Now the problem with West Brom of course is that if McAuley isn’t scoring their goals then Dawson is, even if McAuley gets awarded the points. So if Pulis can remind his players that the strikers are there to score and the defenders there to defend then J-Rod has half a chance. His FPL price of 6mln makes him budget-friendly and bear in mind what this lad can do – in just 893 minutes last season he scored 5 goals, assisted twice and contributed 73pts, in 2013/14 he played 2,565 minutes and scored 15 goals, 3 assists and returned 152pts. This lad scores goals, is a better finisher than anyone else West Brom have and Pulis has been chasing him for a while, having failed to seal the deal in two previous transfer windows. Albion’s starting fixtures are pretty good: Bournemouth, Burnley, Stoke, Brighton and West Ham are a nice opening five fixtures and should give the Baggies and their new striker the opportunity to get some early confidence and settle in well. I’ll leave you with the thoughts of Pulis himself: ‘We’ve chased him for a long time and I’m really pleased we have got him in. He’s got a good goal-scoring record and we’ve been a little bit short in that position and hopefully this will give us a little bit more in those areas. He gives us different options and that’s important for a club such as our’s – Jay can play in three different positions across the front and that’s good for us. He was exceptional for Southampton out wide and coming in off the line. He also plays as a striker – he’s got these different qualities to play anywhere along the front line.’ Ignore him at your peril.

Pre-Season update: Rodriguez has played 247 minutes so far over 4 games and has managed 2 goals. One was a bomb from about 25 out into the top left corner and the other was on a corner that he was able to head home.

Jon Walters
Club: Burnley
Position: Midfielder
FPL Price: £5.5m

Since turning pro back in 2000 Walters has been on the books or been on loan with 10 different clubs, Burnley will be his 11th. This paints the picture of him being something of a journeyman but he’s far from a journeyman. Of his 489 league appearances 362 (scored 73 goals) have come in the last 11 seasons playing for Ipswich and Stoke City. Walters is what you’d describe as an honest pro, he’s not blessed with bags of talent but you know he will always give 100% and it’s this attitude which saw him become a firm favourite amongst Stoke fans. He’s accrued something of a cult status in fantasy football circles, at least he has in the FF247 offices. Why? Surely you remember that infamous Saturday back in January 2013 when poor Jon scored not one but two own goals and to further compound his misery he missed a penalty! Very funny. I won’t name names but someone you all know very well was lucky enough to have Walters in his team that day! Even funnier.

But that’s enough about his past, what of his future? Walters is pretty versatile and is equally comfortable up top as he is on the right side of midfield something he highlighted on joining Burnley, “I can play in a number of positions and prefer playing up front”. With George Boyd having moved on this summer Walters is likely to battle it out with Gudmundsson for a spot on the right hand side. Alternatively he will compete with Gray, Vokes & Barnes up top, although there have been rumours that Gray might move on this summer. Burnley struggled for goals last season with only three teams scoring fewer than Burnley’s 39 and if we’re honest this is unlikely to change this season. Their opening fixtures are quite a mixed bag with their homes fixtures being reasonably kind and their away fixtures something of a horror show. At £5.5m it’s difficult to get excited by Walters particularly if he’s played in midfield but should he get a run of games up top he might then be worth some consideration.

Pre-Season update: Walters has featured in 3 games so far for a total of 185 minutes. So far he has 2 goals and 1 assist in what has been an impressive output by the former Stokie.

Harry Maguire
Club: Leicester
Position: Defender
FPL Price: £5.0m

When Leicester won the league they kept 15 clean sheets but only managed nine last season so it was hardly a surprise when they splashed the cash to bring Harry Maguire from relegated Hull for a fee in the region of £17m. Maguire has long been thought of as a player with promise initially making a name for himself with his hometown club Sheffield United before moving to Hull in July 2014. It took him a while to settle at Hull and it was last season before he became a regular at the club, making 29 appearances, scoring twice and picking up a couple of assists.

Is he likely to start? I don’t imagine Leicester have spent £17m on a centre back for him to warm the bench so I expect him to start most likely alongside Wes Morgan who remains the club captain. With the news that Robert Huth is set to miss the start of the season Maguire is now guaranteed to start.

So what of his FPL prospects? In the short-term they’re nothing short of terrible as four of Leicester’s opening six games are against Arsenal, United, Chelsea & Liverpool. Therefore Maguire is best avoided at the beginning of the season and we can use their opening six games to see how he settles in and also what tactics Craig Shakespeare adopts. Maguire’s underlying stats last season were quite impressive considering he was playing in a Hull side who were eventually relegated and at £5.0m he could yet prove great value for money. With Danny Simpson and Wes Morgan both priced at £4.5m there could very well be a cheaper route into the Leicester defence but their underlying stats don’t compare to Maguire’s.

Pre-Season update: Maguire has gobbled up 180 minutes over 3 games. The reviews so far have been good on Harry in his appearances.

Thanks for reading New FPL Transfers Jay Rodriguez, Jon Walters and Harry Maguire. This article was written by Kop Warrior and Cookie

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