New Signings – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16. Cech, Sinclair, Clyne, Falcao
It’s been a while since we last talked, my friends. Too long. I hope you have found the MLS (and our FF247 Fantasy League) to be suitable entertainment during the summer. Or perhaps you fancy cricket and are watching our very own Tekno light up the fantasy cricket world? Or maybe you are doing both. If so, you are likely a fantasy addict and worry not: there are support groups for that kind of thing. On this website we call them the comment section.
And as much as I dislike having to follow the much-talented and ever-eloquent Gallant Pioneer and the effervescent inittowinit, I will attempt to do so nonetheless. Here are a few more transfers we think you should know about:
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[/three_fourth]Petr Cech
Arsenal
Age: 33
Position: Wearer of Funny Hats (also plays Goalkeeper)
Signed From: Chelsea
Fee: £10m
Petr Cech really needs no introduction. Three times named Best Goalkeeper of the UEFA Champions League; three times the winner of the Premier League’s Golden Glove Award. In his 11 seasons with Chelsea he won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one Europa League title and one Champions League title.
His arrival has been met with mixed reactions amongst Arsenal fans. While there is no doubting the Czech’s talent, how much does he improve the goalkeeping position at The Emirates and is it worth ending the Arsenal career of David Ospina or Wojciech Szczesny (or both?)? Arsene Wenger has already announced Cech his starter for the upcoming season, which means one of the two is likely to depart the club. Will it be Szczesny, a player in whom the club have invested years, or Ospina, who did all that was asked of him en route to helping the club to its best finish in four seasons and a second consecutive FA Cup victory?
Fantasy outlook: Depending on his price, we think Cech will be popular with fantasy owners. Despite limited opportunities last season, fans will remember the 220 clean sheets he kept while tending goal for Chelsea. Tucking him in behind a defence that ended last year in great form, we think Cech’s transition into the squad should be a smooth one.
Fun fact you will only get at Fantasy Football 247: Cech was born a triplet and enjoys playing the drums.
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[/three_fourth]Scott Sinclair
Aston Villa
Age: 24
Position: Midfield
Signed From: Manchester City
Fee: Undisclosed
Anyone else remember Scott Sinclair? The talented winger scored 19 goals in the 2010-11 season helping secure Swansea City’s return to top flight English football. He followed that up with eight goals and four assists in Swansea’s 2011-12 campaign, and those numbers don’t adequately spell out his importance to the Swansea attack that year.
And then came Manchester City. Lured by a massive wage packet, Sinclair signed a four-year deal with City and promptly found himself on the bench. After playing just 13 league games for City, Sinclair has been given a new lease on life after securing a move to an Aston Villa team that is quietly having a very good offseason.
Fantasy outlook: Having spent the 2nd half of last season on loan at Villa Sinclair should step straight into the starting line-up and provide better service to Christian Benteke than he’s used to. Coupled with his ability to cut inside and get off a quick shot, we think there’s no reason why Sinclair can’t meet or exceed the numbers he put up at Swansea.
Fun fact you will only get at Fantasy Football 247: his brother Martin, who has cerebral palsy, was selected in Great Britain’s Cerebral Palsy football team for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
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[/three_fourth]Nathaniel Clyne
Liverpool
Age: 24
Position: Defender
Signed From: Southampton
Fee: £12.5m
What an incredible piece of business by Liverpool. They obtained a young English-born player, in a position of need, for a great price. What is shocking about this transfer is that more clubs weren’t interested and that Southampton was willing to let him go on the cheap.
After arriving from Crystal Palace, Clyne quickly claimed the right-back job at Southampton as his own. Over three years, he played 94 times and helped keep 29 clean sheets. Last season alone he helped Southampton keep 13 clean sheets in the 35 league games he played and chipped in with two goals. He’s consistently been ranked among the top right-backs in the Premier League.
Fantasy outlook: while he won’t start out priced at just £5.0 like last year, Clyne is one to consider for your team. A solid overall defender who, surrounded with a more talented team, will likely be given greater freedom by Brendan Rodgers to push higher up the pitch. Even if he posts at £6.0m we think he’s great value.
Fun fact you will only get at Fantasy Football 247: Clyne is reportedly named after noted Swiss musician Nathanial Hornblower.*
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[/three_fourth]Radamel Falcao
Chelsea
Age: 29
Position: Forward
Signed From: On loan from AS Monaco
Fee: Undisclosed
There was a time when El Tigre needed no introduction. Having scored 41 goals in 51 games with Porto and 52 goals in 68 games with Atletico Madrid, the talented Colombian striker was well-known by footy fans worldwide. Then came the transfer to AS Monaco, and loan spell to Manchester United, which resulted in just 17 goals in 51 appearances for the two teams.
