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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Cabaye announcement at 9.00am!!
Please be 6.0m
My first draft out of 1234.
My first draft out of 1234
Switch Wally for Depay and switch Ritchie for Mahrez.
Hmmmm, I like Mahrez as a player but I wouldn’t want him in my team. I’d play the Watford forward over that dude even.
Lol raziel.
No problem. This only my first draft.
1233 draft to go.
Wil take a look when the match is closer.
Richards from villa is also a good choice.
Its hard to get kun into the team
Sigh
Hmmm. I am sort of curious what Mourinho is planning to do with Falcao and Costa. Falcao second striker again? For real? Costa injury would be perfect. :dance:
Yep, backup for Diego. That might change if Jose can get Falcao going again. We shall see.
NIN, if you’re about mate – many thanks. Massive help and contributive advice today throughout. Been manic here as you can imagine so barely kept up with site comments but looks like you’ve held everything together!
+1
Played a blinder NiN.
Cheers mate :thumbup:
You’d swear there was practice going on or something 😉
Thanks init, no problem at all. Probably should have posted the long ones together but not to worry. What are your initial thoughts on all things FPL? Like the changes? Hate them?
I’ve literally only just read the new rules & changes properly now. Got the gist of it throughout the day of course from the million odd RMT tweets etc but all looks good to me. WC’s look more logical. Never been a fan of the Jan one and 2 anytime seems like a logical compromise. The ‘Chips’ look like an exciting addition and add a new element and a new level of planning. They’ll skewer the scoring a bit but that’s the challenge. On the whole I think it’s good and keeps it fresh and interesting. What are your feelings on it all? Sorry, you’ve probably said many times but as I said I’ve only seen bits.
init, i love all the changes/additions. No 6m GK’s is nice, no 7.5m defenders is even better and the chips, well, they’re fantastic! I posted a very long winded opinion on the chips thingys on page 4 of this article, if you missed it. It turns the game on it’s head for the serious players, i think. Playing a WC two GW’s before a huge double, then using a chip for the double sounds like the best way to use them to me, so far anyway.
NIN
In theory can you WC to get 15 DGW players, then use bench boost and triple captain score at the same time I.e. two chips?
GP, unfortunately not mate. We can only use one chip per week. I think WC’s and chips have to be separate too. Playing 2-5-3 for a big double could be spectacular but the boost chip sounds like the one for the biggest DGW. I think all three have to be kept until the 2nd half of the season if at all possible.
Sorry, meant to say one chip at a time, not one a week. We have one of each so three strikes and they’re gonzo!
Yeah I understand. Thanks man.
I think a WC and then bench boost even if not on the same week, still go hand in hand though. You WC to prep for the bench boost in other words.
Precisely. The Attack chip could be used for another DGW but preferably not the biggest one of the season, if that’s determinable. Triple (c) for Aguero vs Spurs at home sounds like the right job. GW26 to be precise 😉 They can never deal with him. Never.
I saw that one mate. Tactics seemed obvious as soon as I’d read the new rules but tactics and obvious don’t always marry up once it’s live, as we know. Adds a great element.
It sure does. I think it’s time i got some sleep. Catch you later mate.
Fewthings . . .
I see Valencia is noted as a defender for Man Utd now.
Firmino listed as a midfielder will be good for those who fancied him.
Holebas (Watford) is mentioned in The Scout report as being 4.5M but I don’t see him listed (could he be a threat to the young Watford player mentioned earlier once/if added??)
GET 15 NAILED-ON PLAYERS!
GP – I looked up Holebas and seen he is a left back. Pretty sure Hoban is a CB. He’s about the only 4.5m defender worth thinking about so hopefully he stays in the team. 15 starters is a must. Well, 14 minimum, depending what route is taken with the GK’s.
NIN
The only time and I agree it is likely to be minimal damage suffered, that your Norwich GK scenario falls down is when you play ‘Bench Boost’. The chance of two playing GKs is obviously better.
Love the new additions, keeps it edgy – I like that.
Hmm, that Prodl guy might be a threat to Hoban actually, he’s a CB. Grrrrr.
Yeah i thought about the Bench Boost. Assuming we wont be using our “chips” early, i think they’re a good pairing. Future planning will be needed for the Boost, and Attack chips. The Boost is the money melon for big DGW i think. 15 dgw players… oh yeah!!
Need to check fixtures properly but it seems that deadlines have changed to 1 hour before each GW’s first game. That could enable us to see line-ups for the first game … or loose the deadline while waiting!