New FPL Transfers Manchester United Lindelof & Lukaku
Hello and welcome to New FPL Transfers Manchester United Lindelof & Lukaku. Man United have been splashing the cash again, but hey why wouldn’t you when Zlatan and Rooney are suddenly off the wage bill?! As ever, United have been linked with a whole host of players over the summer – sadly they failed to secure the services of Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo, Pele and Maradona but hey ho, life is not always plain sailing. Instead, at the time of writing, United have made two significant purchases – firstly they raided Benfica for Swedish defender Victor Lindelof and then they surprised many by grabbing Romelu Lukaku from Everton. Lindelof will be looked upon to bring some stability to a United defence that was beset by injury last term, while the injury and subsequent departure of Zlatan together with United’s general profligacy in front of goal last season meant United needed a big shop window signing to wear the no.9 shirt. Both players have already joined up with United on their preseason tour of the States and will be expected to jump straight into United’s preferred starting XI. Lukaku we all know plenty about, less so Lindelof, but let’s have a look at both to see if they are viable FPL options for us this season.
Victor Lindelof
Defender
FPL Price: 5.5mln
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[/three_fifth]Despite a decent defensive record last season, Mourinho encountered problem after problem at the back. Injuries saw the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Luke Shaw miss significant periods of the season – Jones and Shaw are injury magnets, while Marcos Rojo suffered a cruciate ligament injury in April which is likely to keep him out until September at least. Eric Bailly proved a success and Mourinho has dipped into United’s deep coffers to bring 22 year old Victor Lindelof to Old Trafford to partner Bailly. Lindelof is a Swedish central defender who has also operated as a right back – his adaptability will have no doubt been an attraction for Jose. The Swede started his career as a midfielder and he has retained those ball playing skills meaning he is adept at bringing the ball out of defence.
Lindelof made his international debut for Sweden in 2016 and has collected 12 caps – before that he represented his country at U17, U19 & U21 level and was part of the team that won the 2015 U21 European Championships, with Lindelof named in the Team of the Tournament. The Swede moved to Benfica in 2012 as a 17 year old and made 96 appearances for Benfica B before graduating to the first team, where he made 48 appearances.
Don’t look to the Swede to be a prolific goal scoring defender as he scored just twice for Benfica. However, Lindelof’s disciplinary record is historically better than Bailly’s with the Swede collecting just one yellow card last season. The Swede appears to offer a safe if unspectacular route into the United backline and with the Red’s opening fixtures looking particularly enticing, some United coverage at the back looks like a sensible choice. His price of 5.5mln sees him cheaper than Valencia and Bailly and the same price as de Gea.
Romelu Lukaku
Forward
FPL Price: 11.5mln
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[/three_fifth]United certainly pulled a rabbit of the hat when they signed Lukaku with the striker heavily reported to be on his way back to Chelsea. However, Mourinho got his man, hijacking his old employers’ plans in the process and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic being released due to his long-term injury, United will be hoping that Lukaku is the man to re-fire United as league challengers rather than the ‘also rans’ they have been since Sir Alex retired. United have spent £75mln on the Belgian international who scored 68 goals in 141 appearances for Everton and has so far registered 23 goals for his country in 68 appearances.
Now, there are few FPL players who create as much debate as Big Rom or Red Rom as he is now known. There are regular criticisms of the player’s ‘poor first touch’, there are suggestions that the Belgian is a ‘flat-track bully’ who goes missing in the big games and of course in FPL circles his perceived inconsistency has led to him being named Trollkaku, amongst other less polite names!
The flat track bully tag could be considered somewhat unfair as Lukaku scored more goals vs the top 6 clubs last season than Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa, Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez. United have bought a tried and tested Premier League goal scorer in Lukaku – last season’s 25 league goals were only bettered by Harry Kane and Big Rom was the 5th highest FPL points scorer behind Alexis, Alli, Hazard and Kane and the joint highest scorer of bonus points alongside Kane, Hazard and KdB.
Another possible advantage for Lukaku is the likelihood of him being on penalties with the departures of Rooney and Ibrahimovic – keep an eye on United’s pre-season matches to see if Red Rom is indeed on spot-kick duty.