Chelsea fans and fantasy owners are wondering which Falcao they’ve gotten on loan. Can the enigmatic striker rediscover the form that saw him torture Spanish defences while at Atletico, or will he continue to struggle adapting to the English game?
Fantasy outlook: Falcao, on his day, is class. It can be argued Falcao was played out of position at United or that Van Gaal didn’t get the best out of the player. At Chelsea he will be surrounded by a squad far superior than the one he had at United. It will be interesting to see how and where Jose Mourinho elects to play him.
Fun fact you will only get at Fantasy Football 247: with his arrival at Chelsea, Falcao joins former Atletico team-mates Thibaut Courtois, Filipe Luis and Diego Costa. OK, not fun enough for you? Try this: George King, one of his great-grandfathers, emigrated from the North Yorkshire village of Burn in 1932 to work as an accountant for the United Fruit Company in Colombia.
Right, that’s all for now my friends. Until next time. Cheers!
*this is most likely not true and possibly fabricated by me.
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Hey peeps. It’s back! Therefore so am I aha… liking the sound of these new ‘chips’ that should make the latter stages of the season more interesting.
I’m on an interrail at the moment (look out Raz – we’re hitting Amsterdam soon – any reccomendations?) but when home I’ll be back on the boards to debate the season ahead. Exciting times!
Hope you’re all having a great summer. Thanks to GP and co. for the new articles up on here that I see have got the ball rolling already!
If you’re going to Amsterdam, I recommend visiting smart shops and coffee shops. Plenty of *interesting* stuff there.
+1
Lol have fun in Amster Jameso.
Anyone considering Jay Rod? Early days given his season long injury but just looking at his stats from the season before are bringing back the memories of how good he was for his value. At £7m he would make a great second striker to Aguero.
Scored twice in a preseason friendly where I believe he came on as a sub.
Okay folks, i’ve gone through the player list hunting those cheapy-cheaps and i must admit, the pickings are slim. Very slim. Slimmer than Kate Moss’ midsection, in fact. Here’s what i’ve found..
GK’s
Start with an obvious one, shall we?
Kasper Schmeichel – If your memory is of any use at all, you’ll recall he was injured for a while last season meaning his points tally was low. This has had a knock on effect this season as he’s just 4.5m. This a bloody bargain and he should be high on everyone’s list at least.
Heurelho Gomes – Right, get your giggles out of the way now. This is a serious pick. Before he went on the long, incredibly amazing collapse at Spurs he was actually looking like being a top keeper. Whatever happened to him is anyone’s guess but with totals of 133 and 148 in 08/09 & 09/10 respectively, it’s clear that he’s good for save points and could be a bargain, again at 4.5m
John Ruddy&Declan Rudd – Rudd and Ruddy, where would you get it eh? These two are by far the most appealing to me so far. For a combined 8.5m you’ve got two keepers who are actually very good and on their day can be match winners (remember them from before? Good times). Norwich have an interesting schedule to start with so these two, as a pair, look like money-saving-point-scoring-gems to me. Watch this space.
DEF
Let’s go obvious again, for obvious reasons.
Wes Morgan – Surprisingly he’s just 4.5m which is excellent considering young Geoff Schlupp is 0.5m more. Leicester showed last season that they can dog it out so Wes looks a snip at 4.5m. Add to that a delicious set of games ahead and you’ve got yourself a winner here. Highly recommend this guy unless Leicester buy a better player.
Tyrone Mings – Someone may correct me on this one, but he looks like a very good young prospect and after shelling out £8m on him, B’mouth should really be starting this guy every week. Young and quick, plays FB & CB, so should be in the team more often than not but, he may not be one to rely too heavily on.
Tommy Hoban – This has gem written all over it, provided the new manager doesn’t just shun him from the off, so watch out for that in preseason. A product of the youth academy, Hoban was just beginning to establish himself as a first team reg when he picked up a bad ankle injury. That season he played 7 games and still got their Young Player Of The Year Award, and was quickly reintroduced into the team when he returned. It seems like he’s good to go just now.
MID
There’s a pattern emerging here…
Riyad Mahrez – He showed his skills in fits and bursts last year but when he’s good, he’s FPL gold. 5.5m is pittance for a player who’ll be involved in most attacks and has a great schedule ahead. If preseason goes well then i reckon he’s as close to must have as a budget mid can be, which isn’t close at all, but you catch my drift. Potential big points here, for the first couple of months anyway.
