New Signings – Fantasy Premier League 2016/17. Manchester United
Life is set to become more interesting for Man United fans. The dismal reign of LVG saw the Dutchman and the United fans finally put out of their misery, just hours after the club secured the FA Cup victory over Palace. The worst kept secret was confirmed when Jose Mourinho was announced as the new manager of the Reds and he has already been splashing the cash, with the business unlikely to be concluded just yet. But what will Mourinho at United mean for FPL managers? A born winner, a frustrating wall builder, the persistent Wenger baiter – probably all of the aforementioned at different times, but what we do know is that Jose doesn’t accept coming second and you can bet that United players will now be a more interesting proposition for us this season. Let’s take a look below at United’s three new signings, but bear in mind that Mourinho has said that a fourth big signing will follow.
Eric Bailly (£5.5m)
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[/three_fourth]Ivorian defender Bailly became Mourinho’s first signing at United when he joined from Villareal for around £30mln. The 22 year old has played just 40 top-flight matches but was an ever present starter for the Ivory Coast in their successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign in 2015. Bailly is strong, quick and good in the air and is known to make powerful tackles, a trait that saw him collect 12 yellow cards last season. His weaknesses are that he is still very raw and prone to making errors, due to limited experience, while his decision making is one thing that Mourinho will look to develop. In this regard it is thought that Mourinho bought Bailly for his potential at what he could become. Bailly can and has already played at right back as well as in the centre, given United some decent options in both areas. Mourinho is impressed, but cautious and says of his new defender, “He is very strong physically and very fast. It’s not so easy to find a fast player when you have quite a big body; he’s a heavy guy, a tall boy who’s really fast. My only question mark at the moment is one I have to help him delete – the question mark of someone who has never played at such a big club with so many responsibilities and so many expectations. So is Eric ready to come here and start performing from day one? I don’t know. It is a question mark but my job is to delete that question mark as soon as possible and give him the stature, brain and personality to play for Manchester United.’
Given that quote, we think it wise to watch how Bailly fares in the pre-season friendlies – United play Wigan, Galatasary, Dortmund and Man City before the Charity Shield encounter with Champions Leicester on August 7. With Chris Smalling unlikely to be played by Mourinho vs Dortmund and City, it’s likely we’ll get an early look at Bailly in a red shirt and whether we think he is worth an investment in FPL, but he is initially likely to be in competition with Blind and Jones as to who will partner Smalling at the back, before he can convince Mourinho that he is ready for the Premier League.
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£9.5m)
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[/three_fourth]Let’s get one thing straight – I am not writing Mkhitaryan every week in Team Talk, so I’ll have to find some sort of nickname or abbreviation. For now, it’ll be Henrikh, but any sensible suggestions are welcome! Dortmund fans christened him Miki, which could also work. Our man Henrikh may turn out to be the most exciting of United’s new men for FPL. One look at his stats suggests he could be another Ozil but without the eyes and with more consistency. Last season resulted in 11 goals and 15 assists in 28 league matches and was enough to see the Armenian be crowned the Bundesliga player of the season – his total stats saw him play a total of 52 League, Cup and European matches, scoring 23 goals and 26 assists and creating a chance for either himself or a team mate every 32mins. Henrikh is an attacking midfielder who operates predominantly from the right but can also play as effectively from the left, if required. Mourinho describes the new signing as, “a real team player with great skill, vision and with a good eye for goal. I believe he will make an impact on the team very quickly as his style of play is suited to the Premier League.” With Zlatan likely to be perceived as too expensive by many FPL managers, it may well be that Henrikh / Miki may well prove to be a popular choice for those looking for some United attacking coverage – if Henrikh / Miki can reproduce his Bundesliga form in the Premier League then the likes of Ibrahimovic, Rashford, Martial and Rooney are set to have plenty to feed us and should see United once again look a threat going forward.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.5)
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[/three_fourth]Buying a striker who is coming towards the end of his career is not a typical United trait – although RvP didn’t do such a bad job when he escaped from Arsenal to fulfil his dream of winning the Premier League. Zlatan is even older than RvP was when he joined the Reds – the Swede is 34 years old but is described as, as fit as he has ever been and he allegedly broke United power records in tests during his medical. Ibra needs little introduction of course – he has scored goals wherever he has played – 16 goals in 40 matches for Malmo, 35 goals in 74 matches for Ajax, 23 goals in 70 matches for Juventus, 57 goals in 88 matches for Inter, 16 goals in 29 matches for Barcelona, 42 goals in 61 matches for Milan and 113 goals in 122 matches for PSG. Even his greatest detractors cannot argue with those stats. What will be the key for FPL managers is his value compared to the likes of Aguero, Costa, Kane, Giroud, Lukaku, Vardy etc together with how quickly he can fit into the Premier League with United. Whichever formation Mourinho chooses to play, it is expected that the likes of Martial, Henrikh, Rooney and Mata will be supplying chances galore for Zlatan, while Mourinho will be just as keen for the veteran striker to help nurture the exciting talent that is Marcus Rashford. Not one short of self-confidence, Jose’s purchase of Ibra brings together two of the biggest egos in the game – they have of course worked together before at Inter and they are both reported to be excited at the prospect of working together again. United fans should be excited too – win or lose, this season won’t be the tedious affair they have witnessed since Fergie retired. Ibrahimovic has won the league in 13 of the last 15 seasons in whichever country he has been playing and speaking of his working relationship with Mourinho, the Swede says, “I have great memories. The only regret I had with Jose was that I only had a short time with him. I had one season. We won together, we enjoyed it together and had a great time together. I learned a lot, and I got to know him as a person, not only as a coach, and only positive things. He’s a winner, I’m a winner and we know both what we want. We want to win. Wherever we go, we win. And we will win.”
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Fixture Tracker – the first 6 games
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