Detractors will of course point to the fact that Lukaku and Mourinho worked together briefly at Chelsea before the striker left for Everton – on that Lukaku says, “We were together under different circumstances. Obviously, the first time when I met him, I was still a young kid, and I was eager to play. And he understood my decision why I left at the time… I think he wants to improve me, make me a better player than I am today, which is good. I always want to improve…I think it’s the perfect opportunity.” Mourinho is quoted as saying, “Romelu is a natural fit for Manchester United. He is a big personality and a big player. It is only natural that he wants to develop his career at the biggest club. He will be a great addition to the group and I know they will make him very welcome. I am really looking forward to working with him again.”
Lukaku has great friends in the squad, none more so than neighbour Paul Pogba and also fellow international Marouane Fellaini – both will help him settle at Old Trafford and indeed Lukaku has already joined up with the squad on their tour of USA.
At 24 years old Lukaku is still 2/3 years away from his prime and his dreams of playing Champions League football will now been realised. With the likes of Martial, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Pogba and Rashford looking to provide their new team mate chances aplenty expect Lukaku to ‘hit the ground running’ and with United’s first seven fixtures being vs West Ham, Swansea, Leicester, Stoke, Everton, Southampton and Palace a fast start will be demanded by Mourinho and he’ll be looking to his new striker to bully those flat tracks.
Lukaku has been priced at 11.5mln by FPL, putting him on par with Aguero with only Kane more expensive. Owning all three premium strikers will be tricky given the pricing and clearly Lukaku’s move to United has been reflected in his price.
Thanks for reading New FPL Transfers Manchester United Lindelof & Lukaku. This article was written by Cookie
The Fixture Tracker…
Hi all,
Time to get on the fpl train as well.
Here is my 1st draft for what it’s worth
Luke
Hey Beaker good first attempt solid back line & def wouldn’t have Firmino with Court there maybe Benteke looks ok though Murray a good punt 😉
Thanks silvers, did wonder about that but would need to free up money to improve on firminho
@Beaker, I find it a bit heavy in the back, but I really couldn’t make a case against one in particular, since I like all 4 defenders (ignoring Rosy) and think their prices are fair. Yet I feel that having all four puts some strain on the rest of your team in particular up front. Don’t think I start with Pickford from the bat, because of fixtures, Possible downgrade him to Foster and make Coleman Myhill and you save .5 and have much better fixtures. If you want a 5.0 guy then Forster from Southampton sounds like a good bet.
I don’t mind Ritchie and Murray to some extent, but I think I prefer Gayle and Mooy for that same money.
Some good points there, if I could save at the back I can then upgrade firminho. I’ll have a look at Gayle and mooy though
I like most of it. Not a fan of Murray and Firmino. I think premier league will be too much for Murray and now Firmino is a striker I think he’s lost his appeal. I would have him if he was a midfielder but not prolific enough for a forward
Thanks smash, I’m thinking firminho needs to go though Murray had good assist and goal stats in the championship
Anyone else notice that Joe Hart is missing from the site? Was thinking he could be a decent option if he goes to the Hammers but he will probably be priced at 5.5 now.
Probably 5 I reckon
If he’s 5 mil would you say he’s a good option? Hammers don’t have the greatest of fixtures.
Let’s see what Smash says, but I wouldn’t bother with a Hammer at 5.0 who played defence/keeper unless they were a great attacking threat from the back. They are just not good enough on defence and they play 4 of the first 5 away (Hammers got 2 clean sheets last season while playing away). You can probably get the same if not more points from some of the 4.5 keepers and save yourself the .5, which you will likely need for other players.
Nah not for me as Mito says there are better options out there. For only 0.5 more you can get any keeper and prob better options which are cheaper like Foster at 4.5. If you were going with a West Ham defender maybe Cresswell at 5 because of his potential attacking returns
Cheers lads. Wasn’t thinking that seriously about Hart but thought he could improve the defence will leave it and see what happens with them but when I do my first draft I’ll probably go with Ryan and Foster or Elliot and Forster.