Graham Dorrans – I cringe at myself for this one, but here we go anyway. Dorrans was never really given a run at it at WBA but when he was, he showed he knew where the goals were and how to find them! At 5m this could be the ideal 5th mid if he is to eventually see regular game time. His team mate, Redmond, is definitely the safer pick but that 0.5m may come in handy so watch this guy in preseason and see how he gets on.
Ki – Swansea have a hellish trip to The Bridge on day one but Ki has a habit of popping up with a goal, even when Swansea are having an off day. At 5.5m he represents good value based on last seasons numbers and could well prove to be the money saver that you’re after. (Note, him and Mahrez have a nice thing going. Rotation wise 😉 )
FWD
Yawn…
Jamie Vardy – We all know what he can do after last season. 6m is a great price with the schedule ahead of him. Not much else to say here other than he’s the stand-out budget striker, for me. Again, see what happens in preseason but for now, young Vardy is brilliant value.
Matej Vydra – Deeney seems to be getting all the attention so far but i quite like this Vydra guy. He’s excelled during his spells at Watford and is a good all rounder with assists and goals. At 5m he’s a shade cheaper than Deeney and that all important 0.5m could be the difference between a headache, and a nice relaxing tinker. Fantasy tinker, that is. Bloody hell.
Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5m? Yeah, that’s a good deal in fairness. A seasoned Premier League veteran with an eyebrow to die for, Gabby could well be a points maestro over the first month or so. If Villa can keep Benteke then Gabby becomes even more appealing as assists will be there for the taking.
Honorable mention goes out to a smashing player that we were cruelly robbed of a couple of seasons back. He goes by the name of Jay Rodriguez, better known to us as J-Rod. He’s been out forever but upon his return this preseason, he netted twice in 45 minutes, showing he’s still got it. Koeman may ease this guy in, and rightfully so, but he’s worth keeping an eye on as when he’s on form and fit he scores like a premium striker, but is just 7.5m
Watch this space very closely. Very closely indeed.
Excellent NIN, great to see we’re both on the same wavelength regarding Rodriguez. He is definitely in my plans.
Would it be stupid to have both Schmeichel and Morgan? With Courtois I doubt Schmeichel would get the nod regularly mind..
That sounds like Leicester have bought Courtois HAHAHA
*I have Courtois so I doubt I will play Schmeichel often
If you’re not going to play him, then use that 0.5m for a slightly better defender/5th mid maybe? If the premium gets injured then sell him.
On second thoughts, I’ve just taken a look at the Norwich fixture list and Rudd/Ruddy/Ivanovic is my new aim. Currently a few million short ahhhhhhh
Interesting pair aren’t they? Cheap as chips and good for points. I’ll be honest, when i begin work on my team i think both will be in my squad.
Very useful indeed , well written with a bit of humour in there great help NiN cheers mate :thumbup:
No problem mate. There’s not a lot to go on so these seem, to me at least, like the top budget picks.
NIN,
My thanks, too, for the careful research and witty evaluations. This is a “must keep tacked on the wall” list.
Good stuff Ki. If the long posts today help a little bit, then i’m happy enough with that :thumbup:
NIN – thoughts on Matt Ritchie?
I haven’t done enough research on him. He’s integrated into their team and i see he bagged some goals last season. I’d maybe look to have a rotation going on with him and someone else as it’s likely to be home games where you’ll want him most.
Tq nin. That was really good explaination.
Thought that i will go for ruddy n rud to save the money
Evening folks,
Looks like some of you have been busy today!!
Evening Kop. Yeah, just a little
I refuse to mess with draft after draft so thought i’d do a bit of research and see what came of it.
To each their own NIN
I hit auto complete and logged off
Haha, i’m on an auto squad too. Our squads will fall into place when the time comes, eh?
Exactly, there’s plenty of time in August to do it 😉
Haha, right on! There’s MLS in the mean time anyway, or Ashes for your good self
Right folks, i’ve got a spare team so was thinking of having a team of reds or blues. Come on votes please, which colour ?
Blred, no, relue, no.. oh i don’t know. Delete the team?
Is that it, only NiN with a blred and relue ? :p
Hahahaha, go on then, Blue, purely because you cant start without Sergio and Eden :thumbup:
NIN,
One other though on “fifth midfielders”. From what I can find, Esteban Cambiasso, one of my regulars from last year, is waiting to see who replaces Pearson before committing to Leicester. I’ve no idea what he’ll be rated at this year, but…
Interesting, that. I assumed he’d retired when i didn’t see him in the squad list. Yep, one to watch too but probably just as a 5th. Ki/Mahrez as a duo looks a good’un.