How’s everyone? Happy tinkering! Do people prefer Deeney or Gayle? (both at 6.5) And would Gayle & Ritchie be Newcastle overkill?
Morning Col, too much Toon for me. I think Knockaert is a nice shout for 6mil.
Out of the 2 forwards; wait and see preseason for me. It’s a real coin toss.
I prefer Gayle because of fixtures, but I do think having both of them is a bit much.
I think both the Newcastle lads are good options but both is overkill. Not sure on Deeney or Watford
I think Deeney under Silva shouldn’t be written off. He worked wonders for Hull and could make a big difference to Watford. Plus I feel Deeney underperformed last season.
Before they got Silva in I thought they might go down this year but now I’m really not sure how they will do
Morning all, how are we? well you’ll be pleased to know it’s bloody freezing over here. Storms and heavy snow. On the plus side it’s the school holidays so us teacher’s better dust of the snowboard and head to the mountain!
Anyhow, to FPL related things; how are the first drafts shaping up? Mine all seem to revolve around:
A team for 3/4 focusing on wba, Southampton, Spurs and Man U.
A very top heavy team with Lukaku, Lacette, Kane.
A team that’s balanced but I don’t really Like it.
I do like the idea of Reuben Loftus-Cheek as a 4th midfielder (lots of discussions on twitter with @Mito about this). it really does make our lives a lot easier to make a balanced team around it.
Hey Alex how are we mate been sunny in Eng of late no snow here good job if you can get it snowboarding whilst your off
I like team two better you hoping Bertrand goes to City not sure if Firmino is worth the cash as a fwd couple of other options start with Benteke then swap to Sandro if he looks ok 😉
Morning Silvers, How are you? glad to hear there is a bit of sun this year, doesn’t happen often 😉 Team 2 is based around an wc in week 3/4 so just looking at teams with good fixtures for the first few weeks. Quite like the idea of doing this as we will have a good idea of must haves by then.
Team 1 I like having the big hitters as covers prices if one goes mental week one and takes off price wise 😉
I’m good NZ looking fwd to the open which starts nk Thu in my home town Southport
Never thought of doing that but it’s actually a good idea 😉
That’ll be cool Smash, you popping down for a watch?
Wow snow storms in NZ. Yeah you are right on RLC that would make life easier. Saints have a new manager who I think might be a bit more attacking this year. Both teams have pros and cons hard to decide which one I prefer. I really like Trippier as a pick this year
Morning Smash, you well pal? Yer 20cm’s in places
So what do you think of the Saints chances of clean sheets? Maybe Austin is a good shout?
Yeah as Silvers said it’s a decent summer over here. So much depends on VVD who is still being strongly linked with a move. With him at the back they will always be decent at the back. I do know Puel was sacked because they played too defensive last year so they maybe more expansive. Austin always scores goals don’t he depends if he gets a look in
Hmmm, I am not sure I would characterize Pelligrino as very attacking. When Madrid played against them I feel like his team kept it tight both games right until the end and then we scored our goals when they sent men forward looking for an equalizer. I think he is more on the defensive side if anything, but not completely sure on that.
I’d prefer him to be defensive minded to be honest. They have some good options at the back. That said; Remond, Tadic, Austin all at 6.5 could then be viable options if they do start attacking.
Interesting on Pellegrino as I don’t know. I only know that’s why they sacked Puel. Nearly all teams are up against it against Real though
Anyone know where Rooney played today? I’ve seen his goal, but keen to know whether he’s playing up top? Could be a great option if so, even with tough fixtures.
Judging by the players he was with in the XI, thinking he had to be up top.
Cheers Mito. I’ve not seen the 11, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on things there.
That was a tour match in reality. Played I believe because the East African leagues are sponsored by the same company now sponsoring Everton. I wouldn’t pay any attention to positional layout today. Towards the end of pre- season would be more revealing hopefully.
How dare you GP, a wins a win and that was top notch opposition right there 😉
Did you see their keeper for Rooneys?!?!!!!
Banjo we are logging every line up on the team tabs – links are on the Hot Comment thing above Recent Comments.
I saw your query this morning about the profile thing but couldn’t answer as I was in a meeting. We’ve had a chat and nobody moved it
I honestly don’t think it’s moved since the site went to the new layout. It’s in the tab at the top anyway so easy enough to find with a quick mooch around.
Is there a chance Kenny starts the season ahead of Holgate Init?
I liked what I saw of him for England and I see he played today.
Funny you say that GP. Cookie asked me this morning who our RB would be and without thinking I said Holgate. And then I saw the line up and remembered Kenny, he’d slipped my mind. I saw him in the flesh in that mini derby and he was really good, stood out in fact. Very similar to Coleman funnily enough. I remember commenting at the time that he was miles ahead of Holgate and that he could and probably should start the season ahead of him. I think he very well may do if he has a good pre-season, he really is that promising.
So Init your saying our ‘sure fire’ 4.5 defender for everton isn’t sure fire?! Well thanks! How much is Kenny? Is it most likely they share minutes?
He’s also 4.5 NZ.
Hey Alex, hope you’re good mate. And cold, for once
Not sure is the answer. Pre-season will tell us. Depends how each fares. I doubt he’ll rotate them, it’ll be one or the other. Kenny is the better full back though. I think Holgate is actually meant to be a CB but he’s too slight right now for that. He’s also not quick enough to be a full back really. Relatively anyway. He’s probably quick just not got the little burst past people which Coleman and Kenny have.
Cheers Init, yer all well (if bloody cold, movie with the 4 year old this afternoon!) and you?
Thanks for the info, I hope one of the two nails a position as a 4.5 defender for Everton would be great. What do you think of your signings? Both from an FPL and general football point of view.
Yeah we’re all good thanks.
Depends how they all gel and how quickly really but it’s nice to see some real intent. We usually just rush in last minute for some panic buy having been robbed of a major player already. The latter has of course happened but that was inevitable. They’re all really strong signings on their own merit. Not sure I’d want to be paying 50 for Siggy though, that seems a bit ridiculous! Good addition at half that but 50?!
Yer my eyebrows rose at 50mil, not sure he’s worth that. I tell you who I really like is Lookman, I really hope he can cement a spot. Great player! Suddenly your team would be amazing with Siggy there well!
There’s just too many bucks available. Money is not an issue atm looking at other buys in Europe so 25M is the new 50M-ish. Seems a bit extreme for him, I agree, but we’d all also agree that, if nailed, he grants at least 15 goals between goals scored and assists in any EPL given team and that justifies 50M on its own. If you can get him, get him.
Wow its been a while since Ive been on here… still trying to forget to horrors of last season…
So lets try a new… and please RMT?
Foster Elliot
Daniels Lindelof David Luiz Yedlin Rangel
Alli KdB Knockaert Fab Loftus-Cheek
Lukaku Laca Gabbiadini
0.5m itb
Seeing Trippier in a few teams, why? If Walker leaves then will bring him in for Daniels
Think Gabbi can be a sneaky points scorer
No idea about Knock but also seeing him in teams haha
Thoughts on Yedlin?
Rabgek going to start hopefully this season?
Fab should start with Hazard out right?
Hey PP good to see you back fairly well balanced side strong back line Tripper in my first draft Sou do have good fixtures so Gabby could work out
Knock is not a bad player but time will tell with the step up.
Dont know much about Yedlin and not sure if Ran will start
Hey Silvers,
If Walker is gone then Trippier is in
Yedlin I read up I think could be a decent RB option – need to monitor
Ran is also something to monitor
Decent team there. Walker is having a medical at City tomorrow. So Trippier could be a great option. Chelsea still have Pedro and Willian so not guaranteed I guess but he started most games towards the end of last season.knockheart is Brightons best player and Gabby is pretty cheap
Hey Smash,
Ok so Trippier is now in
Fab still ended the season with great stats, so here is hoping Conte decides to start him
Yeah and Matic may be going. The Monaco lad might not be fit for the start either
Alright PP, hows things? Like your tea, maybe Austin over Gab? Also Mariapapa could be a shout at a starting 4mil at Watford. Tripper (if Walker leaves) is a shoe in!
Hey Alex,
Will have to monitor who starts out of Gabbi and Austin
Can look at Mari as well